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Autism's Theoretical Causes: Mercury and Vaccines--An Editorial

 
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In addition to genetics and metabolism, mercury exposure and vaccines have been implicated as a possible cause of autism. My previous article covered studies about genetic and metabolism causes and this article continues with research regarding vaccines.

Old style DPT vaccines used to contain thimerosal, a 49 percent mercury compound. Some DTaP vaccines still contain small amounts of mercury, according to the CDC Pink Book. Other vaccines, such as Hepatitis B and flu shots contain the full amount of thimerosal.

Some researchers believe that the increasing number of vaccines given at one time to a developing infant are a cause of autism, particularly as the blood/brain barrier is not yet complete.

A study in the Annals of Epidemiology found that newborn boys who had received Hepatitis B vaccine were three times more likely to be diagnosed with an ASD compared with boys who hadn’t had the jab.

"Findings suggest that U.S. male neonates vaccinated with hepatitis B vaccine had a 3-fold greater risk of ASD; risk was greatest for non-white boys." (2)

Autism symptoms and mercury poisoning symptoms are virtually identical. The Journal of Immunotoxicology wrote:

"Autistic brains show neurotransmitter irregularities that are virtually identical to those arising from mercury exposure. Due to the extensive parallels between autism and mercury poisoning, the likelihood of a causal relationship is great."

These neurotransmitter irregularities may be the reason why some autistic children have sensory processing disorders. (1)

MMR Vaccine

MMR vaccine is considered a possible cause of autism. In 1998 a gastroenterologist called Andrew Wakefield and his team of clinicians identified 12 children, eight of whom suffered regressive autism and gastrointestinal disease. After publishing this case paper, concluding that it did NOT prove an association with MMR, Dr. Wakefield studied a further 161 children, 91 of whom had bowel disease and a further 70 who did not.

He found measles virus in the guts of 75 of the children with bowel disease and only in five of the healthy children. He called this condition "measles enterocolitis". It was already widely known that wild measles virus can cause colitis so theoretically a live virus vaccine like MMR could do the same. (3 and 4)

A further three children with regressive autism were found to have measles vaccine virus in their cerebrospinal fluid after a spinal tap had been performed.

"In light of encephalopathy presenting as autistic regression (autistic encephalopathy, AE) closely following measles-mumps rubella (MMR) vaccination, three children underwent cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assessments including studies for measles virus (MV). All three children had concomitant onset of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and had already had MV genomic RNA detected ... None of the cases or controls had a history of measles exposure other than MMR vaccination."

They thought this raised the possibility of virally-driven brain damage resulting in some cases of regressive autism. (5)

Early life exposure to mercury and other metals, followed by exposure to live viruses could potentially tip the child into autoimmunity.

Fetal Tissue

Some vaccine viruses are cultured on fetal tissue cells obtained from aborted fetuses. Although it isn’t an added ingredient, trace amounts of fetal DNA will remain in the vaccine. Vaccines that contain fetal DNA include MMR, varicella, some Hepatitis B vaccines and Hepatitis A.

Children can produce antibodies to all components of vaccines and not merely the viruses or bacteria, so injecting fetal DNA can cause the child to develop antibodies to human tissue, another possible factor in autism.

Doctors in Portugal blood tested 171 autistic patients, 191 parents and 54 healthy people and found that the autistic patients had high levels of non-inherited antibodies to their own brain tissue. (6)

Spikes in the incidence of autism were seen in the UK in 1988 when the MMR was introduced and in the United States in 1995 when varicella vaccine was introduced, pointing to a possible link with fetal tissue in vaccines. (1)

It is important that research into the childhood vaccination schedule be continued, particularly while rates of autism show no sign of slowing down.

Sources:

1. Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes—A review, Journal of Immunotoxicology. Web. 8 September 2011.
http://www.cogforlife.org/ratajczakstudy.pdf

2. Hepatitis B Vaccination of Male Neonates and Autism, Annals of Epidemiology. Web. 8 September 2011.
http://www.annalsofepidemiology.org/issues

3. Measles study raises bowel disease link, BBC News (2002). Web. 8 September 2011.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1803005.stm

4. Enterocolitis, autism and measles virus, Molecular Psychiatry. Web. 8 September 2011.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12142948

5. Detection of Measles Virus Genomic RNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Children with Regressive Autism: a Report of Three Cases, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. Web. 8 September 2011. http://www.jpands.org/vol9no2/bradstreet.pdf

6. Autoantibody repertoires to brain tissue in autism nuclear families, Journal of Neuroimmunology. Web. 8 September 2011.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165572804001213

Joanna is a freelance health writer for The Mother magazine and Suite 101 with a column on infertility, http://infertility.suite101.com/. She is author of the book, 'Breast Milk: A Natural Immunisation,' and co-author of an educational resource on disabled parenting.

