ABC Primetime autism piece

[Guest guest]

We never hear from the Geiers in mainstream media. There is definitely a

blackout of any credible information that implicates vaccines in the autism

epidemic. Last night on Primetime on the autism piece they said doctors don't

believe anymore that vaccines cause autism. I did send a letter to NBC pointing

them to the Geiers so I will send this on to ABC so they can see that the

statement was not true. See below:

Letter to Pediatrics from the Geiers

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/eletters/112/6/1394

Parents' worries about thimerosal in vaccines are well founded!

12 March 2004

Mark R. Geier, MD, Ph.D.,

geneticist and vaccinologist

The Genetic Centers of America,

A. Geier of Medcon, Inc.

Letter to the Editor:

The recent article by Offit and Jew [1] is misleading and contains many

inaccurate statements. The authors obviously did not take the proper

time to search and review the literature that is a requisite for writing

a review article. The following comments will be directed to their

specific section on thimerosal.

First, the authors stated, " Although no published studies to date have

compared the incidence of neurodevelopmental delay in children who

received thimerosal-free or thimerosal-containing vaccines, several

factors are reassuring that the level of mercury contained in the

vaccines was not likely to be harmful. " In fact, there are three studies

[2-4] in the peer-reviewed literature that have examined children

receiving thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines in comparison to

thimerosal-free (i.e. contained 2-phenoxyethanol as a preservative since

their introduction) childhood vaccines administered to children as part

of the routine childhood immunization schedule. These studies have shown

2- to 6- fold statistically significant increased risks for

neurodevelopmental disorders and increasing dose-response effects for

additional doses of mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood

vaccines in comparison to thimerosal-free childhood vaccines.

Second, the authors stated, " However, no data exist on the capacity of

low-dose, chronic exposure to ethylmercury to harm the developing

nervous system. " In addition to the three previously referenced articles

showing a direct relationship between increasing mercury from thimerosal

and neurodevelopmental disorders from two different databases [2-4],

Blaxill [5] has in an ecological analysis shown that the prevalence of

autism in the state of California was directly correlated with the doses

of mercury children received from thimerosal-containing childhood

vaccines. Hornig [6] has found that early postnatal administration of

thimerosal to mice using doses and timing that mimic the childhood

immunization schedule induced mouse strain-specific effects mirroring

those of human neurodevelopmental disorders. It has also been shown by

other authors evaluating the effects of ethylmercury in animal systems

that ethylmercury causes distinct-specific damage to the nervous system

[7,8]. Bernard et al. [9,10] have evaluated mercury and autism, and

determined that exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory,

neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions similar to traits

defining or associated with autism, and the similarities extend to

neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, and biochemistry. Authors from the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [11] concluded that

they had serious reservations about administering higher doses of

mercury from thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines than the 25

micrograms of mercury from a single DTP vaccine at one time because of,

" the need to assure safety of the preservative. " Evaluation of children

with autistic spectrum disorders in comparison to normal-matched control

children has shown that autistic children retain abnormally high

concentrations (thimerosal has been shown [12] and conceded by authors

from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [13] to cross the

blood-brain barrier and placental barrier resulting in considerable

concentrations of mercury in the brain) of mercury from such sources as

thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines, whereas normal vaccinated

children retain similar concentrations of mercury as normal unvaccinated

children [14,15]. It has been reported that children who go onto to

develop autism have a genetic polymorphism (i.e. lower numbers of

sulfhydryl groups) that causes them to have a decreased ability to

excrete mercury, and as a result they buildup concentrations of mercury

in their brains resulting in neurotoxicity [14]. Furthermore, evaluation

of micromolar concentrations of thimerosal on neurons in tissue culture

has shown that thimerosal can interfere with the conduction of neurons

[16], cause neurodegeneration [17], and induce DNA breaks, caspase -3

activation, membrane damage, and cell death [18]. Most recently, Waly et

al. [19], from the s Hopkins University, Northeastern University,

Tufts University, and the University of Nebraska have published, " A

recent analysis of data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System,

