Weekly Wrap: Yes, Vaccines Drive the Autism Epidemic
By Dan Olmsted
Some say that claiming vaccines are the cause of the autism epidemic is like yelling fire in a crowded theater. I agree -- except this theater really is on fire.
By now it's an open secret that the current vaccination schedule is behind the soaring autism rate -- and a wide range of other chronic and developmental disorders. So many parents, front-line professionals and others have seen this with their own eyes, so many streams of evidence are converging to make this point, and so much desperation is on display from vaccine injury deniers, especially now during Autism Awareness Month, that it's just no contest any more. The task now is to hasten the day of reckoning, keep more kids from being injured, and bring justice, compensation and treatment to the injured.
Those who deny this reality end up sounding like Nazis -- ve vill vaccinate you! -- or just intellectually incoherent. They spout a lot of platitudes about autism awareness and better diagnosis and multiple mysterious genes and gene-environment interactions that, if they (and their spouters) ever had any relevance, don't anymore.
The goofiest part is when submissive scientists try to talk about environmental links to autism without talking about THE environmental link to autism -- the bloated CDC-recommended, state-mandated, pediatrician-provided vaccine schedule. Hence this from the Harvard Gazette this year:
"Toxic chemicals may be triggering recent increases in neurodevelopmental disabilities among children — such as autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and dyslexia — according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The researchers say a new global prevention strategy to control the use of these substances is urgently needed."
This study lists two pesticides as among the likely triggers, and follows up on a 2006 study that also listed a handful of suspect toxicants, including methylmercury. Not ethylmercury, of course, since that brings us right back to the dreaded V word, ethylmercury being the prime ingredient in thimerosal. And thimerosal exposure almost tripled via vaccines at the same time the autism epidemic began around 1988. (It's still used in flu shots in the U.S., where it is recommended for all infants and pregnant women, and in multiple shots in developing countries thanks to the endorsement of U.S. Public health officials, WHO, and the Gates Foundation.)
But pesticides and mercury and vaccines and autism? Never the twain shall meet in the mainstream medical or media universe.
As it happens, Mark Blaxill and I triangulated those dots in a way that indirectly but (IMHO) elegantly links vaccines, pesticides, and autism from the very beginning. In our book, The Age of Autism -- Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-made Epidemic -- we showed how mercury was present at the creation of autism, causing the very first cases reported in the medical literature, in 1943.
The crux of our argument is that the three commercial vectors for the first exposures to ethylmercury in the 1930s -- via vaccines and pesticides, specifically the diphtheria shot, a lumber treatment and a plant fungicide -- are evident in those 11 families. The parents included a pediatrician mother who focused on public health and mass vaccination, one father who was a forestry professor and another who was a plant pathologist, in all three cases with documented exposure to the new ethylmercury compounds. This cannot be chance -- especially given the work of Safeminds linking mercury and autism symptoms, the absence of autism in the medical literature prior to 1930, and the coinciding explosion of ethymercury exposure and autism in the 1990s. (See our 10-minute video version on AOA's home page.)
Of course, when I say it cannot be chance, I mean that it is so startling in light of all the evidence that reasonable people in positions to take action to protect the public health would respond with alarm and a manifest sense of urgency. We first reported this in 2005, and I personally handed Tom Insel of NIMN a copy of our work in 2007. He told me the mercury concern had been discredited (not!), but that vaccines were still a possible cause (true!). No alarm has been evident.
And there is so much more by now, from the CDC's own first runs of vaccine data that showed a huge risk for autism in infants who got the most mercury, to its manifest coverup of the soaring autism rates in the 1990s (see Brick Township, N.J.), to the brilliant work of Sharyl Attkisson, David Kirby, and the Unanswered Questions authors that found autism and vaccine injury correlated but covered up in the corrupt vaccine "court."
