Finland’s Health Paradox:National Vaccination Campaign Caused?

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http://www.redflagsweekly.com/conferences/vaccines/2004_may16.html

 

 

Finland’s Health Paradox:

 

Did a National Vaccination Campaign Compromise Health?

 

By RDF Columnist, Dr. F. Edward Yazbak

 

Falmouth, Massachusetts, USA

tlautstudy

 

Finland is a small and ethnically homogeneous country with a population between

5 and 6 million since 1991. In 2001, foreigners were fewer than 100,000. A

national vaccination campaign in Finland effectively eliminated measles, mumps

and rubella from the country. A striking increase in several chronic

debilitating syndromes has been reported nationwide following the campaign. A

causal association has been denied so far, but not convincingly so for many.

 

In the early 1970s, more than 15,000 cases of measles were reported annually in

Finland, a mean incidence of 366/100,000. A single-dose measles vaccination

program started in 1975 was deemed unsuccessful in eliminating measles because

the uptake never exceeded 70%.

 

In 1982, the health authorities and KTL, the National Public Health Institute,

implemented a nationwide measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination program.

The triple vaccine was administered to children at 14-18 months and again at 6

years of age. The children between these ages were vaccinated in a catch-up

campaign between 1983 and 1986; Adolescents, military recruits, student nurses

and mothers, who were still seronegative for rubella in the postpartum period,

were also vaccinated.

 

In Finland, childhood vaccinations are administered free of charge and are not

compulsory.

 

There have been no indigenous cases of measles in Finland since 1996 and in 1997

Finland was the first country documented to be free of mumps and rubella

(1,2,3,4).

 

This unparalleled achievement clearly proved the efficacy of the national MMR

vaccination campaign.

 

The infant and child mortality from measles, the most serious of the three

illnesses, has been very low in the industrialized countries for years before

the introduction of either the single or the triple vaccine. It remains

substantial in Third World countries because of malnutrition and lack of

hygiene.

 

In February 1998, Andrew Wakefield published in The Lancet (5) results of his

now well-known research on the unusual intestinal findings identified in 12

children with regressive autism. He reported that, according to some parents,

the regression had followed MMR vaccination and suggested that more research be

undertaken.

 

Professor Heikki Peltola, of the Pediatric Department at Helsinki University and

the Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki, Finland promptly came to

the defense of the MMR vaccine.

 

In May 1998, Peltola and associates published, also in The Lancet, “No evidence

for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or

autism in a 14-year prospective study” (6). They concluded that: “Over a

decade's effort to detect all severe adverse events associated with MMR vaccine

could find no data supporting the hypothesis that it would cause pervasive

developmental disorder or inflammatory bowel disease.”

 

Patja. Peltola and others later published “Serious adverse events after

measles-mumps-rubella vaccination during a fourteen-year prospective follow-up”

in the December 2000 issue of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. (7) They

also stated that no cases of autism and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were

reported in Finland following the National MMR vaccination campaign.

 

The two studies, and several others by the same group, were based on a review of

passively reported adverse events associated with the administration of some 3

million doses of MMR vaccine to about 1.8 million individuals in Finland between

1982 and 1996.Adverse events within 3 weeks of vaccination were followed for 14

years, some 200 in all. There was no longitudinal follow-up on the rest of the

1.8 million vaccine recipientsin the Country.

 

Both autism and inflammatory bowel disease are chronic syndromes, which develop

over months or years and are not identified within 3 weeks of vaccination.

Neither Wakefield nor anyone else has ever claimed that those children, who

develop diarrhea shortly after vaccination, go on to develop IBD as young

adults.

 

Despite the incontestable fact, that prior to the 1998 Wakefield publication, no

one in Finland or elsewhere in the world ever looked at IBD and autism as

possible complications of MMR vaccination, the vaccine authorities in Europe and

the Americas have consistently quoted “The Large Study from Finland where

millions were vaccinated and followed for 14 years.”

