Perhaps I titled this article wrong… paradox should be plural.

If you’re an avid Jenny McCarthy fan and have some very strong beliefs in certain things, this may upset you but I still ask that you read with an open mind.

1998

Wakefield releases a study stating ties between the MMR vaccine and Autism… not stating exactly that one causes the other, or that you should stop taking vaccines… but that’s the message that the public receives. The media doesn’t help much nor does Wakefield in subsequent interviews.

1999

Thimerosal is removed from almost all vaccines in the US, except for some flu vaccines.

As a side note… Thimerosal was never in the MMR vaccine.

May 18th 2002

Jenny McCarthy’s son, Evan, is born.

2005

Evan, 2, begins having seizures so severe that he’s repeatedly rushed to hospital emergency. - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100-2,00.html

Evan is diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2.

Remember, Evan was 2 in 2005 until May.

2006

Jenny writes about her “crystal child” in Insights of an Indigo Mom: A Mother’s Awakening… in which she writes about chain smoking and cheeseburgers up until his birth at which point she changed to Hepa air filters and eating vegetarian.

I wonder why she never blamed the chain smoking and cheeseburgers… also, one would wonder why she’d write about Cystal/Indigo stories if he was diagnosed with Autism 

2007

Jenny changes her story in May, saying that he’s not really a “crystal child”, he’s actually Autistic. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_McCarthy#Activism_and_autism_controversy

She claimed that the MMR vaccine specifically caused his Autism… and began campaigns against Thimerosal despite the fact that it never contained Thimerosal and he was born several years after Thimerosal was removed from most vaccines.

Jenny goes on a book writing spree over the next several years, publishing several books on motherhood as well as “healing Autism”.

2008

Jenny begins her crusade against Autism, becoming a spokesperson for Generation Rescue and TACA and appearing on several radio and television programs, including Oprah. Each appearance includes endorsements for her books.

Jenny also claims that Evan has “recovered”… which isn’t the same as cured. But it doesn’t stop the media from using that word a lot in articles about her and her son.

Jenny and Jim Carrey begin a “march on Washington” to “green our vaccines”. When interviewed, Jenny claims that Evan was “undiagnosed with Autism”.
Jenny also reinforces that she is not anti-vaccine but rather for safer vaccines and spaced out schedule. An excerpt:

Don’t do more than one shot in a visit. Do you see what I’m saying? Not to not vaccinate. Space them out, ask for mercury-free. Make sure your child is not sick before you vaccinate. Your child does not have a good immune system. How is it supposed to detox the vaccine? Test your child for an immune system. Make sure they have really good glutothion. Glutothion is your body’s naturally antioxidant to detox these things.

2010

Doctors and scientists start to question McCarthy and the diagnosis that her son received, claiming that his symptoms more closely resemble Landau-Kleffner syndrome… very similar to Autism but treatable. – source http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968100-2,00.html

Despite the possibility that he never had Autism to begin with, Jenny confirms that she’ll continue to “be the voice” for the disorder. She also begins to realize that it wasn’t really the MMR vaccine after all, stating that she just wants vaccines to be safer, rather than getting rid of them entirely.

2011

Jenny joins the Generation Rescue board in January.

Jenny speaks out in support of Wakefield, claiming “I know children regress after vaccination because it happened to my own son” and asking “Why have only 2 of the 36 shots our kids receive been looked at for their relationship to autism?”

One would wonder why there’s any need to check the other vaccines if she’s so certain it’s the MMR.

Jenny continues onward, claiming that “kids do recover from Autism” as her son did, with a gf/cf diet and vitamins. Previous articles went into more details of his treatments including “a gluten-free, casein-free diet, vitamin supplementation, detox of metals, and anti-fungals for yeast overgrowth that plagued his intestines. ”

What can we take from all of this?

Well, first, we have the fact that the blame she has shifts radically from Thimerosal (ethyl-mercury) to the MMR vaccine itself to the vaccine schedule (multiple vaccines at one time) to simply vaccines in general, asking for more research.

Secondly, she seems very conflicted about what exactly her child may actually have. First there’s crystal child/indigo mom theories, then it’s Autism and now there’s questions of Landau-Kleffner syndrome which, from what I can tell in my research, she has never actually explored.

Third, almost everything she gets involved with seems to have a heavy self promotional feel to it. Many praise her for getting into the spotlight for Autism awareness but at the same time, there are many people who believe she does it simply to get herself into the spotlight. Most notably when she recently offered to pose nude once again for Autism awareness reasons.

Finally, and this is a big one… she has become the leader of the anti-vaccine movement despite the fact that she never once said she is anti-vaccine herself…. and in fact, professed many times to wanting more research, safer schedules and “greener” vaccines.

Much like Wakefield, who had his own patent for a vaccine as partial replacement of the MMR vaccine (who would patent a vaccine if he was anti-vaccine?!?), her concerns over vaccine safety lead to hysteria and paranoia among parents who now place their children at much greater risk than they ever were before.

In my opinion

Seriously, as others have said before… stop listening to a Playboy bunny/actress for medical advice. That’s not to say that she’s not allowed to have an opinion. She is… but she’s doing the same research you are. She’s not a doctor nor a researcher.  She’s a mom just like every other mom and her opinion holds the same weight.

Also, stop putting words in her mouth that she didn’t even say. She never said she was anti-vaccine and she never told you to not vaccinate. Don’t tell me she did. Whether you hate me right now for writing all this or not, don’t assume I haven’t researched this. I have. I know she’s “pro-safety” and not “anti-vaccine.”