No one really needs to yell "Fire!" Young parents smell smoke, and are heading for the exits. The idea that people like us are to blame for a disorderly exit is ridiculous. Jon Poling, a respected neurologist and father of Hannah Poling, whose autistic regression and seizures as a result of multiple vaccination were conceded by the United States government -- the United States government! -- wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008:
"The current vaccine schedule, co-sponsored by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics, injures a small but significant minority of children, my daughter unfortunately being one of those victims. Every day, more parents and some pediatricians reject the current vaccine schedule. In an abundance of caution, meaningful reform must be performed urgently to prevent the re-emergence of serious diseases like polio or measles.
"As a neurologist, I have cared for those afflicted with SSPE (a rare but dread neurological complication of measles), paralytic polio and tetanus. If these serious vaccine-preventable diseases again become commonplace, the fault will rest solely on the shoulders of public health leaders and policymakers who have failed to heed the writing on the wall (scribbled by my 9-year old daughter)."
As I wrote then, "Dr, Poling is the real deal, educated at Johns Hopkins, devoted both to his daughter and his patients, tempered by reality. He's mild-mannered. He's mainstream. He's credible. To repeat for emphasis: He says that if a disease like measles emerges again, 'fault will rest solely on the shoulders of public health leaders and policymakers.'"
--
Dan Olmsted is Editor of Age of Autism.
@Kristine
http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2008/04/jon-poling-mitochondrial-dysfunction.html
Posted by: Supporter | April 14, 2014 at 06:46 PM
lisa Also; a low carb diet helps me a lot too -- I might be getting too many carbs in my diet lately -that is probably part of my problem too Plus I have been really lazy about taking my vitamin D.
By the time I fill up all three of mine family member's viamin weekly containers -- I most time delay or not take mine.
Another thing I found out -It was wrong of me to do this but I just wanted to know;;
Some years back - when -- I started to come down with a fungal infection -- I took extra thyroid medicine --it went away -- but as soon as the thyrod medicine wore off back it came.
Your thyroid coming back is a darn miracle -- take care of yourself and hope it stays that way.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 14, 2014 at 04:18 PM
lisa; I tooo had all this happen to me and glad to have the antifungals.
My thyroid did not come back and I am taking a lot --
I am not sure if this is not more of the which came first the chicken or the egg.
Messed metabolism - messes up which microbes do well.
I got rid of fungal infection after years of finally running into a gyno that gave me a three week supply and I was good after that for a while -- some years but then it is returning and -- as long as I take my vitamin D through the winter I do okay.
Those at the Kawasakis Disease website also are having a dickens of a time with fungal infections.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 14, 2014 at 04:07 PM
I have been following this issue now for nearly seven years. One of the things I have found most intriguing about autism is the reports that many children with autism see their symptoms improve with fever. This, to me, can only mean one thing; Whatever it is that is causing their symptoms is temporarily reduced in the presence of antibodies produced by their immune systems in response to infection. This, in turn, implies a living organism as the root cause of autistic symptoms. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but that can only mean four things: virus, bacteria, parasite, or fungus. For various reasons, the evidence, in my opinion, points strongly at fungus.
I myself was suffering for a number of years from what I finally recognized to be systemic yeast overgrowth. My problems were four-fold: under-active thyroid, serious problems digesting gluten, chronic vaginal yeast infections, and a "mysterious" painful bladder disorder called Interstitial Cystitis. Like children with autism, my symptoms all improved dramatically whenever I got sick with fever or respiratory infections. Then, when my acute illness went away, my chronic illnesses returned -- like clockwork.
In addition to cutting out gluten for the past five years (which helped my stomach immensely but did not cure my other conditions), this past year I was finally treated for systemic yeast -- with Diflucan, Nystatin, and caprylic acid. After two months (10 days at 200 mg daily, then 200 mg. weekly thereafter) of Diflucan, shock of all shocks: My thyroid is cured -- as per repeated blood work performed by my endocrinologist; my stomach also appears to be cured - I can once again eat gluten w/o consequence; bladder disorder and vaginal yeast infections, though not entirely cured, are now very much under control.