 

Interestingly those supporters never mention:

 

That Merck and Co, the makers of the MMR vaccine, funded and supported these

and all related studies by the Peltola Group

That in an interview on BBC Radio-4 on January 13, 2001, Peltola stated that

the main study was not designed to look at the two complications of IBD and

autism.

That Autism and IBD have indeed increased in Finland since the MMR campaign

And that the incidence of some other possibly-related disease entities has

also recently sharply risen.

Autism

The National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health in Finland

(STAKES) could not provide official statistics on the incidence of prevalence of

autism and Asperger’s Syndrome in Finland.

 

In a study published in 2000 in the Journal of European Child & Adolescent

Psychiatry (8) M. Kielinen et. Al. described a significant rise in autism in the

northern provinces of Oulu and Lapland, which represent 1/8 of the total

population of Finland. The Kielinen study included all children born in the two

provinces, between 1979 and 1994. Every single one of those children was

eligible and in all likelihood received the MMR vaccine. The authors personally

reviewed all records of children with autism to determine that they fulfilled

the criteria of ICD-10 and DSM-IV. The cumulative incidence of autism was

12.2/10,000, a significant increase when compared to the previously reported

incidence of 4.75/10,000 by Vinni and Timonen. The increase in the younger

children, all born in the second half of the MMR campaign, was even more

striking. In the 5 to 7 age group, the cumulative incidence was 20.7/10,000 or

more than 1 in 500. There is no reason to believe that the incidence of autistic

disorders is significantly different in other provinces.

 

Autismiliitto.fi, a large parents group could not provide national figures but,

in a personal communication on November 11, 2002, a spokesperson stated “we are

estimated to have 10,000 autistic people in Finland and about 40,000 people with

Asperger’s syndrome”.

 

If the actual number of affected individuals were actually HALF of the above

estimates, it would and should still constitute a national emergency in a

country with slightly over five million inhabitants. The thought that in Finland

1 in every 200 individuals may have an autistic spectrum disorder is

frightening. Because autism affects young males much more frequently than other

groups, the potential impact on that promising sector of the Finnish society

would be substantial.

 

The high ratio of Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) is also relevant to this discussion.

Kielinen pointed out, in the above mentioned study, that in the Northern

Provinces, there were more affected children with IQs above 70 recently than had

been reported in earlier studies. Other investigators have reported a similar

trend worldwide. Children affected since birth and in early infancy, are usually

more profoundly brain damaged than those who develop normally until their first

birthday and then sink into autism and regress in the second year of life, some

after receiving the MMR vaccine.

 

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

 

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may involve the ileum (small bowel) or the

colon (large bowel) or both and may be acute or chronic. For the purpose

of this discussion, only the two major forms of IBD, Crohn's disease (CD) and

ulcerative colitis (UC), will be discussed.

 

To date, the etiology of both diseases is unknown and both are still considered

“idiopathic”. Genetic research is pursued in many centers but environmental

factors are also suspected in others. Information on the number of individuals

with CD and UC who are entitled for special refunds is available in Finland.

 

Pathologic findings are suggestive but not always specific.

 

Crohn's disease can affect any part of the digestive tract, but it usually

causes inflammation in the small intestine, and particularly its lower part, the

ileum. Symptoms include abdominal pain and discomfort, diarrhea, foul-smelling

stools, intestinal bleeding, tenesmus (the constant feeling of the need to empty

the bowel), increased bowel sounds (borborygmus), decreased appetite, weight

loss and fever.

 

Patients with Crohn’s disease may also complain of constipation, incontinence,

joint pain and swollen gums.

 

Ulcerative Colitis is a chronic and often episodic inflammatory disease of the

large bowel and rectum. Symptoms are somewhat similar to those of Crohn’s

disease.

