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DrJeremy 
11:33am, August 11, 2009
Two very interesting events occurred in the past couple of weeks. Both of which produced a good deal of interest, probably one more so than the other…and although not directly related (as I will explain below) both deeply intertwined by a theme that has become a major undertone in the pediatric population today…vaccines and autism.
Over the course of my career, I have seen the primary concern of parents evolve into the issue surrounding vaccines. I have some parents who have searched the internet for hours upon hours to those who heard something from a friend of a friend about vaccines. I have spent many a well-child care visit discussing vaccines and been sent email after email of questions, comments, and websites regarding any related information…usually not so good.
…And now everything has just been turned up a notch with the recent events. I first want to address the most recent event which involved a concession by the U.S Court of Federal Claims that the vaccines received at 19 months of age of a now 9 year old girl with a mitochondrial disorder exacerbated her underlying diagnosis as well as lead to her diagnosis of autism. At this 19 month old visit, 5 injections were given (which included a total of nine vaccines with thimerosal [the mercury additive] being the preservative used in the vaccines) and within 48 hours, a high fever developed with extreme inconsolability. Shortly thereafter, this young toddler soon stopped walking and her speech digressed. Now it should be noted, it is not clear as to the extent of the underlying medical condition’s impact on her development of autism but what we do know is she will now be eligible for compensation through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program…and, therefore, be the first child to do so with autism as the core of the reason.
So what about this other story I hinted at above. Well, in February this year, a measles outbreak was confirmed in San Diego County. It appears a 7 year old unvaccinated child acquired the virus when on vacation in Europe the previous month. And last I heard, 11 additional cases of measles in unvaccinated children in San Diego have been associated with this first case. Other than one infant being hospitalized for two days, I am unaware of any further complications for any of these children but I would like to take this opportunity to remind us all of some of the more severe complications with measles: 1. Acute encephalitis, which often leads to permanent brain damage, occurs in proximally 1 of every 1,000 cases. 2. Death occurs in 1 to 3 of every 1,000 cases in the U.S. (often from respiratory and neurological complications). One might think these numbers not being too significant, but when there exists something to prevent these even remote outcomes, I would claim that these numbers are unacceptable.
So where does this leave us? Probably in a greater state of debate and confusion than before…as there is more fuel for both sides to justify their beliefs. To not see this would be a disservice to our children and our children‘s children. This measles outbreak in San Diego County serves as a reminder to us all that in an unvaccinated community, a single case may evolve into an outbreak with minimal effort. And this court case provides some just cause that maybe something about the vaccines (possibly that some children cannot handle multiple immunizations at a single visit) needs to be reevaluated.
But I do hope all realize that, ultimately, we all have the same goal to do our best for our children…so when we speak with each other, we do it with respect. We all have something to learn.
Dr. Jeremy
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Excellent, thoughtful post, Dr. J. I have been discussing the recent settlement the government made with this family with my own pediatrician. After lengthy discussion, and more reading on my part, I still feel my husband and I made the right decision in vaccinating our 3 children (although in agreement with my ped we will be delaying Devon's MMR2 vaccine until after she reaches 2 years of age). But as you said, there are 2 sides to every discussion (if not more) and there will continue to be healthy (and heated) debate over the use of vaccines in our children. In the end, every parent needs to make the most educated and thoughtful decision for their own child. But I couldn't agree more, we DO all have something to learn... everyday.
cath
Wow... thank you so much for the interesting post. It's scary to think about what vaccinations are being blamed for... but it's also scary to think about the alternatives.
Thanks for always keeping us abreast of this important (yet controversial) information.
HelloChrissy
My son goes today to get his 2mos shots. I can't say that it doesnt scare me a bit, but I do see that the alternatives are perhaps even a bit MORE scary. Thanks for posting this journal entry.
Diem
I thimk it's wise to gether as much information as you can and then discuss your fears/concerns with the expert you rely on to care for you children. That way you can understand more fully the results of your actions or inactions as the case may be. Thank you for being able to share more information with us.
suzyhopes
WOW I am even more confussed than before thank you Doctor Jeremy LOL. AHHH I don't know what to do?!
Tamberly
Do you vaccinate your children? I am just curious, I didn't want to but I didn't know what else to do. I adopted from guatemala and when I brought my daugher back we had her vaccination chart and my doctor wanted to give her all her vaccinations all over again because she wasn't sure whether or not they would be effective or if they were given properly. I said no but had her test my daughter for immunity to the virus' she was vaccinated for, and she tested immune or proved to have developed some type of exposure/immunity to them, therefore I didn't need to revaccinate her. I am glad I chose to do that. It is so hard to know what to do.
elisha
i just sent you a hug regarding a vaccine-related subject. i, as a mother, am very happy to see this post. question one: can they make the vaccines without thimerosal?
i used to 'pattern' a baby who had adverse, and life long effects from the DPT shot.
as a mom of a child who never seems to feel well (and you have thousands of people you deal with here...i am a nurse and used to be an asthma and allergy educator...)
WHAT can we do to get all the extra added crap (crap: medical term) out of food and things like vaccinations?
honest question.
i've thought about marching my bootie to DC. enough is enough.
j.
beephobia
Hello Dr. Jeremy,
My name is Amy and I am a Registered Nurse. I read your post and thought you might like to read some information posted by a doctor I worked with.
The website is
www.stocktonfp.com
look under educational material.
Thank you for your time.
amy7902
The alleged problems with vaccines, and the problem of outbreaks among unvaccinated children in the USA are rather trivial in comparison to the impacts the same conntroversies have in Africa, India, and other parts of the world. The polio problem in Nigeria from 2001 to 2008 is a prime example:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.asp...
DrDuke
Dr Jeremy,
When I took a course in statistics during my spring semester of college 2007. The course was called "Statistics, Concepts and Controversy." While this was a course offered as part of the mathematics curriculum, it was only half math. The other half was learning how to interpret statistical research studies. One project we had to do for the course involved choosing a study research paper, analyzing the study, and it's conclusion. One question we had to answer was whether the study's finding were valid.
I chose the study "Mercury Burden Study of Children with Autistic-Spectrum Disorders" Published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 8 Number 3 Summer 2003.
To make a long story short, I proceeded to debunk the entire conclusion of the study.
The following is the conclusion from my report on the study"
"The study clearly shows that Autistic children (who have been vaccinated) have higher levels of mercury in their systems than children who do not have Autism (whether or not they have been vaccinated), but doesn't the same study show that there is no statistically significant difference between the mercury levels of healthy children who have been vaccinated, and healthy children who have not? Sure, it shows that levels are high, but does not show any indication of what the cause of this is. In fact, it actually seems to indicate that vaccines have nothing at all to do with it."
I got an A+ for the report. It sure seemed clear to me, but I wasn't even all that confident in my own interpretation of what I saw. So I also made sure to include the following question:
"Am I missing something?"
The grade I got, along with the instructors reply to my question sealed it for me. He told me I hadn't missed a thing, and that my interpretation of the conclusion was right on the money. The study had proved nothing at all.
SentientParadox