Lastly, and this is just my opinion… people of high influence, such as celebrities, should be very very careful about what they randomly put out there. These are our children and unless you are absolutely certain (and when it comes to vaccines, no matter what you think you know, you are NOT absolutely certain), you should not be putting fears and doubts and unproven concerns into the minds of people that could put themselves and their children at risk.

The point is, there is a chance that what you *think you know* may be wrong. There is an even bigger chance that the way people interpret what you say may be wrong.

The one clear message through this entire post, that I’d like for you to take from this is, Wakefield and McCarthy are not anti-vaccine!!!

Despite them both saying that they are for safer vaccines, they have not made it abundantly clear that they are not anti-vaccine.

Wakefield needs to stop putting out articles on studies, McCarthy needs to stop putting out articles on recovery and her own story.

What they need to do (if they insist on continuing) is write articles and do interviews that consist of nothing except them telling parents “Vaccinate your children! Do not withhold vaccinations. Vaccines save lives!” They need to explain their stance, clearly and definitively. If they are pro-safety and not anti-vaccine… then why are anti-vaccine activists praising their work?

If they have no intentions of making this clear, then they should no longer be in the media, in my opinion. Because the message they think they are sending is not the message that some parents are receiving.

This is the Jenny McCarthy paradox as I see it. On one hand, I respect her work to raise awareness. On the other hand, I despise the self promotion and her willingness to let parents continue to be anti-vaccine in her name.

Is it any wonder that people’s opinions of her are so conflicting?

Recently I read a news article about how the “Vaccine Mistrust Spreads To The Developing World“, where obviously a news story from a place like Afghanistan can be completely accurate or a total farce. I have no way of verifying any of it.

However, it is very concerning and down right scary to think that people would be choosing to brave Polio than take the (unfounded) risk of Autism, or any of the other associated risks of being vaccinated.

(I included a link to the Polio wikipedia page because I think it’s important to take a minute to recognize just how devastating Polio can really be)

Vaccine Math

Now, this isn’t exactly math so much as a comparison but just follow me on this for a moment:

Your options:

1. You know that vaccines prevent X, Y and Z… and despite the fear that it may cause Autism, you get your child vaccinated.
2. You deny vaccinations for your child and now risk contracting X, Y and Z… and despite the fear that it may cause Autism, your child could STILL be Autistic.

Summarized:

1. Your child may become Autistic.
2. You now risk contracting X, Y, Z and becoming Autistic PLUS you also put babies, children and others at risk of X, Y, Z that are not yet or unable to be vaccinated.

Outcomes:

1. A child that may become impaired/disabled, with a possibility for life long dependence on a guardian/care provider.
2. A child that may face illness, life long health issues, neurological impairment/disability, disfigurement, paralysis, death… PLUS, you also put babies, children and others at risk that are not yet or unable to be vaccinated.

The Logic

To me, the logic is pretty straight forward.

I’m not saying that I don’t recognize the rather questionable ingredients that are used… I’m not saying that vaccines couldn’t be safer.

However, to not vaccinate for fear of Autism really makes no sense to me at all. Mostly because even non-vaccinated children can be Autistic. But also because of the HUGE RISK in doing so.

And it’s not just your risk. You put others at risk as well. A baby may not be able to survive a battle with vaccine preventable illnesses… people with weakened immune systems may not be able to survive them either. They are either not yet vaccinated or unable to be vaccinated. They depend on you and I.

Safe Vaccine Advocacy

Being pro vaccine safety is entirely different than being anti-vaccine.

If you push for safer vaccines, I’ll support you. Even vaccine makers can admit that they could be safer.

Safer schedules? I’m no scientist. I can find articles arguing back and forth, from doctors no less, so I’m not in a position to say but I don’t question it so long as the vaccines are still given.

I’ve written about this before, I’ve also taken a stance earlier this year and this post is an extension of that stance.

Not saying something might mean another innocent baby being infected with whooping cough, or further measles outbreaks.

Don’t react emotionally, don’t base life and death decisions on a Youtube video. 

Do the math for yourself and ask yourself, what risks are you really avoiding and more importantly, what risks are you really taking?

1. Change the DSM criteria to include Aspergers and tell everyone that the reason autism numbers have exploded is because there are more people with Autism because we are now including Aspergers .The mild forms of autism.

2. Claim it’s genetic even though there are clearly clusters of autism in certain areas. Families were there who had autism explain that they are all related and therefore it’s genetic.

3. Never study identical twins with autism and look at differences.

4. Make up thousands of names of autism but don’t call it autism.

5. Make up reasons for autism. Mom is too old, too young, too fat, too thin, too cold.

6. If you go to vaccine court and claim autism as your vaccine injury, you will lose your case.

7. If you have autism in vaccine court you must never say autism, say encephalopathy instead and if you do say autism you will lose your settlement.

8. If you go to the doctor after a vaccine and say you were injured from it then there must be some other reason for the injury.

9. If the child dies after a vaccine injury make up another name like Suddenly your infant dies. SIDS>

10 If the parent was touching the child when they die from vaccine injury send them to jail.

11. If the parent is persistent that there was a vaccine injury make up a disease so that there is something wrong with the parent. Munchhausen By Proxy or Shaken Baby Syndrome. There must be something wrong with the parent.