So now naturally I'm beginning to wonder what oral anti-fungals would do for autism. I read Jenny Mccarthy's book. She said that, among his other treatments, her son was given a three-week course of Diflucan. My reading of her narrative suggests that this was when he really turned the corner.
I'm curious as to how many children with autism have been given a course of Diflucan? And what results, if any, were observed?
Posted by: lisa | April 14, 2014 at 10:38 AM
to cia parker, I appreciate and agree with your comments. I would say that I have no idea whatsoever WHAT Dr. Poling really thinks, because someone in his shoes HAS to speak in a way that does not antagonize other medical professionals that are absolutely and resolutely NOT READY to take a really close, scientific look at autism. Some of them havent even seen many or any autistic kids. Their concept of autism can be something like Rainman and boy they are not interested in looking closer than that. What I hope is that there are lots of Dr. Polings out there, who when they are older and safe in position and income, will speak out in eloquent ways for the cause of the autism holocaust.
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | April 14, 2014 at 02:41 AM
To Angus files- I find that studying about autism and its causes have very much changed the way I look at health, physiology- I have adopted new concepts and apply them to situations. One of the things which intrigued me is something never taught in my time- and I wonder if anyone is teaching it now- That is the biological periodic table. This is the periodic table of elements that are found in either the human body or all living things (not sure which) So, immediately one looks at that and thinks, "What the #@%& are they doing putting these elements- mercury and aluminium into the human body ??? ! They do not belong there.
Another useful concept - Stop thinking of "the human body" and instead think of each single cell in your body- going its merry way- living as it was always meant to- and now you hit it over the head with mercury or aluminium. If the poor cell is lucky ,he just gets a headache and recovers. If things are too toxic, he collapses, implodes/turns cancerous, and so on. Your health flies out the window and lo and behold, its such a MYSTERY for the doctors !! Sigh, I suppose it's far easier to go on living with mysteries than to reform your medical practise according to new concepts.
Posted by: Cherry Sperlin Misra | April 14, 2014 at 02:31 AM
Anna J thanks for your advice, and yes the monthlys are rough.
I am looking into all you suggested.
Thanks again.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 14, 2014 at 12:47 AM
Dan- I searched for that article a couple months ago (Poling in Atlanta paper) couldn't find it anywhere online. Do you have the link? Thanks.
Posted by: Kristine | April 13, 2014 at 09:34 PM
Bendetta,
Yes, we had terrible trouble with sleep issues in the past (I went 8 years on 2 hours of sleep/night, so know how difficult that can be!). Thankfully all three of our kids responded really well to the GFCF diet. Within 3 weeks of starting that diet, they were potty trained and sleeping MUCH better (though I know not everyone has that result. I feel very lucky there). However, our oldest daughter still has occasional issues with sleep. For her, it's almost always gut-related. She's been on a very clean diet for many years, but still has issues with leaky gut. Turns out she has chronic strep that finally showed up on a CSA (we'd done tests before and they always looked pretty good, but someone suggested we test her right before her monthly cycle, when her behavior was it's worst. We did, and wouldn't you know it, a number of different types of strep finally showed up). So, "gut bugs" can be tricky to detect, but definitely worth exploring, if you haven't already. Every child is different, but we've had extremely good luck with the melatonin sleep spray for sleep, and "Nerve Calm" (purchased from Dr. Yasko's site) for general anxiety and help with handling detox reactions. The sprays are great for kids with gut issues, as they seem to be absorbed better.
