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Autism, vaccine link considered By Mark

From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk

Published 5/5/2003 2:34 PM

CHICAGO, May 5 (UPI) -- An epidemic of autism and other brain problems in

American children is linked to vaccines, say doctors, activists and one

member of Congress who met in Chicago over the weekend to discuss the

disease.

At a three-day meeting at Loyola University, researchers said growing

evidence indicates that vaccines are linked to increasing rates of brain

problems and that government health agencies have done little to recognize

it. Autism One, a non-profit group dedicated to learning more about autism,

sponsored the meeting.

" There are some bureaucrats in these agencies who have really dropped the

ball and are doing things that are malicious and may be criminal, " said Dr.

Boyd Haley, chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of

Chicago.

Boyd believes a mercury-based preservative added to vaccines during the

1990s may be a cause of autism. He said the Food and Drug Administration and

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have failed to address the

issue.

Autism rates have increased 10 times since the late 1980s. The CDC says that

one in 300 American children may suffer from autism.

The leading theories about autism discussed in Chicago:

-- A mercury-based preservative called thimerosal used during the 1990s

plays a role. Mercury has known toxic effects and during that decade, the

CDC drastically increased the recommended number of vaccines. Some children

may have been exposed to 125 times the federal limit for mercury exposure.

-- An intestinal disorder may eventually impact the brain. That disorder

might start with vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella, the first

multi-dose vaccine for children to contain three live viruses. Some

researchers said mercury poisoning might make the body unable to fight off

the infection.

Debate over a possible connection between brain problems and vaccines is

hotly contested. Critics of the government blame a revolving door between

pharmaceutical companies and government regulators for complicating the

debate. Researchers who say there is a link claim they have been

blackballed.

" I hope somebody will ask the question, 'Is there collusion between the

pharmaceutical companies and our health agencies?' " asked Rep. Dan Burton,

R-Ind., chairman of the House Human Rights and Wellness Subcommittee. " The

appearance in many cases is that there is. "

Vaccine manufacturers say the science does not favor a link between

thimerosal in vaccines and autism. The Pharmaceutical Research and

Manufacturers of America did not return calls seeking comment. But Len

Lavenda, a spokesman for vaccine manufacturer Aventis Pasteur, told United

Press International this spring that scientists have not proven a link

between the additive and brain problems.

" We think we are experiencing opposition to thimerosal for emotional

reasons, " Lavenda said. " This is not based on research and not based on

testing. "

Burton has been investigating vaccines for more than four years. In Chicago

he released a report on thimerosal criticizing government health agencies

and vaccine manufacturers for their roles.

Doctors and activists in Chicago also discussed a new study that claims to

show an association between thimerosal and brain problems. The study claims

to show " strong epidemiological evidence for a link between increasing

mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and neurodevelopmental

disorders and heart disease. "

The study compares reports of speech disorders, autism and heart arrest for

one vaccine that contained thimersosal to one that did not, over a 10-year

period. It also uses information from manufacturers to determine how much

mercury was in shots during different points during that decade.

The study found reports of brain problems for vaccines that contained the

additive and that the relative risk went up as more mercury was in vaccines

in general.

Two Silver Spring, Md., researchers performed the study, Dr. Mark Geier and

his son Geier.

The study shows that " the relative risk of each of those disorders

correlated with increasing doses of mercury contained in childhood

vaccines. "

The CDC sets the national immunization schedule for children. The CDC says

about thimerosal: " There are no data or evidence of any harm caused by the

level of exposure that some children may have encountered in following the

existing immunization schedule. "

The Institute of Medicine -- the government's adviser on medical issues --

said in October 2001 that the link between the preservative and autism is

" biologically plausible " but that " current scientific evidence neither

proves nor disproves a link. " This March, the institute found " no

association " between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism.

In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics, followed by the CDC, called for

the removal of thimerosal from vaccines but said there was no evidence

showing it had harmed children. The CDC continues to recommend the measles,

mumps and rubella vaccine.

Autism, referred to by parents as a disease, usually showing up before age

2. Sometimes children who had previously appeared to interact normally will

suddenly regress, become withdrawn and stop responding to their parents and

the outside world. They may perform repetitive motions, like spinning or

flapping their arms, scream uncontrollably and resist physical touch.

Parents of children with autism at the Chicago conference said the disease

has a way of isolating parents because of the time-consuming task of raising

a child with autism.

" I did not leave my son's side for four years, " said Edmund Arranga, with

Autism International Association. " It keeps people from connecting. "

Arranga said he estimates that 40 percent of parents of children with autism

believe vaccines cause the disease.

Many parents described previously normal children who appear to digress

suddenly with signs of autism within days of receiving vaccinations. Those

vaccinations often include measles, mumps and rubella vaccines and large

doses of thimerosal.

Liz Birt, an attorney with Burton's Subcommittee on Human Rights and

Wellness, said that during the 1990s, the U.S. childhood vaccination

schedule exposed some children to 125 times the federal limit on mercury

exposure set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Birt said the CDC and

the FDA have been slow to admit the damage the vaccines may have caused

because key officials want to keep their jobs and vaccine manufacturers do

not want the liability.

" It all comes down to money, " Birt said.