US Health Officials Try to Head off Autism Debate

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US Health Officials Try to Head off Autism Debate By Maggie Fox for Reuters http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/508673 And From Todd Zwillich of WebMD.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163026,00.html Federal health officials affirmed the safety of vaccines on Tuesday inan unusual news conference called to counter a growing movement allegingthat vaccines can cause autism. Autism activists planned a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol onWednesday to press their contention that the government has covered upevidence linking autism to a mercury-based product once used in vaccines. They will also demand more research into autism, which they say is agrowing problem. "There has been a renewed interest in the issue of vaccine safety,particularly on the issue of whether the preservative thimerosal ... may belinked to the occurrence of autism in children," Dr. Julie Gerberding,director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told thenews conference. Several reports, including a review of all the studies from theindependent Institute of Medicine, have found no evidence that vaccinescause autism. But some groups of parents allege a cover-up, and some haveresisted vaccinating their children -- leading to outbreaks of disease suchas measles and whooping cough in Britain, Netherlands and elsewhere. They believe there is evidence that at least some children aresensitive to mercury, including the mercury in thimerosal. Thimerosal is nolonger used in childhood vaccines in the United States. The CDC officials, as well as representatives of the NationalInstitutes of Health, American Medical Association, American Academy ofPediatrics, and the Food and Drug Administration, made it clear theybelieved some of the groups were relying on incomplete information.Getting A Better Handle Gerberding mentioned one report that as many as one in 166 U.S.children have autism, and said more studies were needed to get a "better andmore reliable handle" on how many cases there are. Several recent studieshave questioned the contention that autism rates have gone up in recentdecades. Said Dr. Ouellette, president-elect of American Academy ofPediatrics: "We want to discover the causes of autism as well as how toprevent it and treat it, but the evidence does not point to vaccines as oneof those causes." Even as health officials hoped the debate had finally been laid torest, it gained new life with a book by former [sic] journalist David Kirbyalleging a potential link, and a television interview last week in whichRobert Kennedy Jr., nephew of slain president John F. Kennedy, alleged aconspiracy. And the announcement of the news conference raised suspicions amongthe activists. "Groups who have set up the march believe this CDC press conference isa shameful attempt to head off publicity from the rally that would directattention to the role of thimerosal and vaccines in autism," the SouthCarolina-based National Autism Association said in an e-mail to supportersand journalists. Gerberding acknowledged the mistrust. "Parents want answers," shesaid. "But when looking at answers to problems we have to be careful not tobase our decisions ... on unproven hypotheses and fear." Bobbi Manning, vice president of a group known as Advocates forChildren's Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning, tells WebMD that officials"are not being completely honest about the effects of mercury." "It's not enough to hear that they've taken thimerosal out ofvaccines. We still have a lot of damaged children," she said. Kirby, who plans to speak at the rally on Wednesday, said he wassurprised the CDC held a news conference with no new study to announce. "Ithink people at the CDC have not been totally forthcoming about theinformation they are sitting on. I think the whole story is not getting outthere," Kirby said in a telephone interview. Rep. David Weldon (R-Fla.), who is an internal medicine doctor, saidthat he plans to introduce legislation tomorrow gradually banning thimerosalfrom all childhood vaccines beginning in 2007. Weldon also says he'll pushfor more government research on the causes of America's rising autism rate. "We all know that these vaccines save thousands of lives," Weldon toldreporters. "I think the incidence [of autism] is definitely up and what'syet to be determined is why that is." As for the defense of vaccines by health officials on Tuesday, Weldonsaid: "They just want to reassure people because the press tomorrow is goingto be raising a lot of questions about mercury." NOTE: Autism One Radio is webcasting the CDC's Press Conference.www.autismone.org/radio