Vaccines and Autism: Let's cut to the chase

I realize that the title of this blog post is a rather loaded statement but let's face it, the controversy surrounding these two subjects is highly emotionally charged.

With recent news articles and reports of all the measles outbreaks, I have seen dozens of reports on T.V., social media, etc. arguing both sides of the issue.  With those reports have come countless arguments as to the repercussions and the aftermath of all this.  People and organizations who are pro-vaccinations are blaming it on parents who are choosing not to vaccinate their children which has allowed many of these diseases that were once thought eradicated to come back.  Of course, people who are against vaccinations are shooting back with their own arguments.  People are spewing all kinds of venom back and forth.

I do need to put in a disclaimer in right now before I proceed, I have no intention of starting any kind of debate or argument.  But, I have been so disgusted and frustrated about the issue that I feel the need to put in my two cents.  For what it's worth.
I'll just say it.  I have a son with profound low-functioning autism with mental retardation and he received all of his vaccines, including the MMR and I do NOT believe that they caused or even contributed to his autism.

I don't know how or why it all started, but for some reason there are individuals out there who have come to believe that vaccines are dangerous, even though they have been around for decades.  They have cited that vaccines pose "serious health risks" and that they are linked to causing autism.  Ok, what serious health risks are we talking about here and what evidence is there to support that?  Now I have seen people say things such as "according to a recent study" or similar wording to support their claims, but let's be honest here, there are all kind of studies that are quoted, or even created in various ways for almost anything.  I question the validity of some of them.  There can be claims that almost anything that is injected, ingested or absorbed can be somehow harmful.  To really get an understanding and an accurate assessment of the effects of certain chemicals on the body, you need to have large, BROAD, true scientific studies and they have to be repeated. They also need to be done by reputable sources who know what they're doing.

Do I believe that sometimes vaccines have adverse effects?  Yes, unfortunately it happens.  Just like sometimes there are adverse sides effects to any drug.  There are some individuals who probably shouldn't receive vaccinations because they may have conditions that are contraindicated.  For most of the general population though, the benefits provided by vaccines vastly outweigh the potential risks.  The risks I'm referring to are the ones that are known and that have been proven.

We all know about the "study" that some doctor did years ago that showed that there was a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.  Because of that, suddenly parents became worried and frightened of the vaccine and all vaccines in general and people started believing that vaccines were dangerous.  This came out around the time when my three older children, including Adam had already received the MMR, and because of that I too wondered if there was a link.  I knew parents of autistic children who were convinced that their child was autistic because of the MMR vaccine.
It made me doubt and wonder so I held off getting my younger son the MMR.  If there was ANY chance that there was a link, I didn't want to risk it.  I already had a child with autism, I didn't want another one.  My pediatrician didn't push it, she knew what we were going through with Adam so she respected my decision to wait and let me come to my own conclusions.
But, the more I thought about it and the more research I did, the more I didn't believe in those claims of a link between the vaccine and autism.

Looking back I realized that Adam showed signs of the disorder long before he received the MMR, even before he received most of his vaccines really.  We didn't see it at the time.  He was our first child, we had nothing to compare it too. We have since watched videos of Adam when he was a baby and you can clearly see signs of his autistic behavior, even then.
In addition, the claims that doctor made about a so-called link have since been proven to be false, multiple times over.  His study was flawed and tainted.  Frankly, it really angers me that there are organizations and people that still try to make the assertion that there is a link.  I read one yesterday.  What do they have to base that on?  I have not seen one clear cut answer to that question.  There's a lot of innuendo and plenty of fear tactics, but nothing I consider concrete.

Do I believe that there are environmental factors that can contribute to causing or affecting autism? It's possible, it depends. I also believe that there is probably a genetic link to autism. But, I do not believe vaccines to be one of those causes.  I will say that I don't agree with the vaccination schedule.  I don't believe it's good to give a baby multiple vaccines at once, mostly because I think a baby's body needs time to adjust to the vaccine.  Plus, if there is reaction it easier to know exactly which vaccine the child is reacting to.  If I were to do it all over again I would've had my children's vaccinations spaced out.
In actuality, I worried more about whether or not the x-rays and narcotic pain medication I received when I was 30 weeks pregnant with Adam caused damage than any vaccines he received.  There is really no way to know.  But I received them at the time because there was a problem with my pregnancy that threatened my life and the life of my unborn baby and they were medically necessary.

