XMRV -Testing Autism Children Government Confirms

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Age of Autism

Government Confirms

Testing of Children with

Autism for Presence of

XMRV Retrovirus

By Kent Heckenlively, Esq.

I received the following e-mail a few weeks back

from the National Institute of Health concerning

my inquiry into XMRV (xenotropic murine

leukemia virus related virus) infection and children

with autism.

Here is the reply:

Dear Mr. Heckenlively:

Thank you for writing to the National Institutes of

Health (NIH) concerning the presence of the XMRV

retrovirus in children with autism.

As the Acting Director, Office of Science Policy,

Planning, and Communications, National Institute

of Mental Health (NIMH), I have been asked to

respond on behalf of Dr. Francis , NIH

Director.

NIH is dedicated to addressing the growing public

health challenge that autism spectrum disorders

(ASD) present. In FY 2010, NIH invested $160

million from its annual appropriation in research

on autism and another $58 million in funding

provided through the American Recovery and

Reinvestment Act.

In addition, NIH issued several funding

opportunity announcements to encourage

research designed to elucidate the etiology,

epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and optimal

means of service delivery related to ASD.

As you may be aware, NIH intramural researchers

are examining the XMRV retrovirus in samples

from approximately 100 children in an autism

subtyping study:

Neuroimmunologic Investigations of Autism

Spectrum Disorders.

You can access further information on the study

via the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting

Tools at

http://projectreporter.nih.gov/reporter.cfm.

Since final analyses of the study are not complete

and have not been published, we do not yet have

any results to provide. The researchers will share

the results in the future after completion of the

data analysis.

Thank you again for your interest in research on

autism.

Marina Volkov,

Ph.D.

Acting

Director

NIMH Office of Science Policy, Planning, and

Communications

````

I responded on June 2, 2011, asking three

questions, based on a series of e-mails provided

to me by another autism parent who had made a

similar inquiry.

1. What was the testing initially used by the CDC

which showed a high rate of XMRV infection in

children with autism?

2. What were the subsequent tests used by the

CDC which did not show a high rate of XMRV

infection in children with autism?

3. Is the NIH following the established protocols

for blood storage, preparation of the sample, and

tests utilized, as detailed by the initial study

group of the Whittemore- Institute, the

Cleveland Clinic, and the National Cancer Institute

as detailed in their October 2009 article in the

journal Science?

When I receive an answer to these questions I will

share them with the readers of Age of Autism.

Kent Heckenlively is Contributing Editor to Age of

Autism

Posted by Age of Autism at June 07, 2011