She is a mother of five who practised drug-free home birth, delayed cord clamping, full term breast feeding, co-sleeping, home schooling and flexi schooling and is an advocate of raising children on organic food.

Reviewed September 8, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg R.N.
Edited by Jody Smith

Add a Comment87 Comments

No, I still think that it mutates because that's what the CDC say. It's right there in black and white. It says, and I quote, again:

'We discuss changes in the ecology of B. pertussis that may have driven this adaptation. Our results underline the importance of Ptx in transmission, suggest that vaccination may select for increased virulence, and indicate ways to control pertussis more effectively.'

I.e They are discussing changes that drove the adaption (mutation) of pertussis. Vaccination may be causing INCREASED VIRUALENCE of pertussis.'

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/8/08-1511_article.htm

And in 2nd source:

An acellular whooping cough vaccine actually enhances the colonization of Bordetella parapertussis in mice; pointing towards a rise in B. parapertussis incidence resulting from acellular vaccination, which may have contributed to the observed increase in whooping cough over the last decade.

I.e. The vaccine ENHANCES the growth of parapertussis and the rise in cases is due to the vaccine.

http://www.cidd.psu.edu/research/synopses/acellular-vaccine-enhancement-b.-parapertussis

The full study on the rats, that showed a 40 fold increase in parapertussis, is here:

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1690/2017.full

They said:
'Directly proving aP vaccination puts treated people at risk of acquiring B. parapertussis is very difficult, but we hope our study highlights the need for more thorough B. parapertussis epidemiological data and encourages further work in this neglected area. If our experiments are capturing the phenomenology of what is happening under aP vaccination in humans, it may be important to consider the introduction of vaccines that better protect against both bordetellae.

And:

We note that epidemiological evidence in human whooping cough infections is consistent with an enhancement effect for B. parapertussis (Bergfors et al. 1999; Liese et al. 2003).

An enhanced understanding of the evolutionary consequences of widespread aP vaccination is needed in order to optimize the next generation of vaccination strategies and fully reap the benefits of this powerful medical intervention.'

The evolutionary consequences meaning mutation, just like bacteria have evolved to beat antibiotics.

And this newspaper article says that whooping cough has mutated:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/whooping-cough-strain-now-immune-to-vaccine/story-e6freuy9-1225828959714

Of course they do the usual and blame parents who don't vaccinate but if they looked at the above study I just showed you, they would see that's it's vaccination that caused the 40 fold increase in mutated pertussis.

This article on a poultry vaccine says the same thing, that vaccination is causing the formation of new genotypes of disease:

'Collectively, these data show that vaccination with live attenuated viruses has changed the evolution of aPMV-1 by maintaining a large effective population size of a vaccine-related genotype, allowing for coinfection and recombination of vaccine and wild type strains, and by applying unique selective pressures on viral glycoproteins.'

Re-combination is mutation, the vaccine viruses mixing with other viruses and making a new virus.

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000872

I think that may be why we are now seeing new strains of measles:

Nineteen distinct measles virus (MV) strains associated with nine different genotypes were identified in five Australian states (Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia) between 1999 and 2001. One of the strains identified is likely to represent a new genotype within the clade D viruses (proposed to be d9). No evidence for an indigenous MV strain was found. When epidemiologic information associated with the index case was available for the outbreaks, it usually supported introduction of the virus from overseas, with the main source being South East Asia. Changes in the circulation of MV in Australia since the early 1970s were also observed. Prior to the introduction of measles vaccine, the majority of the population acquired immunity through infection with wild-type virus in early childhood. Nowadays in Australia, young adults are at most risk of infection.' (As a side note to this, measles is more serious in adulthood).

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168170202002733

And here's another news article on the old prevenar 7 vaccine causing 'superbug ear infection' -

http://www.bookrags.com/news/successful-vaccine-may-come-with-a-moc/

This is what happens, they can't deny it because they said so and it's in their research.

I'm not changing the subject at all, just making conversation :)

October 16, 2011 - 6:07am

A weed is just an unloved flower.
So you're sticking with your story - that a vaccine causes the pertussis bacteria to mutate into parapertussis? Or are you just trying to change the subject to avoid changing your belief to accommodate new evidence?

October 14, 2011 - 6:50am

To clarify for the US readers, garden means lawn, not vegetable plot (in the UK).

October 14, 2011 - 6:32am

It isn't less aggressive, though, it's MORE aggressive:

We present evidence that in the Netherlands the dramatic increase in pertussis is temporally associated with the emergence of Bordetella pertussis strains carrying a novel allele for the pertussis toxin promoter, which confers increased pertussis toxin (Ptx) production.' - they said it produces MORE toxin (that's from the CDC link I just showed you).

