Since many vaccines contain mercury that may cause autism, is it worth the risk to vaccinate babies?

Answer 1

Mercury: Jane El-Dahr
(All her viewgraphs are on the www.ari.org website; she also recommends going to www.safeminds.org)



She recommends a new book, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations, by Stephanie Cave (just released).



Hypothesis: In genetically susceptible individuals, prenatal and early childhood exposure to mercury may cause neurological damage leading to autism. This hypothesis is supported by symptom comparisons, toxicity studies, case studies, and epidemiology. The most likely sources of the mercury are maternal dental fillings, maternal fish consumption, consumer products (eye drops, nasal sprays, others), Rho-gam shot, Influenza vaccine during pregnancy, and childhood vaccines. The increase in autism appears to correlate with the increased use of vaccinations. In children who are fully vaccinated, by the sixth month of life they have received more mercury from vaccines than recommended by the EPA.



There are many similarities in symptoms between mercury toxicity and autism, including social deficits, language deficits, repetitive behaviors, sensory abnormalities, cognition deficits, movement disorders, and behavioral problems. There are also similarities in physical symptoms, including biochemical, gastrointestinal, muscle tone, neurochemistry, neurophysiology, EEG measurements, and immune system/autoimmunity.



In an analysis of the Vaccine Safety Database (two HMOs, covering 110,000 children born from 1992 to 1997), found that there were statistically significant associations between cumulative exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines and risk for developmental delays, tics, ADD, language/speech delay and neurodevelopmental delay. However, there were too few children to determine if there was a risk for autism.



Conclusion: Mercury may be the cause of some of the cases of autism. Children were exposed to high amounts of mercury through childhood vaccinations, and there is a strong similarity in symptoms between mercury toxicity and autism.

How Could Vaccines Cause Damage?


No vaccine is perfectly safe. An adverse event can be said to be caused by a vaccine (i.e., a true reaction) if it is associated with a specific laboratory finding and a specific clinical syndrome or both. Alternatively, a clinical or epidemiological study is needed to find out whether the rate of a given syndrome in vaccinated individuals exceeds that expected among unvaccinated controls.
Immune panels and other laboratory tests, medical histories, and the supporting medical literature support a causal association, with increased risks among those children who are sick or have recently been sick. Anecdotal reports, such as those suggesting the onset of autism after MMR vaccine, are important in pointing toward possible relationships, which further investigative work can clarify.

Vaccination may damage children in several ways. Live or attenuated virus vaccination can actually produce the infection that the vaccine is supposed to prevent. For example, live polio should never be administered to a child who comes in contact with an HIV patient, for the attenuated virus can "leap" to the HIV patient and produce polio. Reports exist of normal parents who have developed polio from the viral vaccine given to their children.

A second mechanism of damage comes from neurotoxic materials found sometimes in vaccines. Thimerosol is the most widely discussed, since it contains mercury. The amount is small. Each vaccine is equivalent to the amount of mercury found in a 6 oz. Can of tuna fish. Nevertheless, some argue that even these levels may be important in a vulnerable child.

The third, and probably the most important theory of vaccine damage, relates to allergic reactions and the development of an auto-immune response, stimulated by the vaccine and its adjuvant. Vaccines always contain adjuvants, which are substances known to amplify the body's response to the vaccine. These adjuvants are known to sometimes cause allergic and auto-immune responses on their own.

We refer interested readers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web sites for estimates of disease prevented by vaccines. On-going debate rages over the benefits of vaccine for protection of the public and for prevention of the disease, versus the risk to individuals who receive the vaccine for vaccine-related complications. The question of whether or not a society can force its members to undergo individual risks (complications of vaccination) for the greater public good (disease prevention) is an important part of this question. The Center for Disease Control (as its name implies) represents one answer to these questions, while the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) champions the rights of individual families to refuse vaccines. The NVIC makes a very important, sometimes neglected point:

"Vaccination is a medical procedure which carries a risk of injury or death. As a parent, it is your responsibility to become educated about the benefits and risks of vaccines in order to make the most informed, responsible vaccination decisions."
A similar statement can be made about any medical procedure. There area also possible, but unproven links between MMR vaccine and juvenile diabetes multiple vaccines and autism, and OPV and Gulf War syndrome. Time and further research will tell if these proposed relationships are real

Answer 2

They stopped putting thimerisol, the mercury related preservative (not exactly mercury) in childhood vaccine in 2001. The older batches with thimerisol expired early 2003.