Beth, you'd asked about testing prior to vaccines. There are a number of tests one can do to determine immune system status, so talk to your doctor (I'm a PT, not an MD). There's also a test for methylation cycle mutations (Doctors Data Lab) that is especially important, I think, given the fact that that pathway is crucial for optimal health (and so many on the spectrum seem to have problems with proper methylation cycle function). I feel if it's not functioning properly, due to genetic mutations or toxic overload (for example from the mother's toxic exposures during pregnancy), that could put a child at increased risk of adverse vaccine reactions. That test is a simple finger prick you can do at home. Our child who had the most severe reactions to her vaccines, and is the one who has not yet recovered, also turned out to have the most severe methylation pathway mutations (I do not believe that's just a coincidence).
Posted by: Anne J. | April 13, 2014 at 06:56 PM
The activity of aluminum appears to play a vital role in disrupting the maturation of the immune system in infants and children. Vaccines contain aluminum. Why put a substance that HARMS the immune system in vaccines?
“If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are souls of those who live under tyranny” Thomas Jefferson
Great article Dan Fascists Gates et-al should be charged with genocide..
MMR RIP
Angus
Posted by: ANGUS FILES | April 13, 2014 at 05:47 PM
"Hand in hand with freedom of speech goes the power to be heard"
Robert F Kennedy speaking in South Africa
.
Posted by: Carolyn Flannery | April 13, 2014 at 11:35 AM
@Anne J. You mentioned: "There ARE tests you can do to see if a toddler might be more at risk." Are there blood tests?
Amazing how blood tests are deemed more invasive than a vaccine. Thanks for your post and the main post.
Posted by: Beth | April 13, 2014 at 10:51 AM
Dan, As you clearly know and write about, we, the common citizens are in a "Vaccination War" - as I term it.
Like other wars, such as the Hundred Year War, other countless wars, it's seems to me our present society/culture Vaccination War might go on, and on. Longer than Viet Nam, or today as in Afghanistan.
So be it. AoA and/or its Allies will continue, no matter the years, to expose the utter insanity of injecting newborns and infants with demonstrably proven toxic vaccinations.
Thanks for all your efforts - I'm afraid there's more years to go.
Posted by: david m burd | April 12, 2014 at 07:46 PM
On US.com Jenny is being attacked for simply saying that vaccines need to be thought about critically. God forbid!
Posted by: Figures | April 12, 2014 at 07:38 PM
Anne J
It came up in the IACC meeting that mainstream has added from alternative medicine the protocals for GI, epilepsy and sleep.
We have struggled with all three and I think we have the battle of the first two.
We are however; stuggeling with sleep.
Did you have to addresss that problem and if so --- what did you do?
Posted by: Benedetta | April 12, 2014 at 01:10 PM
Dan, this may be your best Weekly Wrap yet, which is saying a lot, b/c each and every one is always so good! I hope that one day you will be recognized for speaking and reporting the truth throughout this holocaust when other media persons (I refuse to call them journalists or investigative reporters, b/c they're not) put on their blinders and said to hell with all those millions of children (and people of all ages, and our freedom) that will be permanently damaged and killed by that which I refuse to report.
I think we must stop giving credence to, and begin to challenge, comments like Jon Poling's that imply that only a small, select few are being harmed by vaccines. Each and every vaccine does some level of damage, and as the evidence in our children and entire population is showing, it most certainly is not just a small, select few. The process of vaccination in and of itself sets off a cataclysmic series of events internally that will continue to reveal themselves over the course of a person's lifetime. To make matters worse, those internal events will be further exacerbated by the many other poisons we are all exposed to and ingest on a daily basis.
As always, job well done, Dan, and my greatest appreciation for your continued sounding of the alarm.
Posted by: Laura Hayes | April 12, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Dr. Marty Goldstein, a holistic veterinarian who is against vaccines, said that vaccines are the ultimate zero sum game: any advantage that you give in one area is at the expense of damaging another area.