12. Side Effects from Vaccine Injury are normal and therefore nothing to worry about.

13. Take a lot of money to study vaccines and autism and use it to buy a house.

14. Make up pandemics once a year and give vaccines that haven’t been tested.

15 If you still get the disease that the vaccine was suppose to protect you from tell them it’s a milder form.

16. Give multiple vaccines at once so that it’s impossible to tell which one was the problem.

17. Never study vaccines together in different combinations.

18. It’s never the doctors fault or the vaccine manufacturers under any circumstances.

19 Never teach doctors about vaccine side effects.

20 . Bribe the parents to get vaccinated.

21.Bribe the doctors to their patients vaccinated.

22. Bribe the schools to get the students vaccinated.

23. Compare vaccinated vs unvaccinated but give the unvaccinated the same amount of mercury.

24. Any doctor that looks at vaccinated children and finds any link whatsoever beat him up and ruin his credibility at all costs.

25. Tell everyone that the rates of autism went down by taking out cases of Aspergers that were added back in when the rates had increased.

I have no interest in adding this person as a friend simply to reply so I’ll reply here, maybe she’ll see it and ignore it just as she would on her profile.

My responses, point by point:

1. Dr. Allen Frances, who was the head of the group that created the DSM-IV is the man responsible for adding Aspergers into the diagnostic criteria, after which, he said: “At that point I did an ‘oops,’ ” he says. “This is a complete misunderstanding. It was distressing. Quite distressing.” He inadvertently included a very large group of people into an already growing diagnosed group of disorders called Autism Spectrum Disorder. When you add a large group to an already large group, what happens?
2. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, autism is genetic. That doesn’t meant that there isn’t a sub group that is genetically predisposed to having their symptoms triggers or made more severe by environmental factors, such as toxins.
3. Actually, they have studied twins that have autism. Read the results here. Hint, they found it’s genetic. Besides, if one twin has autism and the other does not yet they both had the same vaccines, what would you conclude?
4. I don’t think they’ve made up any, but some of them have certainly come to light lately, especially with vaccine court cases. However, this claim is actually in reverse as many people were commonly diagnosed with disorders such as schizophrenia when they actually had autism. Many people were misdiagnosed with something else. Now that they are becoming more accurate, there is less schizophrenia and more diagnosed with autism. Meaning more, not less.
5. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, I will agree with you that most of these studies are just ridiculous at this point but I would think that it goes to show that there’s more autism, not less.
6. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, there’s a reason for that. You have to prove that the child has autism and that the vaccine specifically caused the autism. It has yet to be done.
7. I’ll give you this one, but only as it relates to #6. Vaccines do cause injuries and if you can prove it caused or otherwise complicated a pre-existing condition, you may win.
8. “Vaccine injury” is pretty vague here… so I’ll assume that you’re specifically talking about Autism. First, this doesn’t relate to the claim that there is less autism since the child may very well have autism. Second, again, there needs to be proof that the vaccine specifically caused the autism.
9. SIDS isn’t new and certainly isn’t made up. Also, it happens with or without vaccines. Finally, what does this have to do with autism? If your child dies of SIDS, there’s a very good chance that your child was far too young for anyone to ever know if they had autism or not.
10. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, please find me cases where this has happened. Does this happen often?
11. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, you think shaken baby syndrome was made up to explain away vaccine injury? Like the last point, most likely your child was far to young to know about autism and finally, I invite you to shake your baby a whole bunch and see if they become vaccine injured.
12. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, side effects from vaccine injury? That’s redundant. But nitpicking aside, no one ever said they’re normal. There are rare cases where children become vaccine injured. No one has ever denied it.
13. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, I believe Wakefield could have bought a couple of houses with how much he made from lawyers during his vaccine studies. Each side has a doctor on the take. Therefore they cancel each other out.
14. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, I’m assuming you are referring to the H1N1… which was one year. Can you name 4 others in the last 5 years?
15. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, no one ever said you won’t still contract the disease which you were vaccinated against.
16. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, your other points seem to have determined that it’s too many vaccines or mercury or that a vaccine in particular. And yet now it’s a mystery?
17. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, they do all the time. Why do you think they give vaccines in certain combinations? Also there are studies, such as this one.
18. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, you are clearly unaware of the incredible amounts of malpractice suits and in other points, you reference vaccine courts, where many people are paid through settlements. Clearly it is their fault sometimes.
19. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, I’m pretty sure you just made this up.
20. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, I’ve never been bribed, I wish I had been. You’d be better off with the blackmail route what with schools not accepting unvaccinated children.
21. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, doctors are paid the same whether they vaccinate your children or not.
22. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, if the parents are bribed and the doctors are bribed, why bribe the school? And how would that work anyway?
23. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, there’s just so much wrong with this. You said it was vaccine overload, then it was combinations, then it was a bunch of vaccines so they can’t tell which one. Now it’s mercury which is out of just about all vaccines… actually, never was in any vaccines. Ethyl-mercury was, which is entirely different from methyl-mercury. Not that anyone would ever “give the unvaccinated the same amount”.
24. First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world? Second, when you say “any doctor”, you mean just one doctor. Which is convenient that you think removing a man’s medical license due to his falsifying his findings and committing fraud is akin to beating him up yet the man that stole money to buy a house was much higher up on your list.. and both somehow add to the claim that there is less autism in the world?
25. Are you now saying that #1 was actually true? What would you say it proves if Aspergers is removed and the Autism rates go down? Also, Aspergers wasn’t “taken out”, it just isn’t mentioned. Many with Aspergers would still fit the criteria, they’d just have their diagnosis changed to reflect the new “severity” levels in the DSM-V.

