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Court Rules that Vaccine Made Girl Autistic
March 16, 2008 10:30 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Hannah Poling’s parents won a lawsuit against a federal vaccine oversight body claiming that immunizations made her autistic.
30-Second Summary
U.S. government health officials admitted that a string of nine vaccinations administered to Hannah Poling exacerbated an underlying condition that led to her developing autism.
Her mother, Terry, said on the March 7 edition of “Larry King Live” that Hannah changed after receiving a large set of vaccinations because she had fallen behind in her scheduled immunizations. “Hannah had a decreased level of consciousness … anorexia … She just deteriorated. She couldn’t put food from her hand into her mouth.”
Autism is a developmental disorder that disrupts thought processes. Those afflicted have a hard time communicating and conducting social interactions.
Following the verdict, public health officials were quick to emphasize that child vaccines are safe. Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that “immunization is life-saving … and is an essential component of protection for children across America and around the world.”
The Poling case is the latest example of the debate over whether there is a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. A 1998 study published in British medical journal The Lancet claimed that there was a link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine and an increased risk of autism, saying that the immunizations caused toxins to leak into the brain.
However, several of the study’s co-authors pulled their support from the research when they found that the rates of autism diagnoses increased in areas where there was a lower rate of MMR vaccination.
But the Autism Research Institute cites a study from the Institute of Medicine that says its “conclusion does not exclude the possibility that MMR vaccine could contribute to ASD [autism spectrum disorder] in a small number of children.”
Her mother, Terry, said on the March 7 edition of “Larry King Live” that Hannah changed after receiving a large set of vaccinations because she had fallen behind in her scheduled immunizations. “Hannah had a decreased level of consciousness … anorexia … She just deteriorated. She couldn’t put food from her hand into her mouth.”
Autism is a developmental disorder that disrupts thought processes. Those afflicted have a hard time communicating and conducting social interactions.
Following the verdict, public health officials were quick to emphasize that child vaccines are safe. Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said that “immunization is life-saving … and is an essential component of protection for children across America and around the world.”
The Poling case is the latest example of the debate over whether there is a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. A 1998 study published in British medical journal The Lancet claimed that there was a link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine and an increased risk of autism, saying that the immunizations caused toxins to leak into the brain.
However, several of the study’s co-authors pulled their support from the research when they found that the rates of autism diagnoses increased in areas where there was a lower rate of MMR vaccination.
But the Autism Research Institute cites a study from the Institute of Medicine that says its “conclusion does not exclude the possibility that MMR vaccine could contribute to ASD [autism spectrum disorder] in a small number of children.”
Headline Link: ‘CDC Scrambles to Reassure on Vaccine Safety’
The parents of Hannah Poling, a child who developed autism after receiving a series of vaccinations as a toddler, have announced that federal health officials agree that the vaccinations eventually led to her autism. “Our message … is that immunization is life-saving … and is an essential component of protection for children across America and around the world,” said CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding.
Source: Baltimore Sun
Reference: Autism
Autism impairs a person's social development and thought processes. Generally diagnosed before a child turns three years old, autism can limit individuals in varying degrees. FindingDulcinea has a guide to autism, including symptoms and support groups.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reactions: A debate on the safety of vaccinations
Hannah Poling’s parents spoke about the case on the March 7 edition of “Larry King Live.” Her mother Terry spoke of the days immediately after she received nine vaccinations: “Hannah had a decreased level of consciousness … anorexia … She just deteriorated. She couldn’t put food from her hand into her mouth.”
Source: CNN
The Health Resources and Service Administration, the federal oversight body for vaccines, states on its official Web site that it “has maintained and continues to maintain the position that vaccines do not cause autism, and has never concluded in any case that autism was caused by vaccination.”
Source: Health Resources and Service Administration
The Columbia Journalism Review assesses the reporting of the connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. “The problem with the coverage was not that the few credible opposition voices didn’t receive balanced coverage, but rather that the whole issue of whether vaccines containing thimerosal or mercury cause autism served as a distraction from the ongoing efforts to tease apart the causes of this enigmatic disorder,” Russ Juskalian writes.
Source: The Columbia Journalism Review
Opinion & Analysis: Is there a connection between vaccinations and autism?
‘No link between vaccinations and autism’
QuackWatch writes that “there is no sensible reason to believe that any vaccine can cause autism or any kind of behavioral disorder.” Any supposed correlation, the site argues, is due to the fact that autism begins to emerge around the same age that children receive the bulk of their immunizations.
Source: QuackWatch
An editorial in New Scientist magazine calls the Poling case “another vaccine scare.” Asking whether or not vaccines are safe, the magazine writes, “Decades of research show that vaccines are … an invaluable means of fighting disease, so the answer is a clear yes. But some parents remain confused.”
Source: New Scientist
The magazine Skeptical Inquirer examines a study published in British medical journal The Lancet in 1998. Researcher David Wakefield wrote that the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine, which contains a live virus, caused “leaky gut” syndrome in some children, allowing some toxins to reach the brain. Researchers pulled their support from the study after they found holes in the research. “For example, a study in the British Medical Journal found that autism rates continued to climb in areas where MMR vaccination rates were not increasing … Another study found no association with MMR and autism or gastrointestinal disorders.”
Source: Skeptical Inquirer
‘Possible link between vaccinations and autism’
In a 2005 Rolling Stone article, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserts that there is a link between childhood vaccinations that contain the mercury-based preservative thimerosal and autism.
Source: Rolling Stone
The Autism Research Institute contends that the MMR vaccine, which replaced separate vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella in the late 1970s, was poorly tested in terms of product safety. The institute also cites a study from the Institute of Medicine, whose “conclusion does not exclude the possibility that MMR vaccine could contribute to ASD in a small number of children.”
Source: Autism Research Institute
Related Topics: ‘Fever Offers Autistic Children a Temporary Reprieve’
A recent study has found that high temperatures can improve an autistic child’s ability to interact, apparently by re-establishing nerve cell communication in the brain.
Source: findingDulcinea
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