 

Halme and associates (9) describing the incidence of Crohn's disease in the

Helsinki metropolitan area during 1975-1985 stated:

“The hospital incidence of Crohn's disease in the Helsinki metropolitan area

during 1975-1985 was studied retrospectively…. The age-specific incidence was

highest in the age groups 15-24 with no sex difference. After the initial rapid

increase the incidence of Crohn's disease in the Helsinki metropolitan area has

stabilized on the level 3/100,000. These figures are similar to those reported

from other Scandinavian and Western countries.

 

In “ Incidence and Prevalence of Crohn’s Disease in Finland From 1988 to 1991,

[Gastroenterology, Vol. 112,No. 4], Hannu Nuutinan, Antii Reunanen and Kari

Seppata stated: “ We have reported previously that the prevalence of ulcerative

colitis has been increasing in Finland (AGA 94). The incidence and prevalence

of Crohn's disease was investigated during the period of 1986 to 1991 among the

5 million population of Finland. Because all the inflammatory bowel disease

patients have been recorded by the Social Insurance Institution from 1986, we

were able or to get reliable information about the epidemiology of Crohn's

disease in Finland. During this period both the incidence and prevalence of

Crohn's disease increased gradually both in men and in women. This is in good

accordance with some other reports from Scandinavia, although the prevalence and

incidence figures are slightly higher than in the earlier reports. The male to

female ratio remained the same during the whole study

period. According to these results, the number of patients with Crohn's disease

has been increasing at least during the last years in Finland. The reason for

this gradual and constant increase however, remains unknown and means further

investigations”

 

In an attached graph entitled “Prevalence of Crohn’s disease”, the authors

clearly demonstrate that the prevalence of that specific form of IBD in Finland

tripled between 1986 and 1991, from 10/100,000 in 1986 to 30/100,000 in 1991.

 

Cases of IBD continued to increase after 1991. According to the Statistical

Branch of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, the number of patients

entitled for special refunds because of Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis

doubled between 1992 and 2001, from 9 737 to 20 807, while the population of

Finland increased by just 3%. (Table I)

 

 

Year

 

Patients with IBD Entitled to Special Refunds

 

Prevalence per 1000

 

Population (1000s)

 

1992

 

9737

 

1.9

 

5056

 

1993

 

10958

 

2.2

 

5079

 

1994

 

12035

 

2.4

 

5092

 

1995

 

13176

 

2.6

 

5118

 

1996

 

14311

 

2.8

 

5134

 

1997

 

15605

 

3.0

 

5150

 

1998

 

16868

 

3.3

 

5162

 

1999

 

18195

 

3.5

 

5174

 

2000

 

19493

 

3.8

 

5185

 

2001

 

20807

 

4.0

 

5199

 

 

Table I

Increase in the number of patients entitled to special refunds

For Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in Finland

Source: Statistical Branch of the Social Insurance Institution.

 

As evident in the table above not only did the number of cases of CD and UC

increase yearly between 1991 and 2001, but also the rate of increase has been

accelerating; with statistically significantly higher incidence rate of patients

registered in the last five years compared to the previous five years. The

incidence rate ratio (IRR) from 1996 - 2001 to 1992 - 1996 is 1.5 (95% C.I.,

1.48 to 1.50) based on a cumulative incidence rate of 3.53 per 1000 during

1996-2001 relative to 2.37 per 1000 during 1992-1997. Figures from the Social

Insurance Institution are carefully gathered and believed to be reliable.

 

Inflammatory bowel disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 15 and

35. The army recruits, nursing students, mothers, and adolescents who received

the MMR vaccine in Finland starting in 1982, reached that vulnerable age in the

nineties and are in all likelihood, among those unfortunate citizens receiving

special refunds for IBD.

 

Because of the limitations of his surveillance program, Dr. Peltola did not

identify and could not have identified the reported increases in IBD in Finland

since 1982. He therefore owes the good people of Finland and the world an

explanation. If he still believes that the national MMR vaccination campaign has

nothing to do with the increase in IBD among the young adults of his nation,

then he should suggest alternate causes. Sudden changes in the genetic make-up

of a closed society such as that of Finland is unlikely and if such a theory is

proposed, then its reasons need to be explained.

