AJC: Boost Vaccine Safety

[Guest guest]

Wow- What a great article! ~Sue

AJC: Boost Vaccine Safety

By Margaret Dunkle in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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.