Government
US government agrees vaccines cause autism in a sense
By Sue Mueller
Mar 6, 2008 - 10:51:15 AM

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THURSDAY MARCH 6, 2008 (Foodconsumer.org) -- In a case brought to the federal vaccine injury court, federal health officials reportedly concluded that childhood vaccines in some way caused autism in a 9-year old Georgia girl and the U.S. government promised to offer an unknown amount of compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund.

Hannah Poling, daughter of the Georgia couple, Jon and Terry Poling, developed high fever and inconsolable crying and did not want to walk within 48 hours of receiving a vaccine at the age of 19 months.  

Within three months after receiving the shots, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she started developing typical signs of autism such as spinning and staring at lights and fans.

Childhood vaccines with mercury-based preservative thimerosal have been suspected for long by the health advocates to be responsible for the ever increasing cases of autism in the United States. Studies like in many other cases have not come to a consistent conclusion about the effect of mercury laced vaccines.  One observation to support the link is that Amish people do not use vaccines and autism is non-existent in that population, according to Joe Mercola, a doctor who promotes natural health.

Autism was rare before vaccines became used in children routinely and massively. And now the rate of autism is 1 in every 150 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The reasons remain unknown why the government agreed on the link between vaccines and autism in this case because the court documents were sealed for unknown reasons.

However, a leaked document showed no statement by the government that vaccines actually caused autism in the child.  Instead, the document says the government concluded that vaccines aggravated a rare underlying condition known as a mitochondrial disorder that led to a brain disorder featured with autism symptoms.

According to Sallie Bernard, executive director of the national autism advocacy group SafeMinds, mitochondrial disorders are also found in other autistic children.  Bernard was quoted as saying "The question is: What is the proportion?"

A health observer affiliated with foodconsumer.org suggested that there should be no denying that mercury in vaccines causes neurological damages.  The real question is, how much?

For more information on effects of vaccines, read evidenceofharm.com