Are Vaccines Really Safe?

[Urib2007]

There have been reports from anti-vaccine doctors that vaccines assist in causing autism. I just read this article and thought I'd post it on here.

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[b][size=3]Autism rate about 1 in 150, higher than previous estimates[/b][/size]

• About one in 150 U.S. children has autism, an "urgent health concern," CDC says
• New numbers, higher than previously reported, based on data from 14 states
• Research said to give the clearest picture yet of how common autism is.

[color="#000000"]ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- About one in 150 American children has autism, an urgent public health concern, said U.S. health officials Thursday who reported on the largest study done so far on the troubling disorder.

The new numbers, based on 2002 data from 14 states, are higher than previously reported.

Advocates said the study provides a sad new understanding of how common autism is, and should fuel efforts to get the government to spend hundreds of millions of additional dollars for autism research and services.

"This data today shows we're going to need more early intervention services and more therapists, and we're going to need federal and state legislators to stand up for these families," said Alison Singer, spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, the nation's largest organization advocating more services for autistic children.

The study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculated an average autism rate 6.6 per 1,000. That compares with last year's estimated rate of 5.5 in 1,000.

The research involved an intense review of medical and school records for children in all or part of 14 states and gives the clearest picture yet of how common autism is in some parts of the country, CDC officials said.

However, those states are not demographically representative of the nation as a whole, so officials cautioned against using the results as a national average. The study doesn't include some of the most populous states including California, Texas and Florida.

No conclusions on a trend

Also, the study does not answer whether autism is increasing -- a controversial topic, driven in part by the contention by some parents and advocates that autism is linked to a vaccine preservative. The best scientific studies have not borne out that claim.

"We can't make conclusions about trends yet," because the study's database is too new, said Catherine Rice, a CDC behavioral scientist who was the study's lead author.

Autism is a complex disorder usually not diagnosed in children until after age 3. It is characterized by a range of behaviors, including difficulty in expressing needs and inability to socialize. The cause is not known.

Scientists have been revising how common they think the disorder is. Past estimates from smaller studies have ranged from 1 out of every 10,000 children to nearly 1 in 100.

Last year's estimate of 5.5 out of every 1,000 U.S. children was based on national surveys of tens of thousands of families with school-age kids. That fit into a prevalence range found in other recent studies.

The CDC also has been developing an alternate way of measuring autism prevalence, building a network of university and state health departments for ongoing surveillance of autism and developmental disabilities. The study released Thursday is one of the first scientific papers to come out of that effort.

"This is a more accurate rate because of the methods they used," said Dr. Eric Hollander, an autism expert at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The study involved 2002 data from parts or all of 14 states -- Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Researchers looked specifically at children who were 8 years old that year. They said most children with autism are identified for medical or educational services by that age.

The researchers checked health records in each area and school records when they were made available, looking for children who met diagnostic criteria for autism. They used those numbers to calculate a prevalence rate for each study area.

The rates varied from 3.3 per 1,000 in the study site in Alabama, which was made up of the state's 32 northernmost counties, to 10.6 in the site in New Jersey, which involved four counties, including metropolitan Newark.

Researchers say they don't know why the rate was so high in New Jersey. They think the Alabama rate was low at least partly because researchers had limited access to special education records there.[/color]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='Urib2007' post='1193911' date='Feb 13 2007, 09:44 PM']
There have been reports from anti-vaccine doctors that vaccines assist in causing autism. I just read this article and thought I'd post it on here.

---

[b][size=3]Autism rate about 1 in 150, higher than previous estimates[/b][/size]

• About one in 150 U.S. children has autism, an "urgent health concern," CDC says
• New numbers, higher than previously reported, based on data from 14 states
• Research said to give the clearest picture yet of how common autism is.

[color="#000000"]ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- About one in 150 American children has autism, an urgent public health concern, said U.S. health officials Thursday who reported on the largest study done so far on the troubling disorder.

The new numbers, based on 2002 data from 14 states, are higher than previously reported.

Advocates said the study provides a sad new understanding of how common autism is, and should fuel efforts to get the government to spend hundreds of millions of additional dollars for autism research and services.

"This data today shows we're going to need more early intervention services and more therapists, and we're going to need federal and state legislators to stand up for these families," said Alison Singer, spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, the nation's largest organization advocating more services for autistic children.

The study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calculated an average autism rate 6.6 per 1,000. That compares with last year's estimated rate of 5.5 in 1,000.