maintained by the Centers for Disease Control, found a significant

correlation between the use of the thimerosal-containing formulation (vs

the thimerosal-free formulation) of the Diphtheria, Tetanus, acellular

Pertussis (DTaP) vaccine and autism. The discovery of the

PI3-kinase/MAP- kinase/MS pathway, and its potent inhibition by

developmental neurotoxins, including vaccine components thimerosal and

aluminum, provides a potential molecular explanation for how increased

use of vaccines could promote and increase in the incidence of autism. "

Third, the authors stated, " However, the pharmacokinetics of

ethylmercury and methylmercury are not the same. Methylmercury has a

biological half-life in blood of approximately 50 days compared with

that of approximately 7 days for ethylmercury. " We have found numerous

articles that have reported that ethylmercury and methylmercury are

similar. Tan and Parkin [20] have reported that ethylmercury ions and

methylmercury ions should display similar complexion and chemical

characteristics. Fagan et al. [21] have published that although

thimerosal is an ethylmercury compound, it has similar toxicological

properties to methylmercury, and the long-term neurological sequelae

produced by the ingestion of either methyl- or ethylmercury based

fungicides are indistinguishable. Zhang [22] has reported that

ethylmercury compounds have toxicological properties similar to those of

methylmercury compounds, and there is evidence that both methyl- and

ethylmercury can persist in the body for a long time. Yonaha et al. [8]

have reported that the clinical signs and pathological findings caused

by methlmercury compounds in animal experiments are known to be similar

to Minamata disease manifested in humans. At the same time, the symptoms

in cats, calves, and mice poisoned by ethylmercury compounds are similar

to those in methylmercury compounds. Further, alkylmercury compounds

having short carbon chains (C1-C3) bring about specific neurotoxicity

and signs of poisoning in rats including weight loss, ataxia, and

closing of the hind legs. Ueha-Ishibashi et al. [23] have conducted

studies with thimerosal and methylmercury demonstrating that both had

similar in vitro toxic effects on cerebellar granule neurons dissociated

from 2-week-old rats. An international committee [24] has previously

evaluated the maximum allowable concentrations of mercury compounds. The

authors reported that the elimination of methyl- and ethylmercury is

very slow, especially in man and primates, and consequently there is a

considerable risk of mercury accumulation. It was determined that women

of childbearing age should not be exposed to an occupational risk from

methyl- and ethlmercury compounds. The authors concluded that for

methyl- and ethylmercury salts, the ceiling value for mercury in whole

blood was the same. Even authors from the FDA [25] have published,

" Because higher-dose exposure to ethylmercury from thimerosal results in

toxicity comparable to that observed after high-dose exposure to

methylmercury, and because of the chemical similarity of the 2

compounds, it appears reasonable to consider toxicity of low doses of

methylmercury and ethylmercury to be similar. "

et al. [26] have investigated the distribution and excretion of

methyl- and ethylmercury in animal systems. The authors intramuscularly

injected chicks with 3.0 mg of methyl- and ethylmercury per kilogram of

body weight. It was determined that higher concentrations of mercury

were observed in the liver, blood, and kidney of chicks following

ethylmercury injection than methylmercury injection. Similarly,

decreasing blood mercury concentrations were observed following

injection of chicks with methyl- or ethylmerucry, and significantly

higher concentrations of mercury were present in the kidney and liver of

ethylmercury injected chicks in comparison to methylmercury injected

chicks 1-10 days following injection. et al. [27] developed a

precise and accurate method for the determination of either methyl- or

ethylmercury in the blood and tissue of rats using capillary gas

chromatography with electron-capture detection. The authors applied

their method to evaluate a pharmacokinetic study in rats dosed orally

with 8 mg mercury/kg as methylmercury chloride and ethylmercury

chloride. The authors found higher concentrations of mercury present in

the blood of ethylmercury (~100% of the dose entered the blood) treated

rats than methylmercury (~80% of the dose entered the blood) treated

rats. The authors also determined that the peak mercury blood

concentration occurred sooner in methylmercury treated rats (12 hours)

in comparison to ethylmercury (24 hours), and that greater amounts of

mercury were present in the blood for longer times in ethylmercury (at 5

days: ~75% of maximum value) treated rats in comparison to methylmercury

(at 5 days: ~60% of maximum value) treated rats.

