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Vaccines
fueling autism epidemic?
Editor's
note: WorldNetDaily is pleased to have a content-sharing agreement
with Insight magazine, the bold Washington publication not afraid
to ruffle establishment feathers. Subscribe to Insight at WorldNetDaily's
online store and save 71 percent off the cover price. The mother of
an autistic child wonders aloud when health officials will wake
up to the epidemic that has claimed not only her son but hundreds
of thousands of other children in the United States, with no end
in sight. She muses, "Maybe someday this will be as important
as SARS and we'll get the same attention. God knows we need it."
Autism is a
severely incapacitating developmental disability for which there
is no known cure. According to a recently released report by the
California Department of Developmental Services, or DDS, entitled
Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Changes in the California Caseload:
1999-2002, the rate of children diagnosed with full-syndrome autism
in the Golden State between 1999 and 2002 nearly doubled from 10,360
to 20,377. The report further revealed that "between Dec. 31,
1987, and Dec. 31, 2002, the population of persons with full-syndrome
autism has increased by 634 percent." That is a doubling of
autism cases every four years, and the staggering increases are
not limited to California. Only Puerto
Rico can claim to have an increase of less than 100 percent, with
the remaining states reporting increases of at least 500 percent
during the same period. Although once
considered rare, during the last two decades the chance of a child
being diagnosed with autism has skyrocketed from one in 10,000 to
one in 150. In California, full-syndrome autism now is the No. 1
disability among children and more prevalent than childhood cancer,
diabetes and Down's syndrome. It is estimated that within the next
four years autism cases in the Golden State will exceed the total
number of cases of both cerebral palsy and epilepsy. To get a better
idea of how quickly the epidemic is spreading one need only consider
that in 1987 there were 2,778 persons with autism in California.
By 2002 the number had increased to 20,377, and in 2002 3,575 new
cases had been added to the rolls, far exceeding the total number
of cases in the state 15 years earlier. For years
there has been a debate about the cause or causes of autism, but
the vast majority of finger-pointing has been directed at childhood
vaccines as the culprit. And considering what is put into the vaccines
injected into hours-old infants, it is easy to understand why they
are at the top of the list of suspects: formaldehyde (used in embalming),
thimerosal (nearly 50 percent mercury), aluminum phosphate (toxic
and carcinogenic), antibiotics, phenols (corrosive to skin and toxic),
aluminum salts (corrosive to tissue and neurotoxic), methanol (toxic),
isopropyl (toxic), 2-pheoxyethanol (toxic), live viruses and a host
of unknown components considered off-limits as trade secrets. These
are just part of the vaccine mixture. For those who
believe there are elements in vaccines that may be responsible for
the increased number of autism cases and other neurological disorders,
thimerosal currently is at the top of the list of possible culprits
being investigated. Despite official
insistence that the evidence linking injected thimerosal to autism
is inconclusive, the data suggest otherwise. In 1999 the National
Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, or IOM, must have thought
there was something seriously wrong when it supported removal of
thimerosal from vaccines, stating that it was "a prudent measure
in support of the public goal to reduce mercury exposure of infants
and children as much as possible." The IOM further urged that
"full consideration be given to removing thimerosal from any
biological product to which infants, children and pregnant women
are exposed." A recently
published study in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons
by Mark Geier, M.D., Ph.D., and president of the Genetic Centers
of America and his son, David Geier, president of Medcon Inc. and
a consultant on vaccine cases, was titled "Thimerosal in Childhood
Vaccines, Neurodevelopment Disorders and Heart Disease in the United
States." It presents strong epidemiological evidence for a
link between neurodevelopmental disorders and mercury exposure from
thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines. Specifically,
the authors evaluated the doses of mercury that children received
as part of their immunization schedule, then compared these doses
with federal safety guidelines. Furthermore, to compare the effects
of thimerosal in vaccine recipients, the incident rates of neurodevelopmental
disorders and heart disease reported to the government's Vaccine
Adverse Events Reporting System were analyzed. The results were
dramatic. The report revealed that "U.S. infants are exposed
to mercury levels from their childhood-immunization schedule that
far exceed the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] and FDA [Food
and Drug Administration]-established maximum permissible levels
for the daily oral ingestion of methyl mercury." The authors
concluded that "in light of voluminous literature supporting
the biologic mechanisms for mercury-induced adverse reactions, the
presence of amounts of mercury in thimerosal-containing childhood
vaccines exceeding federal safety guidelines for the oral ingestion
of mercury and previous epidemiological studies showing adverse
reactions to such vaccines, a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing
childhood vaccines and neurodevelopment disorders and heart disease
appears to be confirmed." It is no secret
among government and health officials that mercury is toxic and
causes serious adverse reactions. In July 1999 the American Academy
of Pediatrics and the U.S. Public Health Service issued a joint
statement calling for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines. Five
years after the joint statement, however, it still is difficult
for parents and physicians to be sure that the pharmaceutical companies
have indeed removed the toxic substance from their vaccines. According to
Mark Geier, "The 2003 Physicians' Desk Reference, or PDR, still
shows childhood vaccines containing thimerosal, including diphtheria,
tetanus and acellular pertussis. DTaP, manufactured by Aventis Pasteur,
contains 25µg [25 micrograms] of mercury, Hemophilus influenzae
b (Hib) vaccine manufactured by Wyeth contains 25µg of mercury
and pediatric Hepatitis B vaccine, manufactured by Merck, contains
12.5µg of mercury." Geier continues,
"In addition, the influenza vaccine that is recommended for
an increasing segment of the pediatric population in the U.S. also
contains 25µg of mercury. Assuming that the labeling is correct,
it is possible that children in the U.S. in 2003 may be exposed
to levels of mercury from thimerosal contained in childhood vaccines
that are at higher levels than at any time in the past. Possible
total childhood mercury in 2003 is more than 300µg."
Whether the
"labeling is correct" is the question du jour. According
to Len Lavenda, a spokesman for Aventis Pasteur, the maker of DTaP,
"Aventis only sells the DTaP vaccine in the preservative-free
formulation. The PDR references both the single and multidose. However,
when we received the license for the preservative-free we ceased
sales of the multidose vial. For some reason, the package insert
takes much longer to revise than one would expect. I believe it
is at the FDA waiting for approval, but the fact is we do not sell
or market that product. In March 2001 we stopped all sales of that
product in the preservative formulation. We did not recall the product
at that time because it was our belief that if we did children may
go unimmunized. It's been two years since anyone has been able to
purchase the preservative formulation from us." Lavenda continues:
"The package insert talks about both the single and multidose
vials and it says that the single-dose vial is preservative-free,
and that is all that is sold. The PDR is outdated, but parents don't
have to worry about their children being administered 25µg
of thimerosal. It just takes time to get the paperwork caught up.
The current package insert does not accurately reflect what is being
marketed." Geier is astounded
by Lavenda's admission. "If this is true, they should be in
jail. They can't have an insert on a drug that is totally wrong.
It is against all regulations. If I'm a doctor and I'm giving you
a shot and the insert says such and such is in the shot, it had
better be in it. If doctors can't rely on the instructions that
come with what we're injecting then all bets are off. This is a
far worse admission than admitting that thimerosal is still in the
vaccine. There are at least 15 laws that say the insert has to match
what is in the product. This is absolutely horrendous. In my entire
career in medicine I have never heard of a drug company claiming
that what's in the insert and the accompanying product don't match.
This is total mislabeling and fraud by their own admission. Legally
they should be forced to close down because our clinical decisions
are based on their labeling." Assuming that
the package inserts are correct, Geier tells Insight, "The
EPA limit is 0.1 micrograms of mercury per kilogram body weight
per day. It doesn't take a genius to do the calculations when on
their day of birth children are given the hepatitis B vaccine, which
is 12.5 micrograms of mercury. The average newborn weighs between
6 and 7 pounds, so they would be allowed 0.3 micrograms of mercury
- but in this one shot they are getting 12.5 micrograms. That's
39 times more than allowed by law. And it gets worse when you consider
that children are getting multiple vaccinations at 2 months. And
this limit is for oral ingestion and not injection, which is much
worse." Rhonda Smith,
a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
tells Insight that, except for mere traces, thimerosal has been
removed. "All routinely recommended licensed vaccines,"
says Smith, "that are currently being manufactured for children
in the U.S., except influenza, contain no thimerosal or only trace
amounts - a concentration of less than 0.0002 percent." But
according to the 2003 immunization schedule and the package inserts,
there appear to be a number of childhood vaccines that still contain
mercury, including those for tetanus and diphtheria. Geier insists,
"I'm pro-vaccines, but the bottom line is that our kids are
getting massive amounts of mercury. Mercury has been withdrawn from
everything, including animal vaccines, yet we keep injecting it
into our children. Everyone should absolutely refuse to take a vaccine
shot that has thimerosal in it, and they should insist on reading
the vaccine package insert. Our data showed that the more mercury
children received in their childhood vaccines the more neurodevelopment
disorders there are. We've looked at this every possible way and
every time there's massive evidence to support it." So, if everyone
acknowledges the toxicity of mercury and top U.S. health officials
have called for its removal, why is thimerosal still in vaccines?