 

In all likelihood, more and more young adults will develop IBD symptoms, will be

diagnosed and will become entitled for special refunds. Tragically, the

situation can only get worse when the hundreds of thousands who were vaccinated

at 15 months of age become young adults.

 

There were also striking increases in several other disease entities and health

problems in Finland in recent years. Many are known to have immune or autoimmune

causes and / or have been suspected by serious researchers, of having some

association with the recent increased number of vaccinations. As in regressive

autism, such an association has not been deemed causative by the health

authorities and has been adamantly denied by the vaccine manufacturers.

 

Connective tissue diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and comparable diseases

 

The following table only lists the number of individuals who are entitled to

nearly free medicines for connective tissue diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and

comparable

diseases at year-end 1992-2001 and the prevalence per 1000 population. The right

column shows the number of individuals per 1000 population who are receiving

benefits for those diseases. All affected individuals are not necessarily

included.

 

 

Year

 

Number of Patients

 

Per 1000 Population

 

1992

 

59091

 

11.7

 

1993

 

60246

 

11.9

 

1994

 

68535

 

13.5

 

1995

 

69247

 

13.5

 

1996

 

70043

 

13.6

 

1997

 

71299

 

13.8

 

1998

 

72365

 

14.0

 

1999

 

73558

 

14.2

 

2000

 

74848

 

14.4

 

2001

 

76552

 

14.7

 

 

Table II

Increase in the number of patients entitled to special refunds

For connective tissue diseases, rheumatoid arthritis and comparable diseases in

Finland

Source: Statistical Branch of the Social Insurance Institution.

 

Incidence and classification of the different forms of joint and connective

tissue disorders among those entitled to special refunds in Finland are not

available. The cumulative (1992-1996) incidence rate is 12.8 per 1000

person-years compared to the cumulative (1997-2001) incidence rate of 14.7 per

1000 person-years. The incidence rate ratio of the later rate to the former

rate of 1.111 (95% C.I., 1.106 to 1.117) indicates a statistically significant

increase during the past 5 years.

 

In the United States, the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and the

US Court of Federal Claims have accepted a causal relationship between rubella

vaccination and chronic arthropathy and musculoskeletal symptoms. Plaintiffs

received compensation if it was established that their symptoms’ onset was from

1 to 6 weeks following vaccine administration. (10)

 

The rubella vaccine in question is the same product that is incorporated in the

MMR vaccine used in the United States and in Finland.

 

Asthma and other Pulmonary Diseases

 

Some reputable researchers have suggested that the recent increase in asthma may

be, in certain cases, an autoimmune complication of specific vaccinations.

Chronologically, the recent and alarming increase in asthma and allied disorders

seems to parallel the increase in the number of mandated pediatric vaccinations.

 

To date, the vaccine authorities have denied such a connection.

 

In Finland, the number of patients entitled to special refunds for chronic

asthma and similar chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases have increased

steadily between 1992 and 2001. (Table III)

 

 

Year

 

Number of Patients

 

Per 1000 Population

 

1992

 

124429

 

24.6

 

1993

 

135363

 

26.7

 

1994

 

143379

 

28.2

 

1995

 

150868

 

29.5

 

1996

 

159105

 

31.0

 

1997

 

169239

 

32.9

 

1998

 

177503

 

34.4

 

1999

 

185267

 

35.8

 

2000

 

191268

 

36.9

 

2001

 

197707

 

38.0

 

 

Table III

Increase in the number of patients entitled to special refunds

For chronic asthma and similar chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases

Source: Statistical Branch of the Social Insurance Institution.