For the most part, this is just a big list of attacks on vaccines and really has very little to do with Autism what so ever. It has even less to do with any such claim that there is less Autism.

For each point that I started with “First, how does this add to the claim that there is less autism in the world?”, there was no relation to Autism what so ever. That’s 19 times out of 25? And that was being generous, I could have included a couple of others.

Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for making vaccines safer and greener and getting that risk of vaccine injury/reaction down to 0% or as close as possible. I’m also all for parents looking out for their children’s best interest as well as other children’s as well.

However, seeing notes like these just get under my skin. They don’t anger me, but they do bother me.

It’s sad that it’s gotten to the point that people not only think this way but go out of their way to take a whole bunch of vaccine hatred and aim it at Autism.

Many of the points were made up, assumed and just plain wrong. I even included links with some just to prove it.

But more so than that, my son has Autism. He was NOT vaccine injured. In fact, he never even got so much as a fever from his vaccines. You’d never even know he had any.

When you make these notes and make people hate doctors, hate people preventing deadly illnesses and even  make people hate a part of what makes my son who he is… it bothers me.

Yes, some people (children mostly) are vaccine injured. No, vaccines are not 100% safe. That’s all you need to say. Stop dragging me and my child into it.

Measles Invades The U.S.

Yes, just like last years Whooping Cough story, we have a disease returning to the U.S. that was previously all but wiped out. In this story about the measles, a family decided not to vaccinate their child, took a trip to Poland to pick up another child and brought the measles back with them. Now there are over 1000 people exposed in Utah.

Great, so they decided not to vaccinate their child… is that fair to the 999 other children that are now at risk? The article doesn’t specify but it’s safe to say that some of those children are unvaccinated as well, some may be vaccinated yet still might contract it and very likely, some children are yet too young to be vaccinated… in which case, that is a very scary scenario indeed because children that are too young are at a much higher risk of severe reactions… maybe even death.

Should I be letting that family make their own decisions or should I, in good conscience, be trying to convince that family that really should have been vaccinating their child all along? Perhaps if I (rhetorically of course) had convinced them, this could have been avoided?

I’m going to share the news stories again with you right now and this time, I want to try to show you why these stories are important. Hopefully this will help someone to make the right decision and avoid another outbreak.

Early Brain Overgrowth Linked to Autism

In this study, read more here, it is discovered that children with Autism had a brain size around 10% larger than that of children without Autism. Bigger! Why is this important? Well, first, it is an identifier… anything that helps us identify Autism in children is a plus.

Secondly, if some anti-vaccine people are correct and mercury is a big part of the blame, they’d have some very big explaining to do since one of the symptoms of mercury poisoning is Microcephaly (small head). Also, it should be noted that these are symptoms of methyl-mercury… the stuff that was used in vaccines was ethyl-mercury… which has such a short half life that it’s considered nontoxic.

Children with Autism have larger brains, not smaller heads.

‘Autism Epidemic’ Challenged by UK Study

The biggest fear pill that we’re forced to swallow in every single media/news broadcast is how much the number of Autism cases has risen in the last 20 years. This study, read more here, in the UK, decided to find out if the numbers really have been rising.

Researchers picked 618 random adults (over 16) and performed an assessment on them and what they found was that around 1% of adults did in fact fall on the spectrum.

What has happened is that many people did not know they had Autism, there was no way for them to be diagnosed as children since so very little was known about it back then. And adults today, even if they still feel as though they don’t fit in, find no reason what so ever to question it nor do they see any reason in getting a diagnosis as it would serve no purpose. They’d have the piece of paper but that’s it.

If 1 in 100 people had Autism 16 years ago (remember, the people tested were over 16), and the number is still 1 in 100 right now, then that proves the lack of an ‘epidemic’.

The reason I put that in quotes is important. When I posted the story to Facebook this week, someone asked: “Doesn’t that just mean it has been an epidemic for more years and now we can actually begin to deal with it?”

The answer is no.

The definition of an epidemic: An outbreak of a disease or illness that spreads rapidly among individuals in an area or population at the same time.

Ignoring for a moment that Autism is not a disease (it’s a disorder), we can now prove that Autism does not spread nor is it increasing in numbers. Therefore Autism is most certainly not an epidemic.

What does this have to do with vaccines?

Well, 20 years ago, vaccines had thimerosal, you know, that ethyl-mercury stuff… which should mean that there would be MORE Autism 20 years ago than today since almost all of our vaccines no longer have thimerosal today. Right? We took it out 10 years ago, the number of Autism cases should have gone down.

If we rule that out, then perhaps it’s the number of vaccines given in such a short time. Which, if the epidemic theory was correct, would make sense. But now that we can show that the rate of Autism was around 1 in 100 back then, when children had less vaccines than they do now…. we must conclude that the number of vaccines is not a factor either.

The amount of vaccines have changed, the amount of Autism cases has not.

Researchers identify 18 novel and highly significant genetic markers for ASD

In this article, read more here, researchers have broken down Autism into 4 sub types, and have found 18 genetic markers (10 of which are common to 2 or more sub types) that are common in Autistics.

This is big news because it means that they’re narrowing it down. It also means that they’ve specifically determined that Autism is genetic.

Does it mean that there is no “sub type” that is not more likely to have a reaction to environmental toxins that could resemble or cause Autism? No it does not. However, it does prove that genetically, they’ve already got it… it’s just a matter of having something trigger it and when.

Let me put it another way, if a sub type is one that is classified as having Autism lie dormant until triggered by something in the environment… well then, it’s only a matter of time. If vaccines do trigger it… what’s to say that food chemicals don’t too? or acid rain? Or artificial sweetners? or car exhaust? or cigarette smoke?

