Vaccines and autism

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Ok, I just keep hearing from worried parents about this rubbish. I read somewhere about the whole vaccines cause autism is a PILE OF POO, and was wondering if anyone can link me to these facts, or facts about the guy who said it?

I want to make a video and spread it across the internet.

Others have beat you to it....from both extremes on the topic.

Well I did have a bad reaction to a vaccination, however I don't think it caused AS as my parents and I have concluded I was pretty much always this way and there seems to be a genetic component in my family.

However, the reaction meant I couldn't be completely immunized against pertussis because of the increased chance of a life threatening reaction to the vaccination. I had to rely on herd immunity not to contract it, which worked fine until people decided to stop vaccinating their kids.

A few years ago, there was a "cold" going around and I contracted it. After about two weeks the "cold" passed and I broke out into severe coughing fits. I would feel absolutely fine but every few days I'd have these severe fits where I would cough 50 times in a row, a good 30 times after I had no more air in my lungs and nearly passed out from them on a few occasions. These fits occurred with enough infrequency to dampen concern that they were related. One of these fits occurred in a crowded shopping mall, a good few days after I had had the last one and it was only then that I started to suspect I had pertussis.

I went to the doctors and he said it could be pertussis but it was too late to give me antibiotics and he didn't seem very concerned because it was rare and most people, it was assumed, were immune from the vaccinations.

About two years later, word got around that there was an ongoing pertussis outbreak in the state and 6 babies had died. My sister was pregnant and almost due and because of the outbreak, no one would be allowed near the baby for 6 months unless they had immunity. In the off chance I did from my suspected infection, I had an immunity test. It was such a rarely performed test that it wasn't even listed on the order form and there was no ID for it. The doctor wrote it in and hoped the lab technicians knew what we were talking about.

Fortunately they did, and I came back positive for pertussis antibodies, confirming I had immunity which could have only come from infection. This proved that spate of coughing fits I had two years before was pertussis.

I was likely unfortunately an unwitting link in an outbreak that needlessly killed 6 babies. Pertussis is a sinister illness. It's highly infectious, mimics a mild cold, and is fatal to infants.

This begs the question to parents, even if vaccinations did cause autism, would you rather have a child with some degree of autism or would you rather have to experience the death of a child?

We are now having a measles outbreak. In fact we've had two measles outbreaks in the past 20 years since this anti-vaccination mentality has been going around.

Stupid people. Now it's whooping cough that kids need to be vaccinated against.

It was routine until someone went around screaming that vaccines cause autism.

I don't necess.arily believe that vaccines cause autism. But I do believe that if a baby has a genetic propensity towards autism, that the vaccines can make it worse. The day after my son received his 4 month old vaccines he started shaking his head from side to side. He still does it to this day and he is 6. I don't think it is a coincidence. I am sorry. He has had all of his vaccinations except a couple. I don't care what others think. I think infants are being bombarded with too many vaccines all at once. I am not completely anti-vaccine, but they definitely need to be spaced out better. I really don't place too much faith in the government or the CDC. They have too much to lose to come forward and say that vaccines can cause harm.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ujy0hibN8E[/youtube]

There is a such thing as vaccine injury however, with the exception of the smallpox vaccine, which uses a live virus and has been proven to cause life threatening situations in some individuals, it's likely rare.

Which vaccinations hasn't he had and why?

Thanks Chronos. The only 2 that he has not had is the MMR and Chickenpox. I have just read and talked to so many parents that truly believe that their child changed after the MMR shot. Only maybe 2 out of at least 30 parents that I have met with children on the spectrum did not think there was a connection to their child's symptoms. Most of them did not think that the MMR completely caused the autism, but they did believe that it triggered it for their child.

