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CNN: Vaccine-autism link divides parents, scientists
By Richard | April 2, 2008
Vaccine-autism link divides parents, scientists
David S. Martin | CNN
YUMA, Arizona (CNN) — At 13, Michelle Cedillo can’t speak, wears a diaper and requires round-the-clock monitoring in case she has a seizure. While her peers go to school or the mall or spend time with friends, the Yuma, Arizona, teenager remains at home, where she entertains herself with picture books and “Sesame Street” and “Blues Clues” DVDs.
Michelle has no idea she is at the center of a court case pitting thousands of families of children with autism against the medical establishment. A number of prestigious medical institutions say there is no link between vaccines and autism. The families believe vaccines caused their children’s autism, and they’ve taken their case to court.
“I think there is a link,” says Theresa Cedillo, Michelle’s mother.
Theresa and her husband, Mike, say their only child was a happy, engaged toddler who responded to her name, said “mommy” and “daddy” and was otherwise normal until she received a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine at 15 months.
They believe the MMR vaccine, combined with a mercury-containing preservative found in that and other vaccines at the time, drastically altered the course of their daughter’s development. Within days of receiving the injection as part of the normal course of vaccinations, Michelle suffered from a high fever, persistent vomiting and problems with her digestion. Worse still, her parents say, Michelle stopped speaking and no longer responded to her name.
“I thought it was because she was so sick. I thought certainly she’ll start talking again,” Theresa recalls. “You think you’re dealing with something that’s going to come and go, and you’re going to get your child back, and you don’t.” Michelle has since been diagnosed with autism, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, osteoporosis and epilepsy. MORE
Topics: Mercury/Thimerosol, Vaccines |
April 2nd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
A recent study in California (which essentially included all children in the state) published in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that the prevalence of autism has continued to increase over the past 13 years, even though the use of thimerosal in vaccines has gone way, way down over that same period. If thimerosal or mercury in vaccines was responsible you would expect the number of autistic kids to decrease. This study was conducted by State of California employees with no ties to drug or vaccine manufacturers. What kind of evidence will be needed to refute the thimerosol-autism link? It seems nothing will sway the true believers.