AUTISM AND VACCINES

1
AUTISM AND VACCINES

• If Theres No Link,
• Why Do People Believe?

2
(No Transcript)
3
(No Transcript)
4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
Mercury in vaccines causes autism.
10
Well, no, it doesnt. So why do people believe it
does?
11
AUTISM

• Neural disorder
• Language and communication impairment
• Echolalia
• Restrictive and/or repetitive behaviors
  (stereotypy)
• Sensory abnormalities
• Poor motor skills
• Unusual eating behaviors

12
Which of these kids has autism?
13
Which of these kids has autism?
14
Autism is a parents nightmare

• Sleep disorders are very common.
• Autistic children dont look disabled.
• Language difficulties make communication
  frustrating and sometimes impossible.
• Self injury.
• 1 in 4 autistic children develop seizures by the
  time they reach adulthood. This can result in
  brain damage and death.

15
Autism is a parents nightmare.

• There is no known cause.
• There is no cure.
• Worst Most autistic kids develop normally, then
  regress.

16

• Post hoc,
• ergo propter hoc

17

• After this, therefore
• because of this.

18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23
Wakefields study

• Purported to link MMR vaccine with inflammatory
  bowel disease and autism.
• Claimed that the measles virus was present in
  samples from the digestive tracts of 12 children
  with autism.
• Speculated that this presence was due to the MMR
  vaccine. If you give three viruses together,
  three live viruses, then you potentially increase
  the risk of an adverse event occurring,
  particularly when one of those viruses influences
  the immune system in the way that measles does.

24
Why Wakefield was discredited

• Conducted research by examining 12 autistic kids
  and subjecting them to unnecessary procedures
  (colonoscopy, lumbar puncture)
• Several of the children were recruited by
  attorneys preparing a lawsuit against MMR
  manufacturers
• Wakefield failed to disclose that he personally
  received 400,000 from these attorneys
• A week before publication of the Lancet paper,
  Wakefield applied for a patent on a single-jab
  measles vaccine

25
A British court of law found that Andrew
Wakefield

• Dishonestly and irresponsibly spread fear that
  the MMR vaccine might cause autism in some
  children, even though he knew that his own
  laboratory's tests dramatically contradicted his
  claims and he knew or ought to have known that
  there was absolutely no scientific basis at all
  for his belief that MMR should be broken up into
  single vaccines
• In spreading such fear, also acted dishonestly
  and irresponsibly, by repeatedly failing to
  disclose conflicts of interest and/or material
  information, including his association with
  contemplated litigation against the manufacturers
  of MMR and his application for a patent for a
  vaccine for measles which, if effective, and if
  the MMR vaccine had been undermined and/or
  withdrawn on safety grounds, would have been
  commercially very valuable.
• Caused medical colleagues serious unease by
  carrying out research tests on vulnerable
  children outside the terms or in breach of the
  permission given by an ethics committee, in
  particular by subjecting those children to highly
  invasive and sometimes distressing clinical
  procedures and thereby abusing them.
• Has been unremittingly evasive and dishonest in
  an effort to cover up his wrong-doing.

26
The mercury in thimerosol is ethyl mercury, not
methyl.

• Even if it were true that mercury in vaccines
  caused autism

27
Mercury was removed from all childhood vaccines
except the influenza and tetanus shots.In
2001.Autism rates have stayed about the same.
28
ANDREW WAKEFIELD

• Lancet article RETRACTED
• Medical license REVOKED
• CENSURED for professional misconduct

29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
JENNY and EVAN

• Developed typically until onset of seizures, at
  which time his language regressed.
• Seizures improved and apparently ceased
  subsequent to medication.
• His symptoms are consistent with Landau-Kleffner
  Syndrome, often misdiagnosed as autism.

• Believes mercury in vaccines caused her son
  Evans autism. She says Evan was diagnosed in
  2005.
• The onset of Evans autism was marked by
  seizures.
• Believes chelation therapy cured Evan of his
  autism.

32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)
34
Drs. Mark and David Geier

• Institute of Medicine calls their work seriously
  flawed, uninterpretable.
• American Academy of Pediatrics numerous
  conceptual and scientific flaws, omissions of
  fact, inaccuracies, and misstatements.
• Judges labeled Mark Geiers testimony
  intellectually dishonest, not reliable, and
  wholly unqualified.

35
(No Transcript)
36

• Celebrity endorsements (Yoko Ono, Jerry
  Seinfeld, Paul Simon)
• Federal grants
• PR departments
• Walk for the Cure, ribbons, magnets, calendars,
  posters, ad campaigns.

37
(No Transcript)
38
There isn't an unlimited pot of money, and every
dollar spent looking where we know the answer
isn't is one less dollar we have to spend where
we might find new answers. The fact is that
vaccines save lives they don't cause autism.
... Autism Speaks needs to move on.
39
Arguments that there might be rare cases of
biologically-plausible vaccine involvement ...
are misleading and disingenuous ... Autism
Speaks is adversely impacting autism research.
40
If you donate, donate hereautismsciencefoundatio
n.org

• Founded by parents and scientists
• Grounded in scientific principles
• Money is spent on research, not awareness

41
Why do people still believe?

• Awareness as opposed to education.
• Media promotes celebrities like Jenny McCarthy
  and Jim Carrey instead of Alison Singer.
• Lack of training in critical thought
• Emotional

42
RememberParents who dont vaccinate their
childrenTHINK THEYRE DOING THE RIGHT THING.
43
VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN.BECAUSE YOU LOVE THEM.