So what about the increase in the cases of children with autism?  They say it's on the rise in nearly epidemic proportions.  Let's take a look at that, shall we?
Now this is strictly my opinion mind you, I have no evidence to back it up.  But again, this is my two cents.
First of all, I believe that autism is over diagnosed. Too many doctors and professionals are quick to label a child on the autism spectrum because they display autistic tendencies.  If you get right down to it one can see autistic tendencies in any kid occasionally.  Believe me, I pay attention.  It doesn't mean those children are autistic.  The autism spectrum is huge and it seems to be getting larger.  It's a matter of perception.  For instance, Adam was not diagnosed autistic until we moved to Michigan when he was 7 years old.  Our home state of Ohio diagnosed him with Pervasive Developmental Disorder when he was 3.  They said Adam had autistic tendencies and PDD fell somewhere in the middle of that spectrum.  Michigan however did not recognize that acronym.  They believed it was the other way around, PDD was a broader term and autism fell under it.  I seriously had a doctor describe the range to me this way:  "You have your severely autistic child on one end and your computer whiz kid with poor social skills on the other end.  Adam is somewhere in the middle."  That statement made sense to me at the time, but now I think it's rather ambiguous.

Second of all, I think for many, many years autism was under diagnosed or misdiagnosed.  There was a time when doctors didn't believe it was a real disorder or they believed it was an emotional disorder.   They didn't understand it. There was also a time when doctors blamed a child's autism on the mother.  It was believed that if a child was autistic it was because his mother didn't love him enough or give him enough attention when he was an infant.  The mother "made" him autistic.  I remember reading a book about a mother giving an account of her daughter's journey with autism and she experienced that herself.  Children with autism often used to institutionalized.  The book affected me deeply and it made me truly grateful that I didn't have to raise my autistic son during that time period which I believe was in the sixties.  People need to stop being fearing autism and educate themselves about what it really is.  Knowing and understanding what the disorder is and experiencing it FIRSTHAND every day I simply do not see how something like a vaccine can cause it.

Theories come and go.  Some theories can be proven and some remain forever just that- a theory.
So let's look at the facts:
Fact:  Vaccines save lives.  They were developed to prevent serious and deadly diseases.  For decades children have received them and there were no claims or reports or evidence of them being dangerous.  Any adverse side effects that they can potentially cause are stated up front.  How is it that suddenly in recent years they are no longer safe?  Even the believed culprit of Thiomersol was taken out of the vaccines, yet still people are still going on about how they are dangerous.
Fact:  The vast (and I do mean vast) majority of children who receive the vaccine suffer no ill side effects.  I have not seen any statistics or exact numbers of children who suffered serious complications from vaccines.  I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I do believe it is rare.
Fact:  Up until the time when more and more parents have opted out of vaccinating their children, diseases such as measles and whooping cough were almost unheard of.  It was almost eradicated, except maybe in under-developed countries.  Which just goes to show those diseases are still out there.

Referring to the recent outbreaks of measles linked to Disneyland, I have read anti-vaccine activists argue that the cases of people who contracted the disease were already vaccinated.  Can a body's immunity to the disease diminish over time?  Apparently so.  That's why they have boosters.  But I tell you what, let's say half the population gets vaccinated and the other half doesn't and then we directly expose both sides to the disease, I'd rather not play Russian Roulette to see who ends up getting sick.   Let's play another round of Russian Roulette and see how many of those people who contract the disease end up developing serious complications or even dying.  Too many people think that measles is "no big deal" and have the cavalier attitude of: "so what if a kid gets sick for a few days, the disease will run it's course and then they will be immune for life."  (That's the same thought process I've heard some parents use back in the day when they deliberately exposed their children to chicken pox just so they could "get it out of the way.")
Anyway, back to measles- In the meantime, how many other people will be exposed and infected in the process?  That is pretty much what is happening now.  Thirty years ago when nearly all kids were getting vaccinated, no one ever heard of anyone getting something like measles.  I'm sorry, but measles is a big deal.  Why do you think they developed a vaccine for it in the first place?  Now we are seeing diseases like measles and whooping cough coming back.  Imagine a disease like polio coming back.  To me that is downright horrifying.