It also said:

Epidemiologic data suggest that these strains are more virulent in humans.

MORE virulent, MORE, not less. Think antibiotics and MRSA or head lice lotion and superbug headlice that aren't killed no matter what you do, if we are doing weed analogies :)

The other source I showed you says:

'In contrast, vaccination led to a 40-fold enhancement of B. parapertussis colonization in the lungs of mice. Though the mechanism behind this increased colonization was not specifically elucidated, it is speculated to involve specific immune responses skewed or dampened by the acellular vaccine, including cytokine and antibody production during infection. Despite this vaccine being hugely effective against B. pertussis, which was once the primary childhood killer, these data suggest that the vaccine may be contributing to the observed rise in whooping cough incidence over the last decade by promoting B. parapertussis infection. Highlighting the extreme consideration that should be exercised in future vaccine development, this work supports the use of vaccines that also target B. parapertussis as a potentially more efficient way to battle whooping cough.'

So they're saying that the vaccine has caused parapertussis and that scientists ought to be careful about this issue when making other vaccines...but they should now change the DTaP vaccine to include the para strain.

They did that with the pneumonia vaccine too because that was causing a surgence of a new serotype, 19a pneumonia. JAMA wrote:

'The rapid increase in multiresistant serotype 19A as a cause of invasive and respiratory pneumococcal disease has been associated in time with the widespread implementation of 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccination (PCV-7) in several countries. A 2 + 1-dose PCV-7 schedule was associated with an increase in serotype 19A nasopharyngeal acquisition compared with unvaccinated controls.'

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20823436

That's why they brought in 13 valent penumonia vaccine recently. I'm willing to bet that in another 10 years or so there will be even more aggressive strains so they'll have to invent a vaccine with even more strains. All we are doing is suppressing one disease to replace it with an even bigger, more virulant killer disease. Nature adapts and it has so far outwitted man's inventions every time.

'Here's an opportunity for you to adjust your belief to new evidence. It's what scientists, and science writers, do.'

I could say the same about you.

Oh, by the way, I love weeds. I have lots in my front garden. They've grown up by my front door and grown many beautiful, white flowers. They look lovely so I left them there :)

October 14, 2011 - 6:29am

You wrote "'Vaccines also cause the diseases to mutate, so if you vaccinate against pertussis, it encourages another form, parapertussis to develop."

I answered "Pertussis does not mutate into parapertussis." Nothing in your CDC quote says otherwise. I'll explain why.

The vaccine knocks down Bordetella pertussis (which is toxic) to the point where B. parapertussis (which does not carry the pertussis toxin) becomes dominant.

As a bacterial vaccine takes on the most common bacteria, the less common serotypes eventually become dominant. B. parapertussis does not arise as a mutation, as you claimed. It's always been there - just in a "latent" form until the dominant B. pertussis is eliminated.

Think of your garden. If you eliminate one weed, an opportunity is created for other, less aggressive weeds to flourish. The less aggressive weeds are not mutations, created by you when you kill the more aggressive weeds. You just created an opening for other weeds.

It's a similar idea with pertussis and parapertussis. The vaccine is like a herbicide. Then the dominant B. pertussis "weed" dies off, the less aggressive B. parapertussis springs up.

Joanna, I know you fancy yourself a science writer. Here's an opportunity for you to adjust your belief to new evidence. It's what scientists, and science writers, do.

October 14, 2011 - 5:36am

The CDC said it, not me:

Before childhood vaccination was introduced in the 1940s, pertussis was a major cause of infant death worldwide. Widespread vaccination of children succeeded in reducing illness and death. In the 1990s, a resurgence of pertussis was observed in a number of countries with highly vaccinated populations, and pertussis has become the most prevalent vaccine-preventable disease in industrialized countries. We present evidence that in the Netherlands the dramatic increase in pertussis is temporally associated with the emergence of Bordetella pertussis strains carrying a novel allele for the pertussis toxin promoter, which confers increased pertussis toxin (Ptx) production. Epidemiologic data suggest that these strains are more virulent in humans. We discuss changes in the ecology of B. pertussis that may have driven this adaptation. Our results underline the importance of Ptx in transmission, suggest that vaccination may select for increased virulence, and indicate ways to control pertussis more effectively.'

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/8/08-1511_article.htm

Read it.

Also this from the Center for infectious disease dynamics - both conventional medical sources:

An acellular whooping cough vaccine actually enhances the colonization of Bordetella parapertussis in mice; pointing towards a rise in B. parapertussis incidence resulting from acellular vaccination, which may have contributed to the observed increase in whooping cough over the last decade.

http://www.cidd.psu.edu/research/synopses/acellular-vaccine-enhancement-b.-parapertussis.