Fourth, the authors stated that thimerosal was removed from most

childhood vaccines by 2001 as a precautionary measure. In reality, as

the CDC has recently conceded in a recent communication with Dr. Weldon,

a Florida Congressman, some of the routinely recommended childhood

vaccines contained the full amounts of thimerosal even as late as 2003,

and many vaccines given to children even today contain 25 micrograms of

thimerosal including: pediatric Diphtheria-Tetanus (DT) vaccine,

Tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine, tetanus toxoid vaccine, meningitis

vaccine, and influenza vaccine. Many of these vaccines have expiration

dates towards the end of 2005, and there is no reason to think that the

manufacturers are planning to completely remove thimerasol anytime soon.

In fact several documents recently obtained from WHO state that is their

policy to lobby strongly for maintaining thimerasol in childhood

vaccines for the foreseeable future because they say it is necessary for

use in third world counties and if it is removed from US vaccines these

countries may refuse to use thimerasol containing vaccines.

Fifth, the authors stated that the developing CNS of the fetus is more

susceptible to environmental and toxic insults than that of the newborn.

This fact further accentuates the dangers from the high levels of

thimerosal, which is capable of crossing the placental and blood brain

barriers, [12,13] that were contained until recently in Rho-

immunoglobulin. Rho-immunoglobulin in some formulations contained more

than 100 micrograms per dose and pregnant women often got more than one

dose during their pregnancy. A recent paper by Holmes et al. [15] showed

that autism occurred far more in children born to women receiving Rho-

immunoglobulin than in comparison to matched-controls. The fact that

fetuses are highly susceptible to mercury toxicity is a reason to

question the current recommendation to give thimerosal-containing (i.e.

25 micrograms of mercury per dose) influenza vaccines to pregnant women

while at the same time recommending that they not eat any fish.

Sixth, with regard to the authors comments on the birth doses of

hepatitis B vaccine, since the hepatitis B status of most pregnant women

who deliver babies in the US is known, and is negative in the vast

majority of cases, it would seem that a more prudent recommendation

would be to administer thimerosal-free hepatitis B vaccine to infants at

birth only when their mothers are known to be carriers of the disease,

or perhaps, if the hepatitis status is unknown.

Seventh, the authors imply that there is little or no peer-reviewed

literature on the dangers of thimerosal. Nothing could be further from

the truth. By simply doing a literature search anyone can confirm that

there are literally many hundreds of articles in the peer-reviewed

literature on the dangers of thimerasol (merthiolate) including

case-reports, animal studies, tissues culture studies, genetic studies,

toxicology studies, and biochemical studies. These papers were published

over many decades by authors from a wide variety of fields in science

and medicine.

Finally, the only way to restore confidence in our much needed vaccine

program is to admit our past mistakes, correct them as soon as is

possible and to conduct accurate, honest and open discussion of the

problems associated with vaccines. In light of the recent " Autism Alarm "

from the CDC, HHS and AAP which warns that now 1/166 children have

autistic spectrum disorders, and even far worse 1/6 children have

developmental and/or behavioral disorders, we must demand the immediate

removal of thimerasol from all vaccines and other medical products.

#

Dr. Mark R. Geier has been a consultant and expert witness in cases

involving vaccine adverse reactions before the National Vaccine Injury

Compensation Program and in civil litigation.

A. Geier has been a consultant in cases involving vaccine adverse

reactions before the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and in

civil litigation.

References

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