You get where I’m going with this? If you’re still worried about mercury after all I’ve told you and you now see that Autism is genetic… then chances are, all those vaccines you skipped will be for nothing once your child takes their first bite of a tuna fish sandwich. There’s far more mercury in there than all the old thimerosal vaccines combined.

It’s genetic… That’s why 1 in 100 adults have it, that’s why 1 in 100 children have it. That’s why their brains are 10% larger rather than having smaller heads. This is all beginning to add up.

But Wakefield told me to be Anti-Vaccine

It may surprise you, but I am linking to Age of Autism this one time because this transcript is actually important to point out. Wakefield, the guy often blamed for the anti-vaccine movement, actually never told anyone not to vaccinate their children.

In that interview, he states:

Ralph Nader was for safer cars .. he wasn’t anti-cars.  I am not anti-vaccine .. the vaccine strategy .. the vaccine policy in this country is not safe .. the safety has never been proven.

….

The safety studies of that vaccine are largely inadequate .. not my words .. the words of an international expert .. “largely inadequate”.   The safety studies have not been done .. I’ve not said “Don’t get vaccinated”.  I strongly advocate for the use of single vaccines.

Bold was added for emphasis.

He’s certainly not helped in making that message clear, but it needs to be clear. Whether you believe he is an honest man or he’s a thief that lied so that he could have his own vaccine patent in place to make himself rich… it doesn’t matter. What matters is that even he thinks that you need to vaccinate your children.

Actually, let me say that again… he had a patent for his own vaccine! He simply wanted to have the MMR vaccine split up into 3 separate vaccines, one of which he had a patent for.

Why would he develop a vaccine if he wanted you to not vaccinate?

Conclusion

Whether you feel that the vaccine schedule needs changing (it doesn’t actually, but that’s another matter) or you feel that vaccines need more research or you feel that vaccines need to be ‘greener’…..  do NOT STOP vaccinating your children!!!

Seriously people, there is no way in the world that it’s “healthier” or “safer” to not vaccinate… not in a million years.

Now, I do understand that some people simply can not vaccinate… allergies, adverse reactions or what have you… medical reasons do arise that make it unsafe to do so.

But personal paranoia is not a valid excuse! You can’t risk your child’s health and safety, not to mention other children’s health and safety, based on your own unproven fears.

Get all the information in the world, take what ever safety precautions you feel you need to take but vaccines work. You were vaccinated as a child. They may have saved your life and you didn’t even know it. That’s how they work.

If you’re pro-safety or concerned or what have you, that’s fine. However, if you’re anti-vaccine, to the point of not vaccinating your children at all, I no longer accept your opinion. I no longer accept your freedom to choose. Instead, I’ll do my best to change your mind.

Earlier this month, I wrote a post making official my stance on the whole vaccine – autism thing going on that you may have heard of… in it, I made a very bold statement. In fact, I wrote it in bold.

The way I see it, if they can pump out a newer and better cell phone every 3 months, they can have new and better vaccines as well.

I often read sites that list out the ingredients in vaccines, most don’t know what those ingredients really are… they just know that they sound like something else bad that they’ve heard of before and so… they must be bad too.

The one thing that struck me, however, was that the ingredients don’t seem to change from site to site… from writing to writing. Which got me to wondering whether or not they ever do change.

We all know that thimerosal was removed from most of the vaccines in 1991 (UK) and 1998 (US) but other than that, what else has been done?

If you’ve already clicked through to their site, as I’ve linked it above, you’ve probably already read it but for those that haven’t, here is my question along with his answer:

Are vaccines constantly upgraded and monitored for safety and efficacy?

Yes, like no other medical product, including all the drugs you put into your body and certainly more than anything you’d get at the General Nutrition Center. We have a very well-tested, well-worn vaccine schedule.

It’s not a huge answer nor is it very detailed… but I think it answers my question nicely and, with any luck, put some people’s concerns to rest.

I believe it’s very very important for parents to know that the vaccines that they introduced in 1940 are likely not the same vaccines they’re giving today. They’ve been modified, tested, modified, tested, remodified, tested and so on and so forth ensuring it’s as safe as they can possibly get it.

Because let’s be honest, if it was still the same ole same ole from 60 years ago, we’d all be even more scared than we already are.

Plus, he has a point. A drug that is released these days is released as is… with a laundry list of side effects. And so long as it’s up to code, even with those side effects, it never changes. It just continues to be used as it is. Perhaps an extra strength or new type will be released but that’s it.

Quite frankly, that scares me… their continual work on the vaccines is a comforting thought. So for what it’s worth to you, now you know, as do I.

Paul A. Offit, M.D., is an American pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases and an expert on vaccines, immunology, and virology. He is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine that has been credited with saving hundreds of lives every day. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He has been a member of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

First and foremost let me say, no, I do not believe that vaccines cause Autism. That does not mean that I do not think that there could be situations where a vaccination could trigger an already pre-existing condition (like Autism for example) which would cause a regression.

Do I think vaccines are perfectly safe? No, of course not. Not even their inventors and marketers think they’re perfectly safe. Everyone knows there is a certain % of people that have adverse reactions, allergic reactions, side effects and sometimes, even cause death.

Do I think that the recent Wakefield news means anything in regards to the vaccine risks? No. They simply proved that he lied, fabricated his evidence and findings. It doesn’t prove anything about what vaccines do or do not do though, just that his findings didn’t prove anything one way or another.