 

The 54% increase in asthma and allied conditions in Finland in just 10 years is

impressive. The cumulative (1992-1996) incidence rate is 28.8 per 1000

person-years compared to the cumulative incidence rate of 36.9 per 1000

person-years in the last five years on record (1997-2001) .The incidence rate

ratio (IRR) of the later rate to the former rate of 1.282 (95% C.I., 1.278 to

1.286) indicates a statistically significant increase during the past 5 years,

in spite of an effective and widespread anti-smoking campaign.

 

Sabra and Associates, of the International Center for Interdisciplinary Studies

of Immunology and the Department of Pediatrics at Georgetown University Medical

Center investigated children with asthma and other allergic phenomena. They

identified in their patients by colonoscopy similar gut findings as those

described by Wakefield in children with regressive autism. In a letter to The

Lancet (Volume 352, Number 9123, 18 July 1998) Sabra reported, “We have noted a

striking appearance of ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia in patients with

non-IgE-mediated food allergy who present with asthma, atopic dermatitis, and

attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. We have also studied two patients with

this hyperactive disorder who were allergic to various foods, and our findings

obtained by colonoscopy of their terminal ileum, shown in the figure, match with

those reported by Wakefield and co-workers…In our study, ileal-lymphoid-nodular

hyperplasia is the hallmark lesion of the

gastrointestinal tract, which allows entry of antigens across the inflamed

mucosa of the bowel as a result of the reactive inflammatory response in the

adjacent lymphoid tissue of Peyer's patches in patients with non-IgE-mediated

food allergy. We propose that similar mechanism(s) may be involved in the

pathogenesis of the CNS dysfunction in the patients described by Wakefield and

co-workers”

 

A proposed relationship between the increase in asthma and vaccination has been

proposed by many and denied by the vaccine authorities. Convincing alternative

reasons for the dramatic increase in asthma in Finland and worldwide have not

been offered.

 

Because asthma is often insidious, its impact could not have been fully

appreciated and/or related to MMR vaccination, because like autism and IBD, the

onset of the disorder may not have occurred within three weeks of vaccination.

 

Diabetes Mellitus

 

Finland has the highest incidence of childhood Type 1 (insulin-dependent)

diabetes mellitus in the world. (11) According to Tuomilehto: “During

1987-1989, the overall incidence of Type 1 diabetes was about 35.2 per 100,000

per year. It was higher in boys (38.4) than in girls (32.2). There was no clear

geographic variation in incidence among the 12 provinces of Finland. Of the

1,014 cases during these 3 years only six cases were diagnosed before their

first birthday. The incidence was high already in the age group 1-4-years old:

33.2 in boys and 29.5 in girls.”

 

The sudden increase in the incidence of diabetes afterage 1 during a national

campaign (1982-1996), where a vaccine is administered at 15 months of age,

should have been of concern. Overeating and lack of exercise can certainly be

responsible for many cases of diabetes (see below) but to assume that they are

the only contributing factors in Finnish toddlers is unreasonable.

 

A connection between MMR vaccination and juvenile diabetes has been suggested.

In testimony before the Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor,

Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies of the US House of

Representatives, Harris Coulter, Ph.D., President, Center for Empirical

Medicine, stated that the mumps and rubella components of the MMR have been

implicated in the causation of Type I Diabetes. (12) Several cases of diabetes

following MMR vaccination have also been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events

Reporting System (VAERS) and the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC).

 

Juvenile diabetes is clearly an ongoing serious problem in Finland. According to

the Social Welfare and Health Report 2000 of the Ministry of Social Affairs and

Health “Finland has the highest incidence of juvenile onset or insulin-dependent

diabetes in the world and it is continuing to grow.”

 

On Thursday September 4, 2003, the Helsingin Sanomat (International Edition)

published a well-researched and comprehensive article on the increase in

diabetes in Finland. Most of the professionals who were interviewed attributed

the sharp increase in diabetes to obesity and decreased physical exercise. This

greatly differs from the picture most Americans or Europeans have of the Finns.

Diabetes is reported to affect 4% of the Finnish population and accounts for 11%

of the health care costs.