YET the autism rate continues to increase! If 20% of all cases of autism were caused by thimerisol, then we would be experiencing a 20% drop in the autism rate. So if thimerisol was responsible for ANY cases of autism, it was only a very minute percentage of all cases of autism.

But vaccinations are still rather tough on a babies system. I think the schedule is too aggressive. Every baby needs those vaccinations (with the poss. exception of MMR) but maybe not as early as routinely recommended.

Answer 3

First off, their is still no conclusive proof that the vaccines containing mercury do cause autism. Scientists have done many studies and have yet to find a substantial link, although many people assume that since there are more cases now than in the past, and more vaccines have mercury now than in the past, that there is the link. For the time being though, some vaccines have alternative options that do not include as much or any mercury. If you still feel uneasy, I guess the ultimate decision would come down to whether you'd rather have your child be autistic, which can range anywhere from so mild you don't even know to having to be placed in care, or would you rather them die from small pox and not have a child at all?

Answer 4

My husband and I met with our pediatrician over this issue prior to the birth of our daughter. He assured us that forgoing immunizations is not worth the risk. Diseases like polio, measles, tetanus, etc. are still out there in our country and abroad and we should all be protected from them. The fact that organic mercury is found in the vaccines is a concern for many but there is no scientific data that proves the mercury causes autism, asperger's and the like. Neurological disorders are linked with other factors such as genetics. Look on the American Academy of Pediatrics site for all you need to know about how important immunizations are.

We decided to have our child immunized afterall and are very glad we did so. At least we know we took all precautions to protect her in case of an exposure to an infectious disease. My husband I realized that we are healthy in part because of our vaccinations. It's a tough decision to make, I totally understand. In the end, you have to do what you feel is best for your child.

Answer 5

I am in a unique position because I have a child with autism and my dad is crippled from poliomyelitis. He spent his entire ninth year, 1947, in the hospital.

My son is severely disabled, at age 22 has to wear Depends and can't talk at all. He's quite smart though, and communicates by typing. He feels luckier than Gramps because Gramps hurts all the time.

They both get stared at, John for the tics and Gramps for the deformities. I believe we will discover that there are many causes of autism and vaccinations might not even be one of them.

Nobody has a right to risk starting another polio epidemic, not to mention that any mercury would have been removed from vaccines by now, if it was there at all.
.

Answer 6

First of all, you should get your facts straight... Vaccines don't CONTAIN mercury, it is STORED in mercury, the mercury doesn't actually touch the vaccination. It is stored in mercury because mercury is the easiest liquid to control the temperature. And no it doesn't cause autism.

Answer 7

it's a very personal choice. my hubby and i went back and forth on the issue and in the end we decided to vaccinate as there are so many people coming into our country and we decided the benefit outweighed the risk. We didnt start our vaccines on our children until they were 6 months old. Go do some online research and weigh the pros and cons yourself, you're probably just going to get opinions on here, but remember that you are the parents and it is your choice, nobody elses.

Answer 8

They don't contain mercury anymore. Only the flu vaccine has and doctors use the mercury free version on babies.

Answer 9

There are such things as thermosal-free vaccines, which is the preservative containing mercury that is in vaccines. It prolongs the shelf life. I hear they are available by special request.

Answer 10

YES Please don't leave your child unprotected against these terrible diseases as it will get very sick For Sure and that will be a lot worse.
Do you know how many babies died in the past? Why do you think we have these vaccines?
Its just scare tactics I have never seen it happen to any child I know.

Answer 11

I think that is a decision every parent has to make for themselves. I understand the good of vaccines but also the risk. I think parents are often under-informed about the risks.