Avelient BioPharm Blog

The Vaccination Debate

I was making myself a snack the other night when I noticed Jenny McCarthy on the TV program my wife happened to be watching. Having not seen her as much in recent years as I did when I was younger, I was curious as to whether she was on a talk show because she was making a comeback. Asking my wife for more information, I found out that McCarthy was on the Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss her son who has autism, how she’s been dealing with and treating the disorder, and her theory as to the trigger for its onset.

Having a son of our own who is younger than McCarthy’s was when he was diagnosed with the disorder, I found the topic interesting and I asked my wife to save the show for me so I could watch later. I managed to finish the show today, and I found myself enveloped by her story, but I took particular interest in what she identified was the catalyst for her son’s Autism: the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination, which her son received just before his second birthday.

The MMR vaccination is recommended in two doses now by the Center of Disease Control (CDC). According to their web site, they suggest children get the first shot at 12-15 months, and the second between 4 and 6 years. The chemical mixture uses a substance called thimerosal as a preservative for the 3 vaccines it contains, which is suspected by many parents to be the root cause of increased incidences of Autism in children at around age 2. Thimerosal is an organic compound containing mercury, or organomercurial, and has been used since the 1930s in a number of drug products, including vaccines, to help prevent their contamination by harmful microbes before administration. [UPDATE, 9/24: The MMR vaccine does NOT contain thimerosal, and though some childhood vaccinations have in the past, there has been considerable effort by the FDA to remove the substance from vaccinations administered today.]

Sallie Bernard, Chair of the Board of Directors of Cure Autism Now, believes that autism is a novel form of mercury poisoning in children. Rejecting her assertion, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) have conducted their own studies between 2001 and 2004 and found limited evidence of a causal relationship between the mercury content in the preservative thimerosal. Discouraged but not defeated, Bernard asserts:

Cure Autism Now believes the Institute of Medicine’s recent report, which rejects a causal link between MMR and thimerosal-taining vaccines and autism, is premature and should not be considered definitive. The IOM report unfortunately places greater emphasis on population-based epidemiologic studies using statistical analyses than on existing and emerging biological data from studies of individuals with autism which present biological mechanisms that may indicate a causal relationship. Cure Autism Now is aware of at least 15 ongoing studies, some of which are funded by CAN, that explore the potential biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism and believes these should be given serious consideration before a final verdict is made. (click here for full article)

At last count, the incidence rate of autism is now 1 in 150 children in the United States, up from 1 in 166 when it was last studied in 2004.

Interestingly, in spite of their belief of no correlation between thimerosal and autism incidents, the Public Health Service, comprised of the FDA, CDC and other national health organizations, has initiated an effort to urge vaccine manufacturers to significantly reduce or eliminate the preservative from their vaccines as soon as possible, starting in 1999. In addition, as part of the Oprah Winfrey Show episode I was watching, Ms. Winfrey’s team contacted the CDC to determine whether a link between Autism and vaccinations existed, and their response proved interesting:

CDC places a high priority on vaccine safety and the integrity and credibility of its vaccine safety research. This commitment not only stems from our scientific and medical dedication, it is also personal—for most of us who work at CDC are also parents and grandparents. And as such, we too, have high levels of personal interest and concern in the health and safety of children, families and communities. We simply don’t know what causes most cases of autism, but we’re doing everything we can to find out. The vast majority of science to date does not support an association between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. But we are currently conducting additional studies to further determine what role, if any, thimerosal in vaccines may play in the development of autism. It is important to remember, vaccines protect and save lives. Vaccines protect infants, children and adults from the unnecessary harm and premature death caused by vaccine-preventable diseases. (click here for a link to the website with more quotes and a summary of the episode)

Since the show, Oprah’s discussion boards have been bombarded with comments from mothers describing similar experiences as they deal with their own children who exhibit the symptoms of autism. It has piqued my interest in the subject, and I know now my wife and I are struggling with making the “right” decisions as our son faces immunizations at every pediatric visit.

I should note that though this could be a serious problem that will have a great impact on the decisions we make as parents, we will undoubtedly continue to vaccinate our children. It is because of vaccines and the work of Louis Pasteur that we no longer have to worry about debilitating illnesses such as smallpox, polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and a plethora of others. The show made a point of indicating that the argument wasn’t necessarily against all vaccinations in general, but an argument against the “One size fits all” mentality that the CDC promotes when making its recommendations. Perhaps the levels of mercury that build up after significant exposure to thimerosal are the cause of the problem, and they simply crest at 2 years old when the MMR vaccine is given? Perhaps all vaccinations should be spread out over a longer period of time as a preventative measure? The answers to these questions will likely come as more studies are conducted and completed by the CDC and the FDA, but what do we parents do now, for those of our children who are scheduled to get those vaccines? What do we trust? In the absence of definitive test results, do we go with our gut?

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this topic, and find out what you would do in my situation. Additionally, if you feel you have something you’d like to say to our meetup group on the topic, I’d love to schedule you as a speaker! Feel free to leave a comment below.