What's western medicine done for you lately? Well, did you die of measles yet?

[urbpan]

I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't sure about vaccinations, especially for kids. I always wondered where the idea that they cause autism came from. From a fraudulent study, as it turns out.

I think this one had so much traction because people like to distrust doctors.

Thanks to drhoz for the link.

Comments

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

When I read comments on a news article there are always comments by people who say their kids were fine before a series of vaccinations, and developed autistic symptoms following them, often following a vaccine reaction. Has this ever been documented? I had no idea that that study was so flawed.

[shellasaurusrex.livejournal.com]

i have a close friend whose first born son had his vaccs and soon after developed the symptoms for autistic symptoms. he was three. she has this all well documented and her two other children have had no vaccines and remain fine.

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

hardly surprising - autism is rare, and the symptoms are only obvious *after* the kids have reached the age they should be getting vaccinated. Video evidence of the kids when they were younger still shows the earliest signs of autism tho, even before they ever got the vaccine.

[nutmeg.livejournal.com]

This correlation is often seen, probably because children receive the MMR and several other vaccines at 18 months, an age at which it is common for the symptoms of autism to begin to be apparent.

While autism is certainly a difficult row to hoe for the families, anecdotes do not scientific proof make. And while an anecdote might be the entire universe to parents of autistic kids who believe that their children were harmed by a vaccination, it isn't evidence.

This study was more than flawed. If everything he said was true, the study was flawed. It's becoming clear that the information in the study was actually falsified.

While the newest bugaboo in vaccinations is Thimerasol, this study IS at the beginning of people believing vaccinations cause autism (despite many, many more studies showing this study was incorrect). This researcher went on to spend years trying to support his claims to no avail.

autism/doctors

[ryebaby0.livejournal.com]

Just a comment from someone with entirely too much experience -- the spectrum of autism is wide, our knowledge of its causes is spit-shallow. Many studies are flawed or outright dishonest, but a growing body of good evidence does suggest that for some people, vaccinations do cause problems. (And I am in NO way advocating skipping them). The question is why? Autoimmune malfunction --and autism---is a gun loaded by genetics with environment pulling the trigger. The task is to figure out how to tell who is walking around with a "loaded gun".