"Maybe,"
concludes Geier, "the mercury isn't being taken out all at
once because if the pharmaceutical companies did that you would
see an unbelievable change in the rate of autism and there would
be massive lawsuits. If you look at the graphs now they go up and
up. If you stop the thimerosal all at once you'd see the numbers
fall dramatically." Rep. Dan Burton,
R-Ind., a longtime advocate for victims of autism, has a grandson
who became autistic after receiving nine vaccines in one day. Burton
recently sent his second request in as many years to the White House
asking for a conference of scientists, researchers and parents to
look into the causes of autism. The Indiana
lawmaker tells Insight, "There is no doubt in my mind that
the mercury in vaccines is a major contributing factor to a growing
number of neurological disorders among children, but in particular
autism." Burton explains
that "thimerosal is a toxic substance - mercury - and should
not be put in close proximity of people, should not be injected
into people, especially children who have a newly formed immune
system that may not be able to handle it. To my knowledge there
never have been long-term tests on thimerosal and we never should
have used mercury in vaccines, period. Now what we've got is an
epidemic that is absolutely out of control." The Indiana
congressman continues, "One reason this isn't getting the attention
it needs is that the Food and Drug Administration has very close
ties to the pharmaceutical companies, as does the Department of
Health and Human Services [HHS] and the Centers for Disease Control.
I've said in the past that in some cases it appears that it's a
revolving door and people leave government health agencies and go
to work for the pharmaceuticals, which I think have undue influence
on our health agencies. Of course, they may not want to look at
this because there's a possibility that large claims would be filed
and the pharmaceutical companies would have to cough up the money
to take care of these kids who have been damaged." Burton means
business. He insists, "The FDA, CDC and HHS should put out
in a very public way the dangers of mercury, but as soon as they
do it will amount to an admission that their mercury is causing
these problems. So the reports that come out of the FDA, CDC and
HHS use ambiguous terms. Well, if they're not sure, and there's
the remotest possibility that mercury in vaccines could cause autism,
they ought to get thimerosal off the market. Too many kids are being
ruined for life because of this stuff." Barbara Loe
Fisher is founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, a
charitable organization dedicated to the prevention of vaccine injuries
and deaths through public education. Fisher tells Insight, "There
are many things in vaccines that could be causing these disorders,
and thimerosal is only part of the problem. In the last 20 years,
we've gone from giving children 23 doses of seven vaccines to 38
doses of 12 vaccines. I think the mercury is part of it for some
kids, though I'm not sure it's the answer for all." But this
is a no-brainer, says Fisher. "Mercury shouldn't be in vaccines.
They've taken it out of everything else so why not the vaccines?
The one thing that people really need to look at is the dramatic
rise in chronic disease and disabilities in our kids in just the
last two decades. You have to admit that there is something occurring
that a growing number of children cannot get through without being
immune-system and brain-system damaged. And what is the one thing
that we expose every child to? Those vaccines." Fisher concludes,
"I've always argued that public health is not measured only
by an absence of infectious disease. It also is measured by the
absence of chronic disease. By that score we get a big fat 'F.'
So we don't have measles and mumps, but look what we have now. It's
just really simple: Take the mercury out and let's see what happens."
Even so, based
on the Aventis admission that the package insert does not reflect
what is in the vaccine, it will be difficult to know when, if ever,
the thimerosal actually has been removed. This skews the data about
the relationship between thimerosal and autism. More important,
it means parents cannot be sure the vaccinations their children
receive are free of mercury. More
on vaccines: Adverse
effects of adjuvants in vaccines Click here
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