Read that before you start commenting - I only state what has been formally researched and discovered, and as the above source says, they have discovered it DOES mutate into parapertussis in mice tests. Animal testing is the medical model of safety for drugs.

October 14, 2011 - 4:58am

'Vaccines also cause the diseases to mutate, so if you vaccinate against pertussis, it encourages another form, parapertussis to develop"

Pertussis does not mutate into parapertussis. Joanna, does anyone review your comments for accuracy?

October 14, 2011 - 4:46am

Well, this study supports Andrew's finding of gastrointestinal disease in autism, and the worse the disease, the worse the autism. He was one of the doctors who debunked Wakefield's case study, yet he uses on of his papers as a reference for this research:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0024585

Actually, most of the transmission of whooping cough to newborns is from their vaccinated parents and siblings. The vaccine has been found to only last 3 years so because people are vaccinated repeatedly through childhood and teens, it wears off at a time they are childbearing. In the past, the majority of people had whooping cough as children so they developed life-long immunity to it so could not infect their own children and in the past, most mother's who had had whooping cough, also breast fed which meant their babies were protected from whooping cough during the vulnerable newborn phase.

These days, most mothers don't have the benefit of natural immunity and a lot of mothers formula feed. In fact, most are formula feeding after the age of 6 weeks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1439703/Parents-whooping-cough-germs-can-put-their-babies-at-risk.html

http://cmr.asm.org/cgi/content/full/21/3/426

http://www.dawn.com/2011/09/20/whooping-cough-vaccine-fades-after-3-years-study.html

http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?mID=2789&cKey=223c57e0-0217-4327-aa94-9677ed5ea4c4&sKey=4451459e-9f2b-4cb4-af74-27104aa3d756:

'Despite widespread vaccination against Bordetella pertussis, disease remains prevalent. Acellular Pertussis vaccine may be less effective or durable than previously believed. Its clinical efficacy has yet to be evaluated in North America. At the epicenter of the largest outbreak in decades, we examined pertussis incidence and vaccine efficacy in a well-defined, vaccinated community. Methods: We reviewed 171 patients with a positive PCR for B. pertussis from March 1 to October 31, 2010 for demographics and vaccination status. Results: We found 132 cases of clinical pertussis in patients age <19, with peak incidence in ages 8-14. Testing rate peaked in infants, but remained nearly constant in other ages. The case rate markedly increased after age 7, peaking at age 12 and appeared to correlate to an increased interval since vaccination. Unvaccinated children accounted for very few cases. Conclusions: The 2010 pertussis outbreak was an excellent natural experiment to assess the American acellular pertussis vaccine.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7736958/Babies-should-be-given-MMR-jab-earlier-to-cover-immunity-gap-for-measles.html (Results showed that vaccinated women had far fewer antibodies than women who were naturally immune).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2482004 (Breast milk protecting against whooping cough, hib and meningitis).

Also, the vaccines don't technically immunize, they change the presentation of the disease, so for instance, a vaccinated person with whooping cough would not necessarily cough but would still be infectious and capable of passing it on to a newborn baby or an unvaccinated child. At least with an unvaccinated child, you know this is whooping cough so you keep your child indoors. Whereas the vaccinated child you don't know so you could be visiting new babies etc thinking you can't pass it on. Here is a research article you can get by logging in (it's free):

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/104/6/1381.full (The Science and Fiction of Pertussis Vaccines).

There's far more to it than Wakefield or autism and most parents who choose not to, don't do it to prevent autism, but for wide-ranging reasons. The autism issue is a fairly recent one and is but one small part of a much more complex problem.

'

October 13, 2011 - 3:36pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Joanna Karpasea-Jones)

"Also, the vaccines don't technically immunize, they change the presentation of the disease"

Please forward this comment to whoever it is that clears your posts. It demonstrates a level of misunderstanding that is quite remarkable.

In the case of pertussis vaccination there are studies that indicate that for some small fraction, the vaccine does result in a less severe course of the disease. Likely the same thing happens to people who had whooping cough many years ago (because, unlike your earlier comment, whooping cough infection does not give lifelong immunity).

Either way--that *is* a result of being immunized. You clearly don't understand the term. Immunize means to fortify ones immune system against a disease. That can result in either prevention or in lessening of the infection.

These are discussions of the outliers. A small fraction of the
population. The fact remains that for most people, vaccines prevent the pertussis infection.

Seriously, you would do better to understand the links you give than to just blindly present a bunch of links as though they bolster your argument.

October 13, 2011 - 5:35pm
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