Here's a bit of stuff from BMJ's rapid responses - there's a bit of argy-bargy going on already, from before this latest news: (Sorry it's long)
''Interestingly, the Vaccine Safety Committee of the IOM met again on February 9, 2004. The following are quotes from 3 presentations:
“Mind you, half of Dr. Wakefield’s theory has been proven correct and accepted in the medical community. Hundreds of children with regressive autism and GI dysfunction have been scoped and clinicians are seeing the inflammatory bowel disease he first described. The NIH is finally funding an attempt to repeat Dr. O’Leary’s findings of measles RNA in Wakefield’s biopsy specimens, though I am disappointed it has taken this long”. US Representative Dave Weldon, Florida, 15th District, a physician
"Based upon our experimental research, it is plausible to postulate that an atypical measles infection that does not produce a typical measles rash but manifests neurological symptoms might be etiologically linked to autoimmunity in autism. The source of measles virus could potentially be MMR vaccine or a mutant measles strain, but more research is necessary to establish either of these two possibilities…Fundamentally, I tend to think that autistic children have a problem of their immune system, which is the “faulty immune regulation.” Hence they have abnormal immune reactions to measles virus and/or MMR vaccine” Vijendra K. Singh, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor of Neuroimmunology, Utah State University, an expert in the autoimmune causes of autism.
“In light of encephalopathy, presenting in children as autistic regression closely following MMR vaccination … The findings confirm a highly significant statistical association between the presence of MV RNA in CSF and autistic regression following MMR vaccination.” Jeff Bradstreet MD, Director, International Child Development Resource Center, Melbourne, Florida.
Dr. Bernard Rimland, Founder of the Autism Society of America, President of the Autism Research Institute and a full-time professional research scientist in the field of autism for 45 years has stated “Late onset autism, (starting in the 2nd year), was almost unheard of in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s; today such cases outnumber early onset cases 5 to 1, the increase paralleling the increase in required vaccines.” (2)
This directly contradicts the following statement by the author “Because autism is usually diagnosed during the toddler years…”
Lastly, MMR does not contain Thimerosal and the majority of pediatric vaccinations are given in the first year of life.
A relatively simple study would be to compare the age of onset of autistic symptoms in affected children in Atlanta who received the MMR vaccine at 15 months with those vaccinated at 30 months of age. I believe, from my own research, that such a study will show that autistic behavior follows MMR vaccination and that fewer and milder cases will be noticed in the cohort vaccinated at 30 months, since vaccination at a younger age is more damaging. Another reasonable study would be to compare Measles, MMR and Myelin Basic Protein antibody titers of children who developed autism shortly after MMR vaccination in Atlanta to an equal sample of normal children similarly vaccinated.
Obviously there is an inherent risk with these studies; they could prove that regressive autism after MMR vaccination is not a coincidence.
References
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DeStefano F. et. al. Age at First Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in Children With Autism and School-Matched Control Subjects: A Population-Based Study in Metropolitan Atlanta PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 2 February 2004, pp. 259-266
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The Autism Epidemic is Real and Excessive Vaccinations Are the Cause A Statement: Bernard Rimland, PH.D.July 14, 2003 Available at: autismautoimmunityproject.org/Rimland.htm (accessed February 17, 2004)