The research involved an intense review of medical and school records for children in all or part of 14 states and gives the clearest picture yet of how common autism is in some parts of the country, CDC officials said.

However, those states are not demographically representative of the nation as a whole, so officials cautioned against using the results as a national average. The study doesn't include some of the most populous states including California, Texas and Florida.

No conclusions on a trend

Also, the study does not answer whether autism is increasing -- a controversial topic, driven in part by the contention by some parents and advocates that autism is linked to a vaccine preservative. The best scientific studies have not borne out that claim.

"We can't make conclusions about trends yet," because the study's database is too new, said Catherine Rice, a CDC behavioral scientist who was the study's lead author.

Autism is a complex disorder usually not diagnosed in children until after age 3. It is characterized by a range of behaviors, including difficulty in expressing needs and inability to socialize. The cause is not known.

Scientists have been revising how common they think the disorder is. Past estimates from smaller studies have ranged from 1 out of every 10,000 children to nearly 1 in 100.

Last year's estimate of 5.5 out of every 1,000 U.S. children was based on national surveys of tens of thousands of families with school-age kids. That fit into a prevalence range found in other recent studies.

The CDC also has been developing an alternate way of measuring autism prevalence, building a network of university and state health departments for ongoing surveillance of autism and developmental disabilities. The study released Thursday is one of the first scientific papers to come out of that effort.

"This is a more accurate rate because of the methods they used," said Dr. Eric Hollander, an autism expert at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

The study involved 2002 data from parts or all of 14 states -- Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Researchers looked specifically at children who were 8 years old that year. They said most children with autism are identified for medical or educational services by that age.

The researchers checked health records in each area and school records when they were made available, looking for children who met diagnostic criteria for autism. They used those numbers to calculate a prevalence rate for each study area.

The rates varied from 3.3 per 1,000 in the study site in Alabama, which was made up of the state's 32 northernmost counties, to 10.6 in the site in New Jersey, which involved four counties, including metropolitan Newark.

Researchers say they don't know why the rate was so high in New Jersey. They think the Alabama rate was low at least partly because researchers had limited access to special education records there.[/color]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
[/quote]

Thanks for posting. I was reading some on this, actually, and the preservative that may or may not have been linked to autism (I don't think they've conclusively proved it either way, though I could be wrong) is no longer used. I also found a link from Johns Hopkins on the matter. [url="http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/cc-thim.htm"]Institute for Vaccine Safety[/url] I think I read that the preservative stopped being used in 1999, so children being vaccinated now shouldn't be exposed to it regardless (read that on WebMD: "Under mounting pressure from the public and Congress, companies began removing thimerosal from vaccines in 1999. Now all universally recommended childhood vaccines are available with no thimerosal.")

[Urib2007]

[size=2][center][b][color="#FF0000"]Parents Sue Perry Over HPV Order
[/color][/b][/size][/center]

By Mary Alice Robbins
Texas Lawyer
Monday, February 26, 2007

Alleging that Texas Gov. Rick Perry does not have an open-ended right to sign executive orders, parents of three schoolgirls have sued Perry to block implementation of his order requiring sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer.

[center][img]http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/wfaa/02-07/0205_vaccine200.jpg[/img]
[/center]

The unidentified parents filed John and Jane Does 1-3 v. Rick Perry on Feb. 22 in the 126th District Court in Austin.

Kenneth Chaiken, one of the attorneys for the parents, says additional parents have contacted him to request to join the suit. Chaiken has not made a decision whether to amend the suit to add more plaintiffs.

In their original petition, the plaintiff-parents are asking the court to declare that Perry's Executive Order RP65 is unconstitutional and unauthorized by Texas statute. The parents also ask the court to find that the order is the unlawful exercise of a government function expressly assigned to the Texas commissioner of health and human services under Texas Health & Safety Code §81.004.

In his Feb. 2 executive order, Perry directed the health and human services commissioner to adopt rules that mandate the age appropriate vaccination of all Texas schoolgirls for HPV, prior to admission to the sixth grade, the parents allege in their petition.

"This is a classic abuse of authority by the chief executive of Texas that he's not constitutionally or statutorily authorized to engage in," says Chaiken, a shareholder in Chaiken & Chaiken in Dallas.

The parents ask the court in the petition to issue temporary and permanent injunctions to stop implementation of Perry's order.

Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody says the filing of the suit surprised the governor. But Moody says Perry is not backing down on his order.

"Gov. Perry continues to stand on the side of life and supports his decision to issue an executive order," Moody says.