I have said since day one that if you have concerns, ask your doctor a million questions and demand a schedule that you feel more comfortable with but please please please do not deny vaccinations entirely.

Here’s the thing, this is where I think that things have gone wrong:

1. People forget what these illnesses can do and what they’re like.
   Most of them don’t sound so bad, most of them many people had as children themselves and again, weren’t so bad. But you’re remembering and thinking of a very small piece of an entirely much larger picture. These simply “cough and get over it” illnesses do kill people! Some disfigure, some kill.. some simply clog the medical community with thousands upon hundreds of thousands of hospital visits.
2. People think that an all but gone illness can’t come back.
   If it’s not gone, it can come back. In fact, that’s the very nature of these illnesses in the first place… to spread! It’s particularly ironic in a country like the US where most people complain about the immigration rates that they’d possibly think that an illness that still inhabits other countries could never actually find their way back in.
3. People forget that there are babies, elderly and other lower immunity tolerance people out there.
   Yes, measles as a kid is rough, but in a senior citizen? Deadly. Whooping cough means a hospital visit for most people, it means almost certain death for a baby. When you or I talk about the illnesses these vaccines prevent, we picture ourselves and our children but in reality, much like the flu, it can kill people that are less equipped to fight it off.

Listen, without vaccines, I believe that by now, we’d probably be seeing a word wide population decrease at this point, rather than our continuing increase.  If nothing else, we’d certainly have far less medical resources to be keeping us healthy. I mean, think about it… how bad is health care where you are?? How bad would it be if a few million people every year were in there with all these diseases that are preventable?

Do I promote getting vaccines? Yes.
Do I also promote safe vaccine schedules? Yes.
Do I promote more research into all of the dangers of vaccines? Yes.
Do I promote more research into finding better and safer ingredients to be used in vaccines? Yes!

The way I see it, if they can pump out a newer and better cell phone every 3 months, they can have new and better vaccines as well.

Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that I am happy with the way things are… or that I think a certain % of vaccine injuries or deaths is just acceptable. The numbers can always be improved!

But don’t ever think that I am supposed to be out there inciting fear, panic and further division within the Autism community. That simply is not my goal. I understand if it’s not yours either but let’s be honest, many who do hate vaccines, and vaccine makers, do push the boundaries too far. They want others to share in their hatred. They want others to take up a pitchfork and fight along side them.

I am not that person.

Ask for a safer schedule, petition to have more research and safer vaccines created. But never think that not preventing many illnesses is a good way to maybe lower the risk of Autism.

Stop listening to Wakefield, stop listening to anti-vaccination people, stop listening to conspiracy theorists, stop listening to pharmaceutical companies, stop listening to marketers, stop listening to pro-vaccination people… stop listening to me!

Use some common sense, use some rational thinking… do your research, do your reading. Look at the numbers, look at the history. Ask yourself, if it’s all a risk, if it’s all about choosing from bad and bad, why would you opt for denying what you know will be prevented?

Option A prevents X, Y, Z and may cause Q
Option B prevents nothing, so you may get X, Y, Z and still may cause Q anyway
Which makes more sense??

My wife suggested that I make my blog’s tagline “using common sense”… because I pride myself in doing just that. That’s all that I see in this matter, is to use common sense.

Fight for safer vaccines. Fight for a safer schedule. Fight for more safety with our children!!

But never forget that safer actually means taking the vaccines. It does save lives.

This is my official stance on vaccines. I know it’s a hot topic, I know not everyone will agree. Please do not get mad if you don’t. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and as such, I would never think poorly of you for yours. We need to support each other in pushing for the discovery of the true cause, a way to help those that have Autism and for more resources in schools, work, housing and more. Let’s work together.

As is normal in jounalism, 20 minutes of talk time generally gets you about 3 or 4 lines in a news story. In this case, I’m pretty happy with what they quoted from me, what do you think?

Few swayed by fraud finding in autism study

Here’s what they didn’t print.

“Do you believe Wakefield was honest or fraudulent?”

I honestly have no idea but what I do know is that it’s so strange that there is no real investigation, a criminal one. There are claims that he hurt the children, that he paid the children (or their parents) and that the results of all this, if the results are fraud, may have directly caused many deaths.

We’ve been hearing about this study for 13 years, it’s been discredited for several, he was disbarred last year and in all this time, we still have no real answers.

“Do you think this news story will change anything?”

No, I don’t. People who are anti-vaccination read the studies that support their stance. The people who are pro-vaccination read the studies that support their stance. Everything else, they each dismiss.

To be honest, I’m rather sick of anti-vaccination people pulling the 7 degrees of separation game with every doctor that finds no vaccine-autism link in an attempt to link them to some big pharmaceutical company. So some guy’s grandfather had a neighbor that worked as a janitor for some company… is that really a reason to believe he was paid off to say something just to discredit Wakefield?

Why does it work one way and not the other?

Why is it ok to find these links to discredit every doctor out there that says what you don’t agree with but you don’t even bother to question the very public, very obvious controversies surrounding the one doctor that does say what you agree with?

If you question one doctor, or a group of doctors, you have to question them all. Believe no one, do your own research… ALL OF IT.

“Did this story or any of the stories about this make you question vaccines?”

Not really, no. It was pretty clear my son had Autism before his MMR vaccinations and even if there was some question, I’d rather take the Autism risk than the disfigured or dead risk.

No, this controversy is the one big controversy that divides the Autism community and it makes me sick. I get asked the question a lot and usually I don’t answer because I don’t want one side or another hating me. I just want everyone to support each other.