I am going to play devil's advocate for a minute and look at the anti-vaxxers logic.  Anti-vaxxer's do not wish to vaccinate their children because they do not want to risk vaccine injury.  Even though the risks are minimal and some of the risks they claim can happen have not been proven.
On the other hand, they don't believe that if their child contracts a disease like measles that it's a problem.  Even though there ARE known complications of that disease, including pneumonia, encephalitis and death.  It's not just a case where a kid gets some spots for a few days and then he's fine.  It's a miserable disease. Why do they believe that's an ok risk to take but getting a vaccine is not an acceptable risk?  That is an example of just one disease too.  That's skewed logic in my opinion.

If you are going to decide not to vaccinate your child, make sure it is an informed decision.  You have to do your homework and you can't pick and choose what homework you're going to do.  You can't just research one side of the issue, you have to research BOTH sides.  You also have to research the diseases and truly understand them and why vaccines were created.  The decision not to vaccinate cannot made be made out of fear.  Believe you me, there are plenty of people and groups that use scare tactics to get people to believe what they claim and unfortunately too many parents buy into them.  I briefly made the decision not to have my children receive needed vaccinations out of fear and that decision was wrong.  Yes, choosing whether or not to vaccinate is ultimately a parent's personal choice, but it is foolish and ridiculous to believe that the decision does not affect anyone else.  Whether you choose to believe it or not, it is a decision that doesn't just affect your child or your family, it affects everyone.

When all is said and done, I am thankful my family is vaccinated.  Autism is a neurological disorder  and Adam is the only one in our immediate family who has it to the severity that he does, although he has cousins who have milder forms of autism which supports the theory that there may be a genetic link.  The thought of him catching something like measles when there is no way he would understand what is happening to him or the fact it can cause encephalitis and his condition could worsen is a frightening prospect.  Frankly, I don't subscribe to the notion that catching some of these childhood diseases is a "rite of passage" or something that children must endure and then all will be fine. Why would anyone risk their child getting sick for any reason?  There are enough illnesses and bugs and germs floating around out there so if there's a way to prevent some of them, I am all for it.  My mom used to say all the time that prevention is the key to good health.

Whether anyone agrees with what I have to say doesn't really matter.  I guess the take away that I would hope someone would get from this blog post is that it is important to educate oneself about what autism is and educate themselves about the validity and importance of vaccines.  They weren't created for the fun of it and health officials haven't been giving them for decades with the attitude of:  "Let's see what happens."  Pharmaceuticals is a huge money-making business, no doubt about it.  I worked in a pharmacy for ten years, I know very well how much some drugs cost.  However, the idea that there is a money-making conspiracy between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical companies over vaccines is a bunch of bunk.  Anyone who thinks so obviously has never worked in the medical profession in any way whatsoever, because if you did you would know that there isn't.

I am grateful we live in a day and age where there are options and we have access to advanced medical treatment if necessary.  This may not seem like much, but I am also very grateful that my three younger children didn't need to go through the ordeal of developing chicken pox like my two older children did or like I did during the time when the vaccine for it didn't yet exist.

But I digress.  I have grown weary of all the arguments and debates concerning vaccinations.  I don't expect what I say is going to change any opinions one way or the other.  No matter what though, when all is said and done, there is no proof whatsoever that vaccines are linked to autism.  Believing that there is does not make it so.
I will say this much about measles though in order to put some perspective on all this since that's the disease everyone's concerned about right now.  Before the vaccine was created, about 400-500 children a year died from measles.  No doubt when the vaccine came out plenty of parents were very happy.  In the last ten years there have been no measles-related deaths in the U.S.  Why?  Well, why do you think?  The disease was contained because of vaccinations!  With all the new outbreaks of measles cropping up, it would not surprise me at all if the death toll starts to rise again.  If it does, it will be very sad.  I just thought we were way past the point where anyone would have to worry about diseases like measles anymore thanks to medical science.  I guess we'll see what happens.