CDC admits they don't know and are researching correlation b/t vaccines and autism...?

Question

For new moms: yesterday Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Pete went public w/ their belief that vaccines caused thier son's autism. Oprah discussed a quote by the CDC, which for the first time, they admit they simply do not know and they are currently researching possible links between autism and vaccines.

Question: does this new information change your views of vaccines? Will you question giving your children vaccines? Have you done any research prior to giving your child vaccines?

Answer 1

As a mother of a 16 year old autistic son, until they can tell me what DOES cause autism everything is suspect in my mind. We did not follow the recommended shot guideline with our younger children, going more with a delayed plan of our own from the Stephanie Cave logic. If they had so much as a runny nose they didn't get the shot until they were healthy. No immune issues at the time of any shot. I never used drugs, I did all the right things in the pregnancy and before it, just like with my other three children and yet somehow my handsome, smart, perfectly developing boy ended up with autism. Maybe it has to do with different triggers in different kids that all are susceptible due to some gene mutations or something... I don't throw all the blame at vaccinations since we don't KNOW, but I do question EVERYTHING, from toxins, to artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, chemicals sprayed on the lawn, you name it. My sons changes were more around the dpt time not the mmr at all. Yes, we all got shots as kids but how many compared to the ridiculous numbers they give kids now ? I think my oldest daughter who is 23 got 8 shots as a child. The younger kids were on track to get 20 or more ??? No way is the number of autistic kids now due to better diagnosis. Think back to when you were in school. How many kids were in special education? Were there a bunch of kids in your regular class that seemed autistic ? Not in my school. My son's school has a whole division dedicated to autism. I don't believe for a minute that this is just better diagnosis and that all these autistic kids were around all along. Anita

Answer 2

I am a bit worried, but I still will get my daughter all her vaccines. I haven't done much research on the matter but I did work in Special Education before I became a mom. I know that many more children are getting tested for autism than before. There have always been obvious cases of autism, but with higher public awareness they are testing kids that I doubt would have been test 10 or 20 years ago.

Answer 3

Here's the full quote just to be exact


"CDC places a high priority on vaccine safety and the integrity and credibility of its vaccine safety research. This commitment not only stems from our scientific and medical dedication, it is also personal—for most of us who work at CDC are also parents and grandparents. And as such, we too, have high levels of personal interest and concern in the health and safety of children, families and communities. We simply don't know what causes most cases of autism, but we're doing everything we can to find out. The vast majority of science to date does not support an association between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. But we are currently conducting additional studies to further determine what role, if any, thimerosal in vaccines may play in the development of autism. It is important to remember, vaccines protect and save lives. Vaccines protect infants, children and adults from the unnecessary harm and premature death caused by vaccine-preventable diseases."

Answer 4

Geez oh man! People watch an episode of Oprah and they are suddenly experts in autism!
Yes I watched most of the episode myself, but I am of the belief that more people had autism than they were aware of many years ago...they just couldnt diagnose it correctly. Has autism gone up over the years..yes. Am I still going to immunize my children--absolutely. As someone else said, the benefits far outweigh the risks. It doesnt change my views on vaccinations a bit. I still think that they are absolutely necessary and that every child should have them.

Answer 5

I just asked a similar question. I am now researching the vaccinations my son will get more thoroughly because I have a right to know what is going to enter his body. Before, I hardly questioned it because I thought it was the best for him.

The link between the mercury and autism isn't easily determined because there are many environmental factors that we should consider as well. Now, more than ever, we are surrounded by radiation...our cell phones, our microwaves, etc. Now, more than ever, we are surrounded by toxic chemicals and pollutants due to big corporations and the increasing population. There are also more drugs on the streets, more artificial foods and genetically modified foods as well. Can you really link Autism to just the vaccines?

The increasing rate of Autism can also be misleading. With the new advances in technology and within the medicine field, we now have more at our hands to be able to properly diagnose Autism. There are now foundations that educate and raise money for Autism research. At my college graduation, our speaker, president of NBC, Bob Wright, told us of how his granddaughter had Autism and how much is being done to raise awareness of this condition.

It is so hard to just pinpoint Autism to one factor, whether environmental or man made. It is also difficult to decide whether to subject your child to mercury or a possible life threatening disease the vaccinations were meant to protect them against. I think the only thing we ourselves can do as parents is to research as much as we can and decide what is best for our children.

Answer 6

I know a woman with 3 kids, all 3 have some form of autism.
I know another woman with 2 children both of them have it too. In both cases the sons seem to have it the most severe. The girls are more mainstream.

Both of my children have their vaccinations. Neither of them have autism.
Since this issue has been brought up, it will be decades before we get a straight answer one way or the other.

Autism has to have something to do with genetics, not just vaccines. Autism is on the rise lately, but vaccines have been pretty steady for years.

Answer 7

Oh boy I don't know. I feel so bombarded. Every day it's something new. One day vaccines are evil, and the next day they are vital.

I have done some research on my own, but I probably have not managed to explore every theory/study/opinion. My 6 month old is up to date with all her vaccines so far and my 2 year old is also.

My son has responded very well to all his vaccines in spite of having had a brain injury. I feel resonably confident in giving my daughter her vaccines also.

So I guess my view is that this new information worries me, but it is not enough for me to stop vaccinating my children.

(I will give my daughter her MMR in single jabs, however)

Answer 8

There is no casual link with vaccinations and autism, the incidence of increased autistic labeling is associated with increased awareness and effective therapies for kids with autism. More then that, due to legislation that dictates that counties/schools must provide appropriate services to children with special needs a label must exist to create a service plan.

The truth is that kids have always been quirky, and those that are severally autistic used to be just labeled retarded and dumped. The need/requirement for providing education for all children has driven the increase in labeling, and there is some evidence that while diagnosis of ADHD has increased it is under diagnosed (why aren't you concerned about a casuality of ADHD and vaccination?)

Answer 9

I feel that vaccines were important when certain diseases were a problem. But I do not think that most of the vaccines are necessary anymore. Why are we vaccinating for things that are no longer a problem? And why so young? When a baby's system is just beginning to develop. The CDC is overwhelming parents with so much info about the pros(if you can even call it that) but no info about the cons. We did lots of research and decided not to do it. I think lots of parents are becoming aware that they are in charge of what is put into their children. I think it has something to do with whether or not you are genetically predisposed to autism.

Answer 10

It wasn't the Oprah show that changed my views but if I had seen it, I would definitely start investigating the claims myself. I have already made the decision to not vaccinate my daughter because I have found out that we, as parents, have not received complete or correct information about our children's immunization shots. There really are many harmful vaccines which are unnecessary for our children to get in the first place.

For those who are interested, there are many sites online which discuss this in detail.

http://www.nvic.org/Default.htm

http://www.life.ca/nl/49/vaccines.html

http://members.aol.com/doctorrmosk/articles/immunizations_1.html

http://www.alaskawellness.com/jul-aug01/evidence.htm

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/statehegemonoverparentsrightsupdate22oct04.shtml