When Time Magazine talks, people listen. That's why this week's story, "Case Study: Autism and Vaccines," is drawing attention, raising concerns, and perhaps pushing forward the notion that autism and vaccines could be connected.
Time reporter Claudia Wallis was careful, in her article, to address the complexity of the Hannah Poling Vaccine Court decision. She made it clear that the case was unusual; that experts in mitochondrial disorders found the decision surprising, and quotes a statement from the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation saying, "There are no scientific studies documenting that childhood vaccinations cause mitochondrial diseases or worsen mitochondrial disease symptoms." She also quotes Dr. Julie Gerberding, Director of the CDC, as saying "the government has made absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are the cause of autism, as this would be a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today."
But when Wallis sums up her research, and points out what she feels are the takeaway messages of the Hannah Poling case, is not altogether neutral. She, like many parents of children with autism (and unlike the vast majority of pediatricians), questions the safety of the present vaccination schedule. She suggests that parents take a more active role in designing their children's immunization schedule. In fact, she could be said to be taking an activist stance:
It's difficult to draw any clear lessons from the case of Hannah Poling, other than the dire need for more research. One plausible conclusion is that pediatricians should avoid giving small children a large number of vaccines at once, even if they are thimerosal-free. Young children have an immature immune system that's ill-equipped to handle an overload, says Dr. Judy Van de Water, an immunologist who works with Pessah at U.C. Davis. "Some vaccines, such as those aimed at viral infections, are designed to ramp up the immune system at warp speed," she says. "They are designed to mimic the infection. So you can imagine getting nine at one time, how sick you could be." In addition, she says, there's some evidence, that children who develop autism may have immune systems that are particularly slow to mature.
Van de Water worries that current vaccine schedules may be overly aggressive for some children. She suggests that parents who are concerned about vaccine safety ask their pediatricians to give fewer at a time. And, she adds, don't vaccinate a child when he or she is ill....
"My daughter's case raises more questions than it answers," concedes her father, Dr. Jon Poling, a neurologist who also has a Ph.D. in biophysics. Poling believes in the importance of vaccinating children: "Vaccines are one of the most important advances in the history of medicine," he says, "but people need to know there is a risk to every medicine. There may be a small percentage of people who are susceptible to injury." He and his wife would like to see thimerosal eliminated from flu vaccines, which continue to be given to children and pregnant women, a fact that, he thinks, could be one reason autism rates haven't declined. And he urges pediatricians to take a hard look at the schedule on which vaccines are given. "I think we need a grassroots movement among pediatricians to be more conservative, and not give so many shots at once."
Time is more than just another publication. It has a huge readership, and a reputation for legitimacy. Like certain other news outlets, it has a real impact on Americans' choices and beliefs. Through her summing up, Claudia Wallis has done more than report the facts: she has presented a point of view -- a perspective that could have a real impact on pediatric medicine.
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This I got from Vicky who's child also as Autism
Please go to her page. She has dedicated her page to Autism and has an amazing amount of information on this subject
Vicky aka PoohPhanatic
@ fubar