"The governor believes in his heart that this was the right decision," she says. "By issuing this order, the lives of thousands of Texas women will be saved by this vaccine."

On Feb. 21, the House Public Health Committee voted 6-3 for a bill that would pre-empt Perry's order. H.B. 1098 by state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, prohibits requiring immunization against HPV as a condition for admission to elementary or secondary school in Texas.

State Sen. Glenn Hegar, R-Katy, filed an identical bill in the Senate. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst referred Hegar's bill, S.B. 438, to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Feb. 21.

Perry could veto any bill that pre-empts his executive order. Legislators could override Perry's veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

[url="http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1172497084757"]http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1172497084757[/url]

[prose]

I hope they win that lawsuit!

Vaccines are so scary. I am never sure who to believe anymore.

[RezaMikhaeil]

[quote name='KnightofChrist' post='1192448' date='Feb 12 2007, 10:58 AM']How many people would die if there were no vaccines? A risk using Vaccines? Yes of course. But many people who are alive now would not be without vaccines. You being one of them.[/quote]

This is a good question, so I'm going to answer it. There are SOME vaccines that do save lives, that's very true. There's an ointment eye drop, thats put in children's eyes upon being born that reduces the chance that they'll go blind [through infections] by over 95%, and due to this most states have a law that requires it. States also thou, have a requirement for children to get shots such as MMR and Hepititus B shots. Hepititus B, according to a more increasing amount of doctors and researchers is linked to the cause of MS and the truth is, rarely does anyone that gets Hep B [before or after the vaccine was given out so abundantly] died from it. As a matter of fact, Hep B can be overcame through vitamins, etc. It's also important to note that most people can avoid Hep B through abstaining from sexual activity outside of wedlock, etc.

In regards to MMR, a great amount of children have gotten brain damage [and become vegstables] do to it's highly metalic substance. Therefore I wouldn't consider it or the Hep B shots "nessessary". From personal experience, I didn't get an MMR shot, my mother forged the school papers that required it because a family friend of ours, had a son that became braindamaged because of it.

Reza

[Urib2007]

[color="#000000"][b][size=3]Toddler Contracts Rare Infection From Smallpox Vaccination[/size][/b] [/color]

[color="#8B0000"][i]Associated Press | March 17, 2007[/i][/color]

[color="#000000"]CHICAGO - [b]A 2-year-old Indiana boy and his mother contracted a rare and life-threatening infection from his soldier father's smallpox vaccination, according to a published report.[/b]

The boy and his mother were being treated in a specially ventilated room at the University of Chicago's Comer Children's Hospital, the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday.

The family's name and home town were not released at their request.

The boy developed a virulent rash over 80 percent of his body earlier this month after coming in contact with his father, who had recently been vaccinated for smallpox before he was to be deployed overseas by the Army, the paper said.

Physicians stressed that the boy was not suffering from smallpox, but from the related vaccinia virus which is used to convey immunity to the much deadlier disease. They said the infection was a rare condition called eczema vaccinatum, which has not been reported since at least 1990, when the military ended a previous program of smallpox vaccination. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980.

The military began smallpox vaccinations again in 2002 because of bioterrorism fears.

Doctors said the child suffered from eczema, which is a known risk factor for vaccinia infection. People with eczema are warned not to have close physical contact with the recently vaccinated because the condition allows the virus to enter the skin, they said.

The U.S. Defense Department and federal, state and local health authorities have been in daily contact with the hospital about the case. Health officials say there is no infection risk for the general population because the vaccinia virus can be spread only through close physical contact.

Nonetheless, Dr. Madelyn Kahana, the hospital's chief of pediatric intensive care, said staff members treating the boy and his mother were required to wear face masks and gloves, and that the two had been placed in a special room with negative air pressure, so all air would blow inward.

[b]Kahana said the boy had been treated with a potent antiviral drug, as well as with an anti-vaccinia agent supplied by the CDC and the experimental drug ST-246, which was untried as a therapy in humans.[/b]

She said the boy appeared to be improving this week, but will probably lose 20 percent of his outer skin layer.[/color]

[FullTruth]

[quote name='prose' post='1205469' date='Feb 27 2007, 07:44 PM']I hope they win that lawsuit!

Vaccines are so scary. I am never sure who to believe anymore.[/quote]
Now this is a person I can work with.

Guess what Prose, don't trust anybody. Ask God for wisdom and guidance about this subject, and I will guarantee the spirit will say NO VACINES FOR YOU OR YOUR FAMILY!