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Dr. Bob Sears Offers Advice in March 21st New York Times Health Section on Vaccine Choices Parents Make
The recent measles outbreak (if you can call it that) in San Diego last month, in which twelve children came down with the illness after an unvaccinated family brought the disease back with them from Switzerland, raises awareness of a growing trend among families to decline certain vaccines.
This article raises the question, should parents have the right to decline vaccines when doing so may put the health and safety of other children at risk? In twenty states of our free nation, parents are allowed to decline vaccine for personal reasons. But in 28 states they must have a religious reason, and two states (West Virginia and Mississippi) don’t allow parents to decline them for any reason.
I believe our nation can tolerate a certain percentage of unvaccinated children without risking the overall public health in any significant way. Since most children are vaccinated, our nation has enough “herd immunity” to contain outbreaks like this one. However, in the San Diego case, some infants caught measles before they were old enough to even be vaccinated. Fortunately, all cases passed without complications, as is usually the case with measles.
So the question is, are unvaccinated parents putting the rest of our children at risk? Maybe a little. But in my opinion parents SHOULD have the right to make health care choices for their children. They should not be forced into vaccinating if they feel strongly against it.
Click here to read the whole New York Times story.
Dr. BobLabels: Vaccine News
American Academy of Pediatrics Releases Statement on Vaccines and Autism
The AAP released a statement today to address the recent controversy on vaccines and autism. It began with a discussion on what autism is and what the theoretical causes may be, along with reassurance that there is no evidence of any connection between vaccines and autism. The policy went on to explain what mitochondrial disease is and how this may have played a role in the Hannah Polling case (see my previous blog – Larry King Asks). It concluded with a discussion on the overall safety and benefits of vaccines and urged parents to continue to vaccinate as usual.
I must admit that I agree with almost everything in this statement. The explanations it offers and the examples of how successful some vaccines have been is all accurate. However, I think there is just one little issue that should be raised to balance it all out. That is the fact that there IS SOME research that shows vaccines have some very rare but potentially serious side effects. And there is a bit of research that shows there may be a link between autism and vaccines in some children, as the Hannah Polling case reflects. Of course, the vast majority of research does NOT show a link, and this court case does not prove any link overall.
It is my belief that parents should be completely educated about vaccines, how they are made, what the possible side effects are, what the benefits are, and how common (or rare) and how serious (or mild) the diseases can be. Yes, vaccines are overall safe in most children, and the diseases can be very serious. And parents can make an educated decision about what they feel is the right course of action for their family. Parents who are worried about possible side effects and wish to vaccinate in a manner that may decrease the possibility of reactions should discuss an alternative vaccine approach with their doctor.
Click here http://www.aap.org/new/autisminfomain.html to read the AAP’s statement. Labels: Vaccines and Autism
Larry King Asks
Larry King Asks, “What Should Parents Do Now?” Dr. Bob Has the Answer.
Last night Larry King interviewed the parents of a nine-year-old child who developed symptoms of autism shortly after receiving nine vaccines at her 19-month checkup. This family was the first ever to win a court case against the government that claimed vaccines triggered autistic-like symptoms in a child. The government conceded the case before it even went to trial, awarding the family a considerable sum of money under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Larry King also invited Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta and two other pediatricians to discuss this issue and try to allay parent’s fears. Mr. King asked his guests, “What should parents who are worried about vaccines and autism do now? Should they go in for their regularly scheduled vaccines?” The consensus among the doctors was yes (although one doctor did voice some concerns over the issue) and that there is no conclusive evidence that vaccines cause autism. They suggested parents talk to their doctor and continue with vaccines as scheduled.
But Larry didn’t quite seem convinced in light of recent events, and vowed to continue the discussion at a later date. Mr. King seemed to be searching for more answers to offer worried parents.
Well, my Alternative Vaccine Schedule is the answer Larry King is looking for. The three main worries that connect vaccines with autism involve mercury, the measles component of the MMR vaccine, and vaccine chemical overload when too many shots are given at once. My vaccine approach circumvents all three worries and allows parents to fully vaccinate their children in the safest manner possible. Keep in mind that science hasn’t proven that any of these worries are even warranted. Yet, every parent with a young baby is concerned nonetheless. So here’s how my vaccine schedule addresses these issues:
First, mercury has been taken out of all vaccines as of 2002, except for some brands of the flu shot. As long as a parent knows to make sure their baby gets a mercury-free flu shot, this particular toxic metal isn’t a risk anymore.