I don’t believe we’ve found the one cause, I don’t even think there is just one cause. But I am pretty sure it’s not vaccines causing anything.

“What do you mean by this is the one controversy dividing the Autism community?”

Well, we’ve had studies, just in the last year or two, that have suggested links to Autism with living next to a highway, with IVF, with jaundice, with premature birth, with oxygen deprivation during birth, with tylenol during pregnancy, with flouride in the water… I could go on and on. Why aren’t people fighting over any of these studies? Why isn’t there some big panic over any of these things?

Why does this one issue have to be so huge that it’s causing people to snap? I mean, this morning a company that makes toys and products for Autistic children posted the link to the Wakefield story on their facebook page and some moms were furious… lashing out at this company for posting a story to discredit such a wonderful man, and to slam all these parents… and so on and so forth.

I mean, seriously. Calm down. They shared the latest Autism news. That’s all!

“So it’s been 13 years now, you said, you think that’s enough?”

Oh yeah. I mean, not a single soul will have their mind changed by these latest news articles. It simply adds fuel to the fire in terms of dividing the community even more. It prolongs the argument.

All this energy in fighting could be spent on getting more teachers out there that understand Autism, getting more employers that are patient enough to take on some Autistic teens, getting housing built that’s affordable and with available help to those adults with Autism that will need it.

I don’t know what the future holds for my son but if he gets to be my age and this argument is still going on, then he’ll have missed out on a lot of services and information that could have been made available if we could just move passed this.

“So why do you think that this continues then?”

People are very passionate about this, this is their children. There’s nothing you can be more protective of than your own child.

I feel bad for the parents who for a while have a normal child, who hugs and speaks and then shortly after they turn 2, they lose all words and no longer look them in the eye. I would look for someone to blame too. If they had just gotten vaccines, I would be pretty angry too.

No news story is going to convince them of anything. When you have that much anger and frustration, it’s passion. They’re fighting for their children.

How much time has been spent with us fighting?

Granted, measles doesn’t sound so bad so I’d have to agree with her, I think I’d rather my boy be sick for a while, help him get through it for a little while and then go on with his life, instead of having Autism for life.

However, that’s just one of many diseases and viruses that are held back by vaccines…  mumps and rubella aren’t really all that bad either, can be fatal but very rarely. Chances are my boy would just be sick for a while.

What gets me though, is that, in the interview, no one asks her if she’d rather have her child be disfigured or paralysed from polio, no one ever asks her if she’d rather kill someone else’s baby with whooping cough than risk her child having Autism.

Sounds a little harsh, but if you look to California, it’s happening! An outbreak of pertussis (whooping cough) is happening right now, today, and it’s killing babies. Why?

Here’s the thing, some parents are convinced, absolutely and completely, that vaccines are causing Autism in children, and therefore are not taking the risk.

Let’s take a look at that risk for a moment, because I think this is where the system breaks down.

If a parent does not vaccinate their child, that child can contract a preventable illness such as whooping cough, and then come into contact with a baby sibling or some other baby, pass along the illness before that baby even has a chance at getting their vaccination and that child could die.

Meanwhile, there’s no guarantee that their child won’t already have Autism despite not being vaccinated! Recently a woman commented on another of my posts about how one mother did not vaccinate, another did, both of their children are Autistic.

This isn’t a debate about whether or not vaccines do cause Autism, it’s about the risk. Taking a risk, avoiding a risk, choosing which risk to take.

Let me put it this way, if you “don’t take the chance” by not vaccinating your child, and he/she turns out to be Autistic anyway AND comes home to infect your newborn baby and that baby dies… not only did you not avoid the risk, you took the ultimate risk and lost both times!

Some of you die hards will say that would never happen but, it can happen. We are seeing it right now. Unvaccinated children are Autistic. Unvaccinated children are dying from preventable diseases!!

The “Which Would You Rather” game is not a game, it’s very…. VERY dangerous.

I understand how watching your child be ‘vaccine injured’ can set you on a path, set you on a mission… however, I can also see how a much bigger tragedy can come of it if not careful. If your child regressing into Autism affected you this much, how much would it affect you if your child got Autism and a baby died at the same time, all because you didn’t vaccinate.

Would you still feel the same? Would your mission be different?

Now then, there’s far to much to cover in so many areas, I just don’t know where to start, however, I think most everyone that wants to know my own personal opinion is hoping that it’s not the last to be mentioned in some long winded summary… so here it is:

I personally believe that vaccines and Autism are not linked, that not only do vaccines not cause Autism, but they don’t even trigger it. Now, don’t close your browser if you disagree, and don’t just dismiss everything I say, I’m hoping to argue both sides of this and inject with my personal understandings and explain how I came to this conclusion.

Where to start? How about 1998!

In 1998, the Lancet reported that a new study had linked the MMR vaccination with Autism in children, sparking a worldwide panic and causing a lot of people to keep their children away from vaccinations. Since then however, the Lancet had retracted that report… most of us know why, if you do, skip the next 2 paragraphs, if not, here’s why:

Dr Wakefield, the doctor that conducted the study had only done the study on 12 children, and not just random children but children from a birthday party which he “rewarded” the parents for. Not only was this “control group” not really a control group at all but he conducted some experiments on them which were considered unethical. 10 of the 13 doctors that worked with Dr. Wakefield took back their findings.