In my son's case, he did not walk until he was almost 2 yrs old. He had low muscle tone. When he was born, I went ahead and started vaccinating him on schedule. At his 1 yr check up, the pediatrician noticed him flapping his hands and that ,in addition to the no attempt at walking, she sent me to have genetic testing done on him. They did not find anything. However, the doctor said she would rather we hold off on the MMR shot until we could figure out what was going on with my son. She did not want me to associate the MMR as causing his autism if in fact he was autistic. Well, as time went on, and he was showing more and more traits of autism, I just kept holding off since I had met so many parents who truly believed it had caused serious problems for their child. I even read one theory by a scientist who believed it could be the measles virus itself that can cause autistic behavior.

My son is almost 6, and he is doing very well. He is still clearly autistic, but he improves all of the time. He is speaking in full sentences, he is learning to spell and read, he is running and jumping, but he still seems to have balance issues. He eats very well, he sleeps well, he does not have violent tantrums.

I have met so many parents that have spent thousands of dollars going to holistic doctors who have run test on their kids and have found very high metal levels in their child's systems and then helped the parents to detox these kids. Their kids are improving and many are doing well. I just really don't want to inject my child with any more toxins. I guess this is why I decided to hold off until I feel comfortable doing it.

I don't consider myself an irrational person, I have read so much on this, that I feel that I am making the best decision for my child. I am sure others here will disagree.

I think the MMR vaccination has done far more good than harm. Children used to routinely die or be rendered deaf, blind, and/or mentality ret*d by measles.

I hope you consider having him vaccinated if you plan on traveling by plane or if there is an outbreak in your area.

Probably best to not get vaccines in a child within the first year or maybe even two, and wait at least two months or longer between vaccinations.

Reasons? Our brains are still being developed at a young age, and whether you believe or not that vaccinations can lead to autism, there is no doubt that they do have a chance at a negative effect, be it severe or minor. You can reduce this chance by just -waiting-. And, it takes at least two months for our brains to fully recover from being ill, the same applies to a vaccine since it triggers the same response in the brain.

I'd rather though that people focus on something.. I don't know.. realistic? I mean, the death rate for the measles went down by like 97% before a vaccination for it was even introduced... Why can't we focus more on those things instead of an unnatural "prevention" (that doesn't always work, so it's still technically a gamble)?

Yeah I agree. I think that it's a bunch of BS!

Somebody needs to post that Penn & Teller sketch... I know it's floating out on the Net somewhere.

I think the debate is still out there. It is not 100% settled that vaccines do not lead to autism. There is something going on. Yes, I agree autism has been around for a very long time, but why is it now so prevalent. It used to be rare to hear of a child with autism. Now I am meeting children just about every day that have some form of it. We as parents have a tough decision to make and are just doing the best we can.

Autism diagnosis has increased for three reasons. First, we now know more about autism, and we can spot it more easily. Second, we have expanded the definition to include a much broader category of individuals. And third, we no longer mistake autism for mental retardation. If you look at the numbers, you'll see autism rising at the same time as mental retardation is dropping--we're "stealing" cases from that group. There is probably a fourth reason which represents a real increase: With modern medicine, those who would have died before birth or shortly thereafter are surviving, but with medical problems that make autism more likely. These children, who would not otherwise have survived, are now living at least into their toddler years and being diagnosed with autism.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo97VouL0ls&playnext=1&list=PLA6C58F56AAB68FC4[/youtube]

The phrase "holistic doctor" raises alarms for me. There is currently a scam meant to defraud parents of autistic kids by making them think their kid has elevated mercury levels.

Here's a description: http://iluarchitchhabra.wordpress.com/2 ... is-a-scam/


The previous incarnation of this scam (before "autism=mercury poisening" became a meme) was to defraud people with mercury amalgam fillings into thinking they were swallowing mercury.

Legitimate doctors do order legitimate metal levels tests. Lead level tests are even routine with no suspicion- they're just protocol. But this whole "spend thousands of dollars going to holistic doctors" thing does sound like they are being taken for a ride. I applaud your doctor for being so very practical in making sure your son's issues could not be blamed on the MMR vaccine.