It's the foot in the door, or the nose in the tent.
Health officials strongly denied Thursday that there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism, calling the case in which a 9-year-old Athens girl was injured "a very special situation."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a teleconference to address concerns raised after the federal government conceded that Hannah Poling was injured in 2000 by a series of vaccinations that resulted in her developing autism. The child has a genetic disorder involving her mitochondria, which supply energy to cells, that was aggravated by the series of vaccinations.
The federal government "made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism," said CDC Director Julie Gerberding. "That is a complete mischaracterization of the findings of the case and a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today."
She called Hannah's case "a very special situation and a very sad situation for the family of the affected child."
However, the announcement had been viewed by many advocates as proof of their assertion that the dramatic rise in autism in the U.S. in recent decades is due to thimerosal, a preservative once used in many vaccines.
Though it has now been removed from childhood vaccines, there are nearly 5,000 claims of injury, many associated with autism, pending before the same federal vaccine injury compensation program that conceded the Polings' claim.
Maurine Meleck, of North Augusta, who has two of those claims, said her two grandsons both suffered some degree of autism because of the shots and one only began to recover when she stopped his vaccinations. She was not surprised at the denials.
"We're used to the spin," she said. "It's just a shame."
Ms. Meleck claimed the vaccines actually cause the mitochondrial disorder and that half of the children with autism have it, something health officials also disputed.
The mitochondrial disorders are most often caused by genetic lesions in the mitochondria itself, said Dr. Tom Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. How a vaccine could cause that kind of disorder "would be a little difficult to imagine," he said.
Most children with mitochondrial disorders do not have autism, said Edwin Trevathan, director of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC. And while a physician would have to weigh the risks and benefits of immunizing that child, the vaccine recommendations are the same for those with the disorder, he said.
Children with these disorders might appear normal but under severe stress, such as from a high fever, the child's body cannot compensate with the energy they need, he said. The brain is often affected and they suffer neurological disorders as a result, such as seizures.
In fact, many pediatric neurologists recommend children with the disorder get the vaccines because the diseases they help prevent "are infections that are known to be associated with severe regression in children who have mitochondrial disorders," Dr. Trevathan said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
It's the foot in the door, or the nose in the tent.
As of yesterday Americans are already aware of the Poling AUTISM case. This litigation was brought to the attention of the vaccine court, which like thousands of other citizens was unaware? Bush and his corporate cronies placed a statute of limitations on any cases regarding vaccines, so their could be no chance of suing huge billion dollar drug industries like Eli Lilly. When you get huge political donations from such enterprises, the advantages for this is obvious? My Son has AUTISM and when he was born prematurely, but their was no reason to suspect any mental disorder. It was in the beginning of his second year we noticed odd traits and then he was diagnosed with AUTISM. However, although he carries many of the impediments, he is a high functioning child. My research indicates to save a few dollars; 92 cents in facts they added the preventative additive called Thermasol.
Although these specialists indicate that their is no connection between the vaccine and Autism, we must always be aware that research scientists and specialists get get government grants for their research. Therefore you can read that between the lines, as you like?
Carefully engineered was the undisclosed fact that their was a federal vaccine court and that the case involved were kept extremely quiet.
My suggestion that their is some very fishy about this? If you heard the commentary from the Poling case specialist, there is more to this huge court case than we have been told. One can read about two versions of the case; one for the regular public and one not disclosed. You will find this on website mercola.com. For those interested in pushing this further into the avid eye of families with Autistic children, there is the official site for the vaccine court.at NVIC.org. Here you will find a list of attorneys who are dealing with previous cases. I think if their is enough momentum from the public, the Bush Administration will have to reopen cases. The more irate people with Autistic children should have their day in court? Their should be a financial compensation for all children with this disability, so when the parents have gone they will have a sustainable, comfortable life.
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