AJC: Boost Vaccine Safety

[Guest guest]

AJC: Boost Vaccine Safety

By Margaret Dunkle. http://tinyurl.com/5rkm5n

In recent months, a vitriolic public health debate has been

taking place, sparked by the case of Hannah Poling, a 9-year-old

Georgia girl with autism. Her parents, neurologist Jon Poling and his

wife, Terry, filed in federal no-fault vaccine court, asserting that

vaccines caused their daughter's condition and asking for compensation

for the lifelong care Hannah will require.

Without a formal hearing, the federal government conceded the

nine vaccines Hannah received on July 19, 2000, significantly

aggravated an underlying medical condition — mitochondrial

dysfunction, or an impaired functioning of how cells create energy.

This predisposed Hannah " to deficits in cellular energy metabolism and

manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism

spectrum disorder. " In simple terms, Hannah has autism.

This concession, which became public in March, has prompted

strong reactions. Some government officials are, ironically, fueling

public distrust of immunizations by failing to acknowledge — much less

address — emerging vaccine safety issues. And every day, more parents

and some pediatricians reject the vaccination schedule.

Former National Institutes of Health Director Bernadine Healy

has entered the debate, saying the scientific community should never

turn its back on a hypothesis out of fear for what it might reveal: If

you know there is a susceptible group, she said in a television

interview, " you can save those children. If you turn your back on the

notion there is a susceptible group ... what can I say? "

Yet, amazingly, just last month the Federal Interagency Autism

Coordinating Committee refused to mention vaccine safety in its

strategic plan.

The matter is urgent. One in every 150 children has an autism

spectrum disorder. Mitochondrial dysfunction is not rare among these

children. The best evidence suggests that at least 4 percent — and

perhaps 20 percent or more — of autistic children have mitochondrial

dysfunction.

With stakes this high, it's time for policy-makers to take five

common-sense steps to ensure that more children are not damaged by the

very vaccines intended to protect them.

• With Marshall Plan dispatch, Congress should launch a bold,

nothing-off-the-table program of basic scientific research on the role

of mitochondrial dysfunction and neuro-inflammation in autism and

other disorders. Funding — $200 million for starters — must not be

taken from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

• Reform vaccine practices so they are as safe as possible for

both children in general and susceptible subgroups. Examine the

schedule, number and frequency of vaccines, use of combination

vaccines, preservatives used and ages at which vaccines are

administered. Find ways to identify children for whom vaccination or

another event might cause or worsen mitochondrial dysfunction, leading

to autism. Study siblings to identify biological markers that could

lead to prevention, screening and treatment.

• Piggyback new research onto existing efforts. Use the Newborn

Screening Saves Lives Act to propel advances concerning genetic and

metabolic disorders. Modify the National Children's Study to test

alternate vaccine schedules. And integrate new analyses into ongoing

studies, such as mitochondrial research already under way at s

Hopkins University and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

• Identify children nationwide who have abrupt developmental

regressions, including those that are vaccine-related, and speed them

into research and intense early intervention. And strengthen the

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, including imposing serious

consequences for health care providers who do not report bad reactions.

• Improve the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Encourage

parents to focus on early intervention by allowing longer than three

years to file. Update the Vaccine Injury Table, making it easier for

families to receive compensation as new discoveries emerge. And

explore limiting compensation to the most critical immunizations,

returning adverse reactions from other vaccines to the regular court

system.

A loud wake-up call from a beautiful little redheaded girl from

Georgia has provided policy-makers with a historic opportunity to

tackle critical issues of vaccine safety. If they fail to answer, what

can I say?

— Margaret Dunkle, Hannah Poling's great-aunt, directs the Early

Identification and Intervention Collaborative for Los Angeles County.

She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Services Research and

Policy at Washington University.