Is Wakefield Right about Autism/MMR vaccine connection?
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www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20060612-023341-6204r.htm
The Washington Post
June 13, 2006, 16:22 GMT
The Age of Autism: But is Wakefield right?
By Dan Olmsted
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the British
gastroenterologist who first raised the prospect of a link between the
measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and autism, is being pursued by British
medical authorities.
According to the BBC: 'The Independent newspaper reports that the General
Medical Council will accuse Mr. Andrew Wakefield of carrying out
`inadequately founded` research. Vaccination rates fell sharply after Dr
Wakefield questioned the safety of MMR, raising fears of a measles epidemic.
His initial Lancet paper has since been disowned by the journal.'
Let`s put aside the issues surrounding the Lancet paper and concerns about a
measles epidemic and go straight to the heart of the matter: Does the MMR
cause autism? In other words, is Wakefield right?
After looking into the topic for more than a year, I`m very concerned that
he may be -- that, especially in children whose immune systems have been
rendered susceptible by any number of possible exposures, the combined
live-virus vaccine has its fingerprints all over numerous cases of
regressive autism.
Until researching the seven-part Age of Autism series in Olympia, Wash.,
that concluded last month, I would not have said that. But when you
encounter case after case of perfectly normal children regressing after
live-virus vaccinations -- in this case, the MMR in close proximity to the
chickenpox shot -- you have to keep your options open.
The families in Olympia noticed a common thread: They had unusual histories
of chickenpox and other herpesviruses in their families; their child got the
chickenpox and MMR shots in close temporal proximity, often at the same
12-month office visit when both are first recommended; and the child
subsequently was diagnosed with regressive autism.
Despite the sweeping assurances that there`s no link between the MMR and
autism, no one seems to have looked at whether such a family history of
susceptibility to viruses used in vaccines might raise a risk factor. Call
me hypervigilant, but I would have expected that to be rigorously reviewed a
long time ago.
Two of the Olympia children, in fact, were in small trials at age 12 months
of chickenpox and MMR vaccines. One of the vaccines, called ProQuad,
combines the MMR and chickenpox, kicking in 10 times the standard amount of
chickenpox vaccine to overcome the 'immune interference' that can occur when
live viruses interact.
Such interference is at the heart of Wakefield`s concern about the combined
MMR vaccine -- that the viruses suppress the immune system in such a way
that weakened-but-live measles viruses can set up house and trigger a
delayed neurological infection: autism.
And measles is not benign -- that`s why there`s such a push to vaccinate
against it. In a small percentage of cases, the wild, or naturally
occurring, infection can lead to delayed brain damage and death.
It`s a neurotoxic virus, in short. Wakefield`s question and concern is
whether in some cases the live-virus vaccine is neurotoxic, too.
Not such a wild idea, really, and listening to him talk makes you hope to
God the vaccine manufacturers and regulators are a lot smarter than he makes
them sound:
'What alarms me about the cavalier approach of the industry and everybody
else, the regulators, to these viruses is they presume the wild infection to
be nasty and the vaccines to be innocuous -- that they can manipulate
something that is biologically highly intelligent and exploit it to their
advantage.
'And they can`t. The viruses don`t behave like that and they never will.
They merely come back to haunt you as something different.'
Multiple epidemiological studies have allegedly ruled out this chilling
scenario as a factor in autism -- the Institute of Medicine calls it
'theoretical only.' But epidemiology is only as good as its data and its
practitioners, and well-known for its potential pitfalls and flaws. What
concerns me is, if the epidemiology is wrong, preventable cases of autism
are going to keep happening till the cows come home.
Recall, also, that Wakefield never suggested banning the measles, mumps or
rubella immunizations. He suggested separating them and giving them a year
apart.
Especially concerning are the stories that parent after parent tells about
physical illness after the shots, followed by autistic regression. It`s kind
of freaky, really, the way they keep popping up.
After finishing the Pox series, I attended the Autism One convention in
Chicago and happened to be interviewed by a Web-based documentary filmmaker.
During a break, I asked how he got involved. He told me his daughter got the
MMR, came down immediately with a 103-degree fever and regressed forthwith
into autism.
'It`s like someone took out her good brain and replaced it with a bad
brain,' he said. It was that immediate.
I had another conversation with the mother of fraternal twins who told me
this story: Both sons were scheduled to get two shots -- the MMR and another
vaccination -- on the same day at the same office visit.
But -- oops -- the healthcare worker gave the first child two MMR shots, not
the MMR and the second vaccine. That child soon developed autism; the second
one didn`t.
And I spoke recently with a Texas man whose son got the MMR in 1993; the
injection site swelled up to the size of his father`s fist; he had seizures
at the dinner table that night, and within days was spinning, flapping,
chewing wood and not talking ever again.
You get the picture. 'Anecdotal evidence.' But you have to wonder how many
of these stories -- one is tempted to say, bodies -- must pile up before the
medical authorities go back and take a fresh look at the issue.
This blithe disregard for case histories -- for what parents, the supposed
bedrock of our 'family-friendly' society, say -- is one of the most
appalling features of the current climate surrounding autism research. In
fact, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., has talked publicly of forcing the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sets the childhood
immunization schedule and stoutly rejects a link with autism, to actually go
out and interview some of these parents.
One person who is making things awkward for the authorities is Dr. Peter
Fletcher, another British ne`er-do-well -- or, to use his official title,
the former chief scientific officer at Britain`s Department of Health.
As I noted in a column earlier this year, the Daily Mail reported: 'A former
British government medical officer responsible for deciding whether
medicines are safe has accused the government of `utterly inexplicable
complacency` over the MMR triple vaccine for children.'
The official, Dr. Peter Fletcher, became an expert witness for parents`
lawyers, which of course creates a competing interest that needs to be
factored in. But Fletcher said his new role gave him access to documents
that deeply concerned him.
'There are very powerful people in positions of great authority in Britain
and elsewhere who have staked their reputations and careers on the safety of
MMR and they are willing to do almost anything to protect themselves,' he
said.
Gosh, this is starting to get interesting, and not just for Andrew
Wakefield.
