Autism Community, Resources and Treatments

Retraction of Vaccine Study

It’s the news of the day – or actually of the last several days – media journal the Lancet has formally retracted the 1998 paper written by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that linked autism to the MMR vaccine. The reason for this retraction is because it was concluded by the UK General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practice Panel that Dr. Wakefield had provided false information in the report and acted with “callous disregard” for children in the study. Some people may ask why this took so long to retract considering there’s been a lot of research showing that the vaccine is in no way tied to autism. There are others I know, though, who still wholeheartedly believe the cause of their child’s autism can be blamed on vaccines.

As this LA Times blog covers, Dr. Wakefield is pushing back to say his research was valid. He says that he didn’t confirm a link between autism and the MMR vaccine – and says that research is still ongoing. However, it was his research that influenced more studies on the potential link – and ultimately influenced how some parents made decisions about giving their child a vaccine – opening the child up to getting a potentially life-threatening disease. There are handful of other discrepancies called out in that blog – such as that Dr. Wakefield “… did not disclose that his studies were funded by lawyers who were attempting to sue the vaccine makers in court, nor that he was developing a vaccine that would have been very profitable if the MMR vaccine was discarded.”

So I wonder how this will impact those that are still convinced vaccines played a part in their child’s autism. For me, as I’ve said here on this blog before, I think Kyle was born with autism. I don’t think it was linked to any vaccine. But that’s just me. However, I know many people that feel autism was a result of a vaccine and could tie seeing a change in their child after getting the shot. I guess the debate will continue on – but maybe this will make some reconsider.

What does autism mean to us today? It means theories…old and new. What about you?

Best,
Jenifer

Posted by Jen Westphal at 02/05/2010 05:55:26 PM |

My daughter has autism and epilepsy and she was never vaccinated. So in Mia's case it is clear that her autism was not caused by vaccinations. I can tell you though that Mia's autistic symptoms are exacerbated by foods, medicines, and chemicals. This leads me to theorize that a negative reaction to a vaccination can certainly intensify a child's propensity to display autistic symptoms. If this is the case, caution is warranted and avoiding vaccines until the child is 4 or more, and avoiding multiple vaccines in one day may be prudent. Both the best preventative and therapy I have found is lots and lots of prayer!
Posted by: Elizabeth Newman ( Email: | Visit ) at 2/6/2010 5:01 PM