Vaccine Skeptics

bronxfan · Oct 19, 2007

hotballa said:

link? no that I doubt you, but it would be nice to see it somewhere else.
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here is one linked article in NY Times (but if you google "1998 autism study retraction" there are more about this infamous article)

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F05E4DE133FF937A35750C0A9629C8B63&fta=y

Researchers Retract a Study Linking Autism To Vaccination

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Published: March 4, 2004
Ten of the 13 scientists who produced a 1998 study linking a childhood vaccine to several cases of autism retracted their conclusion yesterday.

In a statement to be published in the March 6 issue of The Lancet, a British medical journal, the researchers conceded that they did not have enough evidence at the time to tie the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, known as MMR, to the autism cases. The study has been blamed for a sharp drop in the number of British children being vaccinated and for outbreaks of measles.

''We wish to make it clear that in this paper no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient,'' the researchers said in the retraction. ''However, the possibility of such a link was raised and consequent events have had major implications.''

The study came under fierce criticism last month when the editor of the Lancet said that the lead author of the report, Dr. Andrew Wakefield had failed to reveal that he had a conflict of interest when he conducted the research. At the time, the journal editors said, Dr. Wakefield was also gathering information for lawyers representing parents who suspected their children had developed autism because of the vaccine.

In a statement published on the Lancet's Web site on Feb. 23, Dr. Richard Horton, the journal's editor, wrote: ''We regret that aspects of funding for parallel and related work and the existence of ongoing litigation that had been known during clinical evaluation of the children reported in the 1998 Lancet paper were not disclosed to editors.''

After the 1998 study appeared, British health officials pleaded with parents to continue vaccinating their children, and a number of other studies were unable to confirm a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

Dr. Wakefield, who could not be immediately reached for comment, hired a lawyer to demand an apology from the Lancet after the journal released its statement last month, said Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, a colleague.

Dr. Bradstreet, director of the International Child Development Resource Center in Florida, said that Dr. Wakefield had not become involved with the lawyers representing the parents until after the study had essentially been finished. ''This has been blown way out of proportion,'' he said.

In the statement released yesterday, the researchers said that they could not reach one author of the study to ask if he wished to participate in the retraction. Two other authors, including Dr. Wakefield, did not sign the statement, according to the Lancet.
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and another one

http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/455/0

MMR Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism, Researchers Find
Contributed by Lisa Olen| 03 March, 2005 08:42 GMT

The rate of autism, which has been increasing in recent years, continued to increase among the 30,000-plus children in the study group even after the MMR vaccine was withdrawn from use. A hypothesized connection between the MMR (measles mumps rubella) vaccine routinely given to young children in many parts of the world and the onset of autism has been debunked by a study of more than 30,000 children in Japan, according to press reports.
The study was conducted in the city of Yokohama by Dr. Hideo Honda of the Yokohama Rehabilitation Center and colleagues Dr. Yasuo Shimizu and Dr. Michael Rutter of the Institute of Psychiatry in London and is reported in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Small Study Group

An earlier study, led by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and published in The Lancet in 1998, sparked widespread concern that the MMR vaccine might trigger autism. Dr. Wakefield's research involved 12 children from 3 to 10 years of age, including 11 boys, who were referred to a pediatric gastroenterology unit with a history of normal development followed by loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Dr. Wakefield reported that parents of 8 of the 12 children associated the onset of behavioral symptoms with the MMR vaccine. Nine cases of autism were identified among the 12 children, and Dr. Wakefield theorized -- based on his observations together with the results of earlier studies -- that a real connection existed between the MMR vaccine and onset of autism.

The 1998 study created a stir in the UK, with parents abandoning the MMR vaccine and opting for single vaccines instead. Measles outbreaks occurred, fueling fear of an epidemic.

