Friday Forum: Vaccines, Digestion, and Autism

Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a paper more than a decade ago linking a vaccine guarding against measles, mumps and rubella to autism. Since then, a sweep of American and European parents refuse to get their children the MMR vaccine. At Wednesday's public health forum at the Universities at Shady Grove, a panel of experts discussed the recent retraction of the paper, in connection with more than 30 charges from the General Medical Council in England (GMC) against Wakefield. They had to do with unethical research practices, including giving children at his son's birthday party 5 pounds for a sample of blood.

WUSA9.com covered the discussion at Shady Grove. Read comments by one panel member, and by a mother who believes her son developed autism from the vaccine. (Don't miss the news clip on the right side.)

The CDC does outline risks of the vaccine, as with any medicine, but the most severe incidents are quite rare. Less than one out of one million doses results in allergic reaction. Mild and moderate problems include things like rash and fever, though are more frequent. You can read the CDC's fact sheet about MMR here.

Reporter Brian Deer of England's The Sunday Times was at the GMC hearing in January, when the 30 charges against Wakefield were read. Wakefield sued Deer for libel (printed lies that damage one's reputation or career) over his investigative articles. Deer won the suit, and he also claims in this column that his work initiated the GMC case. It's a very interesting read, and I encourage you to check out the whole thing. But here's a clip:

I exposed his deal with a lawyer, Richard Barr, who was preparing a case against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine and revealed that the parents of the Royal Free children were mostly litigants, recruited through anti-vaccine campaign groups.

Later that year I revealed he had patented a single measles vaccine which could succeed only in the wreckage of MMR. The Sunday Times

WUSA9 reported the panel members as saying that many parents of autistic children are just eager to latch on to an explanation, like the one provided by Dr. Wakefield.

Also a good read is this blog post on Forbes by Dr. Peter Lipson, who maintains a private practice and serves as a teaching physician, according to his bio. He touches on the Wakefield case, but he also delves into the hypothesis that an inability to digest protein is linked to autism. (Dr. Wakefield also claims a link between autism and digestion.) Lipson doesn't rule out the possibility, but is skeptical of the existing research. There is a Stage III investigation underway at Nisonger Center, Ohio State University to test an enzyme's effects on autism symptoms. Lipson believes the existing research at its foundation is not based on sound science.

Wakefield stands by his science, and several in the autism community continue to stand by Wakefield. A discussion took place on Wednesday at Shady Grove... I'd like to bring the discussion here to The Healthy Turtle as today's Friday Forum. What is your take on the proposed links between MMR and autism, and between digestion issues and autism?

Side Note: Kappa Lambda Xi is holding an Autism Carnival noon - 5 pm on the Hornbake Plaza. Enjoy a Cake Walk competition, balloon stomp and other games, AND face painting. Contact Whitney Joseph for more info.