Posted by: cia parker | April 12, 2014 at 12:23 PM
While I appreciate Dr. Poling's measured and eloquent summary of the vaccines and autism issue, I'm afraid he has been caught in the paradigms of his generation. Since the monetary compensation for Hannah's vaccine damage came with a gag order forbidding the parents to discuss the details, I think he hasn't kept up with the issue for the past several years. Not having experience with measles as a child, he believes that measles is a dangerous disease. As Dr. Jay Gordon said two weeks ago in a letter to the parents of all his patients, measles is not dangerous in healthy children. Period. I would add healthy children who get no Tylenol or other fever reducers, and also add to give them vitamin A to prevent rare complications, but the idea is the same. Not having kept up with the exploding autism rates which have continued to spiral upwards since Hannah's damage and court case, he still can say that vaccines affect a small minority of children adversely. Vaccines damage everyone every time. They can give temporary immunity to specific diseases in most vaccine recipients, but that immunity comes at an immense cost to everyone, neurological and autoimmune damage, as well as potential devastation in every body system. The protection may or may not be worth the price in individual cases. The child saved from dying of Hib meningitis is a plus: the fact that he may be one of the one in fifty who gets a potentially fatal peanut allergy from the Hib vaccine is still true and should be weighed in the balance when trying to decide whether or not to give the vaccine.
We all recognize that the CDC is totally disingenuous in its giving us its rate in children turning twelve this year, but it just can't tell us anything about the younger ones, the Prevnar and yearly flu vaccine generation. It took out a huge swath of damaged kids when it took out Asperger's kids from the autism diagnosis. It's doing absolutely everything it can to hide the truth. Why do we use its flawed figures? It announced one in fifty last year, based on phone interviews of parents, who, obviously, are the ones who know better than anyone. This was a more honest figure, but the University of Minnesota published its latest Somali study a few months ago, and found that the autism rate in white children there was one in 36. Why are we not using its figure?
Posted by: cia parker | April 12, 2014 at 12:19 PM
Drew Peardon, I completely understand your views, as they were my own, UNTIL IT HAPPENED TO MY CHILDREN! I have been a licensed healthcare worker for almost 3 decades now, and worked in a very mainstream, highly respected research hospital. When I had my children, of course I vaccinated according to the CDC's full schedule as "the pros outweighed the cons" by far, or so I thought. Then I watched as little by little, after each round of vaccines, my children slipped away, until 2 of them landed firmly on the autism spectrum. So began many years of research and treatments, both mainstream and complimentary. I can tell you this, mainstream medicine offered me NOTHING! My children's recovery was brought about because I had the courage to venture into the "complimentary, biomedical treatment arena" (against my pediatrician's wishes). Every improvement was considered a "coincidence" or "subjective" by my pediatrician, even though I kept meticulous notes on responses to various treatments. I do know how to read a research paper, and if you take the time to actually read all the available science, you will see major flaws in the studies our government expects us to believe "show no link to vaccines." I have also heard Dr. Wakefield present his findings personally, and he was kind enough to spend a few minutes with me many years ago, answering questions. I can tell you his advice was invaluable for my children, and led me to specialists who could really help them resolve their excruciating bowel disease. Prior to that, we'd bounced from top children's hospital to children's hospital without ANY relief (and in some cases their treatment actually caused INCREASED pain to my already suffering children!). I will be FOREVER GRATEFUL to Dr. Wakefield! The current system is unacceptable and needs to change. I know you probably mean well, but if you'd walked in my shoes, you'd see this situation very differently. We have since done genetic testing, and there ARE some genetic mutations that likely increase the odds of having problems with vaccines, but it takes an environmental trigger to make them problematic. Vaccines ARE that environmental trigger for many children (though not the only one, as a small percentage if kids do end up with autism even though they have not been vaccinated). The government knows vaccine can cause autism (and that the timing of the insult to their system is also an issue), which is why they continue to avoid doing a proper study of children who have been fully vaccinated on the CDC schedule vs children who have never been vaccinated. The CDC has no one to blame but themselves for the current mess we are in, and for the public distrust for the current vaccine schedule. Everyone who has lived through a vaccine injury or witnessed it in their child or neighbor's child knows what is happening. That genie is not going back in the bottle now, as too many have been injured to deny it any longer. Our injured kids are NOT acceptable collateral damage. They need to be recognized and treated. Above all, we need to stop the current, irresponsible vaccine practices from damaging future generations of innocent children. There ARE tests you can do to see if a toddler might be more at risk. They need to be doing those BEFORE pumping so many vaccines into a babies immature immune system! The current schedule is criminal, really, and people need to be held accountable for the damage it's caused to several generations of children. Above all, the continual damage needs to stop. We need to address this head on, NOW.