Second, the measles component of the MMR vaccine can be delayed until age 3 years or later. Next to the mercury worry, this live virus vaccine (given at age 1) has come under the most fire. Because autism seems to occur or become most apparent between age 1 and 3 years, my vaccine schedule doesn’t give the measles vaccine until AFTER that age. Once a baby’s neurological system has matured for a few years, and normal language and social development are in place by age three, autism would be extremely unlikely to then be triggered by a measles vaccine given at that later age.
Third, many parents worry about overloading a baby’s little system with so many vaccine chemicals and germ ingredients in the large groups of vaccines given at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. Why not spread those vaccines out? Give 2 shots at a time instead of the recommended 6. Spread the shots out over several years instead of bunching them all together in the first 18 months. Give the most important vaccines first, and follow up with the less critical ones later on. My Alternative Vaccine Schedule does just that.
The child in this particular court case unfortunately had all of these three elements against her. In the interview with Larry King, the parents stated their daughter got 9 vaccines all at once at her 19-month checkup. The mother began to explain how they had skipped vaccines at 12 months (but she didn’t get to finish her statement), and so had to catch up with more shots at 19 months. If she got 9 vaccines at that age, this means that she received the MMR, DTaP, Polio, HIB, and probably Chickenpox vaccines all at one time. Normally these would be spaced out and given in 1 or 2 dose groups at 12 months, 15 months, and 18 months. But this child got 6 months worth of vaccines all at once. Plus, there was a significant amount of mercury in these vaccines back then.
The child was later found to have a mitochondrial disorder (which could make a child more susceptible to vaccine injury), BUT it isn’t actually known if this disorder was already there, or was part of the metabolic and neurological damage the child allegedly suffered after the vaccines.
Bottom line – parents who have huge worries over this issue can choose not to vaccinate while their babies are young, as long as they understand the risks of diseases and take steps to minimize that risk. But some of these diseases can be fatal, and vaccines ARE an important step in disease prevention, as the parents of this child clearly stated in their interview. Parents who choose to vaccinate CAN do so in a safe and logical manner that minimizes the risks of reactions. I encourage all vaccinating families to discuss my Alternative Vaccine Schedule with their doctor.
Labels: Vaccines and Autism
Vaccine Court Case
Is the recent U.S. court case concession that vaccines contributed to one child’s autism proof of a connection?
Last year the case of Hanna Polling vs. The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, in which the plaintiff’s parents claimed that vaccines contributed to their child’s autism, was settled in favor of the plaintiff. This case was supposed to be sealed and kept confidential, but the concession report has made its way into the public eye. Several autism-related web sites and blogs have gotten hold of it and are spreading the word. Yet some of these sites are spreading misinformation and misleading the public.
According to the concession report, this case involved a toddler who was developing normally until 18 months of age. Several days after the 18 month shots her development began to decline to the point that she eventually displayed many features of autism. Doctors also discovered that the child had a mitochondrial disorder (a disorder of metabolism that makes a child pre-disposed to developmental and medical problems). The court decided that there was enough evidence to show that the vaccines may have aggravated the mitochondrial disorder and triggered problems consistent with autistic-like behavior.
I have read numerous blogs on this since the story came out. One stated that the child never actually had autism, but only had ASD (autism spectrum disorder). It made a big deal of trying to shoot down any possibility that in this one case the vaccines may have triggered autism by saying all the child had was ASD or autism-like symptoms. But my feeling is that Autism, ASD, and autistic-like symptoms are ALL THE SAME THING, especially to the parent whose child is having the symptoms. So to shove this aside and say this child never had autism, but just ASD-like behavior, does this family, and this case, a disservice.
On the other side of the spectrum, I read a blog that went way too far in the OTHER direction. It said, “U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism”. The report went on to state that hundreds of studies have proven a link between mercury and autism, that hundreds of doctors believe this to be true, and that the government is covering it all up. But nowhere in this case did the government or the court say that vaccines cause autism. All they said was that in this particular case a child with a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder seemed to regress into ASD-like behavior right after her 18-month vaccines. This wasn’t “a concession that vaccines cause autism”. There is a lot of research on BOTH sides of the mercury/vaccines/autism debate, a fact that this particular report left out.
Even more curious is that since this story came out about 1 week ago, I haven’t seen any regular internet news sources or print media pick it up, verify its accuracy, and help spread the word. I’m not sure if it’s because they don’t think it’s news worthy, or because it’s a sealed case, or what.
Bottom line – this child was clearly affected by something, and the timing of it is very suspicious of vaccines. And the court felt there was enough evidence to award the family compensation in a sealed deal. But all it shows is that children with mitochondrial disorders may be susceptible to vaccine injury. It doesn’t prove an overall connection between vaccines and autism.
Hopefully the publicity over this case will encourage more and more research into what is causing autism.
Labels: Vaccines and Autism
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