Connection Disproven

The new study led by Dr. Honda reportedly shows that occurrences of autism continued to rise among children in the city of Yokohama after the MMR vaccine was replaced with single vaccines. Japan had discontinued use of the triple vaccine in 1993 due to reports that the mumps component was causing meningitis.

Dr. Honda's work is said to be the first investigation of a possible MMR link to autism in an environment where the MMR vaccine was not being used. Together with colleagues Dr. Shimizu and Dr. Rutter, Dr. Honda examined records of 31,426 children born in a single Yokohama district between 1988 and 1996.

The team discovered that the rate of autism, which has been increasing in recent years, continued to increase among the children in the study group even after the MMR vaccine was withdrawn from use. This observation was true for autism generally and also for the specific type of autism that Dr. Wakefield had observed in his study, which was characterized by normal development followed by sudden regression.

Researchers in the Japanese study reportedly acknowledged that MMR might trigger autism in a very small number of children. Although they found no evidence to support that hypothesis, they were unable to rule it out. Still, if such a finding were established, it would not explain the rising rate of autism in Japan following the discontinuation of the vaccine's use.

Experts agree that further study is needed to explain the worrisome rise in autism cases
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near the end they acknowledge that "they were unable to rule it out" which is a more honest approach. vaccines may cause problems, but autism hasn't been proven to be one of them, certainly not by any repeatable study....

coolweather · Oct 19, 2007

Rashmon said:

Sometimes it is the duty of government to protect it's citizens from their own ignorance .
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This government (FDA) that you say that protects its people from their ignorance is funded by drug companies. What does that tell yah?

hotballa · Dec 13, 2007

I caught this today and remembered we had this discussion before. no diseases reported yet. btw this is not about the vaccine itself, but the sterilization process.

http://children.webmd.com/news/20071212/1-million-doses-of-hib-vaccine-recalled?ecd=wnl_nal_121207

1 Million Doses of Hib Vaccine Recalled
No Illnesses Reported From Recalled Merck Hib Vaccine
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 12, 2007 -- The CDC and FDA today announced the recall of a million doses of children's Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib vaccine) due to concerns of sterility of the product.

No health problems have been reported, and no tainted vaccines have been found, says CDC Director Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH.

"Right now, this is not a health-threatening situation for children," Gerberding said at a news conference this afternoon. "We have had no cases of reported injury or adverse events with the Hib vaccine involved in this recall."
Advice for Parents

The recalled vaccines, made by the drug company Merck, are fully potent. Children who received the vaccines don't need to be revaccinated.

The concern is that the vaccine may be contaminated with bacteria, said Anne Schuchat, MD, director of the CDC's immunization center.

"No product has been found to have bacteria in it, but it is theoretically possible something slipped through," Schuchat said at the news conference.

Children who recently received the Hib vaccine may show symptoms at the injection site. Things to look for include local skin bumps or abscesses. Any problems would appear within a few days; after a week, problems are unlikely, says Schuchat.

Should symptoms appear, parents should contact a doctor.
About the Hib Vaccine

Every year, 14 million doses of the Hib vaccine are given in the U.S.

The Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib vaccine) prevents serious bacterial infections, including:

* Meningitis, an infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord
* Pneumonia, a lung infection

The CDC recommends the Hib vaccine for all children under 5 years old in the U.S., with doses starting when children are 2 months old. So far, no changes have been made to these recommendations.

The Hib vaccine isn't related to the flu vaccine.

The CDC also recommends the Hib vaccine for some older children or adults with special health conditions including sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, spleen removal, bone marrow transplant, or cancer treatment with certain drugs.
Hib Vaccine Recall

The Hib vaccine recall involves 12 lots of PedvaxHIB and COMVAX.

"These lots of PedvaxHIB and COMVAX are being recalled due to lack of assurance of product sterility," states the FDA's recall notice.

All of the recalled vaccines are made by Merck. Hib vaccines made by other companies aren't being recalled.

A Merck spokesperson wasn't immediately available for comment.
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