Posted by: Anne J. | April 12, 2014 at 11:51 AM
I read an interesting article today on the Semmelweis reflex...The Semmelweis reflex or "Semmelweis effect" is a metaphor for the reflex-like tendency to reject new evidence or new knowledge because it contradicts established norms, beliefs or paradigms. This explains exactly what I witness in medicine when my fellow colleagues won't even consider the possibility of vaccine injury even when obvious.
http://semmelweis.org/about/dr-semmelweis-biography/
Posted by: ChrissyD | April 12, 2014 at 11:23 AM
We also have consider where our drug ingredients are being made and all the problems the FDA has been having controlling toxic imports. Ethylene glycol (antifreeze) has been found in toothpaste made in China and lead levels in children toys exported to the US far exceed safe levels. I think there are multiple routes by which our kids are being exposed to toxins.
"DECKER & TRIPLETT: China’s poisonous exports
PRC products aren’t just cheap, they’re dangerous" -Wasington Times
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/15/chinas-poisonous-exports/
Toothpaste Imported From China May Contain Diethylene Glycol- FDA
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm153155.htm
The Poisoning of America: China's Food and Drugs are Unsafe at Any http://pop.org/content/poisoning-of-america-chinas-food-and-drugs-1923
Posted by: Wearebeingpoisoned | April 12, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Benedetta
Yes, you are right that "small" is a dangerous word. The defenders of thimerosal have gone on about "small" quantities of mercury. 1 in 68 is in a certain sense a "small" minority although not a small number of people, and it may not be the only collateral damage of the project.
Posted by: John Stone | April 12, 2014 at 10:14 AM
"injures a small but significant minority of children"
The words small or rare, or seldom, or few, or a bit, or a little
This plugs into the hunam being's evolutional obtained psychie that it will be everybody else but not them -- unless it is winning a 600 million dollar lottery ticket -- and in that case --- it will be them but not everybody else.
Posted by: Benedetta | April 12, 2014 at 09:53 AM
Drew Peardon,
It is YOU who are being lied to. Catch a clue.
Posted by: Linda | April 12, 2014 at 09:42 AM
Pleas read this: http://violentmetaphors.com/2014/03/25/parents-you-are-being-lied-to/
And Please watch this and read the page that it links to (and please watch the embed video too): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sxVwm7FAq0
Posted by: Drew Peardon | April 12, 2014 at 08:46 AM
Only 5 mutations needed to make bird flu more contagious, study says
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/04/11/only-5-mutations-needed-to-make-bird-flu-more-contagious-study-says/
So far, the virus has not been contagious in people, but is known to have infected 650 people globally— 386 of whom died.
Fouchier believes his team’s findings are important for staying ahead of the virus and preparing for a possible pandemic.
"If we increase our understanding of how influenza viruses become airborne between mammals, we may be able to identify at some point which viruses [out of many that are circulating in nature], we need to keep an eye on because of public health risks," Foucher told NPR in an email.
Others argue publishing the recipe is dangerous, as others could potentially use it to weaponize the virus.
********
It is amazing how FAST they figure this stuff out. The bird flu, just a short time ago, was located 3000 miles WEST of the Pacific Ocean in China.
The next thing you know, they will have a vaccine for it.... which will once again save us all. Perhaps the government will buy a few hundred million doses and then give it away for free.
Posted by: cmo | April 12, 2014 at 07:24 AM