Symptoms of autism normally develop by three years of age. This is a time of their lives when children receive lots of vaccines. Children also gets lots of coughs, colds etc at this age. Believe me, I have three young kids. Therefore, it is inevitable that children will develop autism, colds, coughs, cancer etc shortly after getting vaccines. How could it not be so? Toddlers also die in swimming pools shortly after being given vaccines. The issue is whether there is a causal link. For austism and MMR the best scientific evidence is that there is no link. All three of my children are vaccinated with my 3 month old due to get her next series of shots on Friday.
The following is from the NSW Department of Health and represents the views of the best health professionals not a mad conspiracy theorist American.
"The MMR vaccine does not cause autism or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This theory was proposed by a group of researchers in the United Kingdom in 1998. They suggested that measles virus in the gut caused a new syndrome of IBD which resulted in decreased absorption of essential vitamins and nutrients through the intestinal tract. It was suggested that this in turn caused developmental disorders such as autism, or worsening of symptoms in children already diagnosed with autism, so-called ‘regressive autism’. Although this theory generated a lot of media attention, the few studies on which it is based have many significant weaknesses. Numerous well-conducted studies and expert panel reviews since 1998 have now produced conclusive evidence that there is no link between MMR vaccine and autism or IBD. A review by the World Health Organization concluded that current scientific data do not show any causal link between the measles virus and autism or IBD. An extensive review published in 2004 by the Institute of Medicine, an independent expert body in the United States, also concluded that there is no association between the MMR vaccine and the development of autism. Other reviews by the American Academy of Paediatrics, the British Chief Medical Officer, the UK Medical Research Council, and Canadian experts have also found no link between autism or IBD and measles-containing vaccines. In 2004, 10 of the 13 authors of the original 1998 study (published in The Lancet) published a statement retracting the paper’s interpretation, stating that the data were insufficient to establish a causal link between MMR vaccine and autism. The Lancet subsequently retracted the original paper.It was also suggested that giving each vaccine component of MMR separately over time would be better than giving MMR as a combination vaccine. However, there is no scientific evidence to support this suggestion. In fact, giving each component separately may be harmful because vaccination for each disease would be delayed, leaving the population susceptible to outbreaks of these diseases. National and international expert bodies all recommend that MMR should continue to be used. Only the rubella vaccine is available as a separate vaccine in Australia.
Further Reading National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS). Measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, inflammatory bowel disease and autism (fact sheet). 2006. Available at: http://www.ncirs.usyd.edu.au/facts/mmr_autism.pdf (accessed Mar 2007). The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Vaccine Education Center. Thimerosal and autism. 2006. Available at: http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/ division/generic.jsp?id=75751 (accessed Mar 2007). http://www.health.gov.au/internet/immunise/publishing.nsf/content/1FC63A2886238E6CCA2575BD001C80DC/$File/myths-4th-edition.pdf