It was also later revealed that he was paid 150 pounds per hour by a lawyer who was in the midst of suing vaccine companies to do the study, which is a rather large breach of interest. Due to all these things, his medical license was revoked and he has been barred from practising medicine in the UK ever again. Since then it’s also been revealed that Dr. Wakefield in fact had his own patent on his own vaccine which he was hoping would take the place of the MMR vaccine, making him a lot of money. Not to mention the book, the book which has gone on to make him a lot of money regardless of any of these controversies.

Now, don’t get me wrong… the arguments for the countless studies that deny the link are also rife with controversy, the latest study finding a link between genes and Autism apparently had some financial backing from large pharmaceutical companies.

I don’t want to make this part of it all one sided, there’s a TON that could make you question the studies finding there is no link, my opinion on this is DO NOT QUESTION ONE SIDE AND NOT THE OTHER!

It’s like this, I can’t take Dr. Wakefield’s findings or his book as the gospel and “the truth” despite there being a LOT of obvious controversy around it and then deny everything and anything on the other side of the argument. If all studies are funded by shadows on one side or the other, how can, as a side line viewer, possibly know which is true and which isn’t? I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THOSE THAT TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO HEAR BASED ON FAITH.

Again, not to seem to side with one side more than the other, I found this sattirical comic semi amusing and also well written as an attempt to simplify it: http://darryl-cunningham.blogspot.com/2010/05/facts-in-case-of-dr-andrew-wakefield.html

Fast Forward to Mercury (Thiomersal or Thimerosal)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiomersal#Autism

This was the big push, that there was mercury in the vaccine which is highly toxic and will mess up the brain and cause Autism. First of all, Thiomersal was removed in 1999 and the number of diagnoses continue to increase. Secondly, the ‘mercury’ that was found in it is not the same metallic stuff you used to find in a thermometer. That’s what we all picture, I even saw a youtube video of mercury being poured onto steel and compared it to what is in our heads. That simply is not the case.

However, I am no scientist and even the true scientists can not convince people of that so I’ll leave that alone for now and ask you this, how do those unvaccinated children become Autistic? What about the children in parts of the world where there are no vaccines at all? How do some children exhibit Autistic signs/symptoms before they ever get their MMR shot?

I also go into a few of my points here:  How Old is Autism?
I talked with friends how we had less vaccines as children than children do today, but then I think back to Temple Grandin and how she’s 60 now. How many vaccines did she have? Also, my grandparents had “special needs” children in their school, special classrooms to keep them in! How many vaccines did those children have? And further back than that.. was Mozart Autistic? Van Gogh? They didn’t even have vaccines back then!

There was a recent report on CNN which I found quite interesting where basically some women strapped an air examiner to their backs with a vacuum type air way near the mouth, and it analyzed the air they breathed. The conclusion? The toxins, including mercury, in their fetus corresponded to what they found in the backpack… the air they breathed did it!

The Vaccine Wars

There was a recent video on PBS called the Vaccine Wars, you can watch it here. It was very one sided, making the moms of the anti-vaccine out to be the bad guys, or just crazy… I’m not sure I agree with how the video was made, but I do agree with the conclusion.

An argument I hear a lot is “Polio is not a problem in the US so why vaccinate against it?” well, it’s not a problem BECAUSE of the vaccines. And it remains no problem BECAUSE of the vaccines. Have you ever killed all the mosquitos in your camping tent? Did another one find it’s way in later? More? You can’t expect polio to just stay where ever it is and not find it’s way back. It’s still out there and it’s looking for a way in.

The people in the US pride themselves on being a great nation that everyone wants to visit or live in well… those people may have polio!! I think that people have just forgotten how bad some of these things can be. Polio can leave your child paralysed or even dead.

Imagine you stopped vaccinating, and then you brought a newborn baby home to see it’s grandmother who was just riding out on a bus with a foreigner who just landed the day before and is carrying polio. Well, your grandmother, who was vaccinated, won’t get it… but will carry it to your newborn because that baby won’t get vaccinated for it until it’s 1 or 2 months old.

Same goes for whooping cough, mumps, measles and more… they can and do kill.

Conclusion

My first son was diagnosed with Autism, I saw it in him before his vaccination. When my second son came along 2 years later, people were quick to ask if we’d “take that chance” again. My wife and I had never even given it a second thought. We always knew that he’d be getting vaccinated as well, and he was, and he’s fine.

I am not unsympathetic… I realize your child may have been ripped away from you shortly after getting what you thought was a harmless needle. I also think, however, that if your child started coughing up blood and choked until they died, you’d be just as strong a fighter in favour of making sure future kids get vaccinated so that never happens again.

Your passion is your strength, your passion is your motivation and it can help you topple corporations and even governments, of that I have no doubt. However, if your passion is misguided… it can lead to death as well.

Don’t believe what you need to believe, believe the truth… and from where I’m sitting, we have no truth right now. Not yet. No one, not those that represent big corporations, not those that are paid off, not those that stand to make money, not those that say what we want to hear… no one has told us the truth. And that’s what we need to fight for.

Do I believe there’s a link between vaccines and autism? No, but I also know that I can be proven wrong. But being told what I want to hear isn’t proof.

PS

I’m sorry if you feel any anger towards me, think less of me, what ever… ultimately this is why I try not to speak up on this in the first place. We need to stand up together for truth, for awareness and for prevention. We need to be a united voice, not what we have now. Right now we’re split, divided and fighting amongst ourselves and the more we fight, the more passionate we get, the more we’ll rush out to buy books from both sides and line all of their pockets even more!!

While we’re divided, nobody wins but them.