 

Type II diabetes could increase by 70% in the next decade. According to Dr. Timo

Saaristo, head physician of the Tampere public health clinic and national

coordinator of the diabetes prevention project " A 70% increase in ten years

means that ten years from now the number of diabetics in Tampere will have

increased from today's 6,000 to 10,000. This is a social time bomb that the

economy cannot tolerate " .

 

There is no denial that obesity and lack of physical exercise predispose to Type

II Diabetes. The potato couch syndrome, with its snacks, fast foods, high

calorie drinks and addiction to television has been and will be a major cause of

diabetes in genetically susceptible individuals but to continue to believe that

it is the only environmental factor is ludicrous.

 

Finnish toddlers are not obese and do not watch television all day. Finnish

adolescents are comparatively less overweight and physically more active than

their American counterparts and yet they are more likely to develop diabetes.

Other causes for the serious increase in Type I Diabetes in the younger age

groups should therefore be investigated.

 

It is a fact that diabetes is increasing globally. At an international diabetes

conference in Paris in August 2003, the situation was described as a pandemic

that could potentially afflict up to 300 million people worldwide, and rival

AIDS in terms of medical expenditures. The cost to deal with the diabetes is

estimated to rise from the current 141 billion euros a year to 363 billion euros

by 2025.

 

Interestingly, it is projected that the greatest future increases in diabetes

mellitus will be in Asia and Africa, where a 2.7- to 3.6-fold increase in

prevalence is expected by the year 2010 as compared with 1994. (13) Suggesting

that such increases are only due to obesity, snacks, lack of exercise and

television watching and refusing, a priori, to consider the role of massive

vaccination programs on the increase in juvenile diabetes is concerning.

 

Psychiatric Disorders

 

The following is a direct quote from the October 5, 2000 Helsingin Sanomat

(International Edition): “Psychological problems, as well as disturbances in

behaviour and visualisation which make it more difficult for the child to adapt

to a group, have increasingly been found to affect children's concentration,

leading to various learning difficulties. Under Finnish school legislation, a

disabled pupil, or a pupil who needs special support for other reasons, has the

right to the services of an assistant free of charge. Some aggressive children

need a personal guard to keep them from harming other pupils. The number of

professional assistants at schools has more than doubled in five years: whereas

there were just over 1800 of them in 1995, the figure had gone up to more than

4,000 in 1999”.

 

In the United States, “shadows”, as they are commonly called, coach and control

mostly children with autism and severe acting-out behaviors.

 

According to the Helsingin Sanomat of June 4, 2001, up to one in ten children in

Finland need psychiatric care, cases of early childhood psychoses have doubled,

the number of pediatric and teen admissions for mental and emotional disorders

has increased fivefold over the past ten years, and depression and suicide

attempts of children have proliferated. According to the doctors interviewed,

the reason is not simply better diagnosis.

 

The report goes on to state that unfortunately only an estimated forty percent

of seriously disturbed children receive any treatment.

 

From a more recent study discussed in the November 8, 2002 Helsingin Sanomat:

One in four Finnish young adults aged 20 - 24 suffers from some mental disorder

and young people were depressed just as frequently as adults, and twice as

frequently as children. Only one in ten depressed young adults sought

professional help and less than half of the affected individuals in that age

group even considered seeking help. Patients were more likely to be seen if some

other mental health disorder compounded their depression.

 

Mental health disorders and musculoskeletal diseases are the most common causes

of long-term disability in Finland, followed by cardiovascular and

cerebrovascular disease. The most common form of mental health disorder is

schizophrenia. (14).

 

In the introduction of a comprehensive thesis entitled “Incidence and Risk

Factors of Schizophrenia in Finland” (15), Jaana Suvisaari stated “

Schizophrenia appears to be more prevalent in Finland than in most other western

countries (Torrey 1987, Lehtinen et al 1990, Hovatta et al 1997), and is a

leading cause of disability retirement there, particularly among the population

aged 16 to 44 years (KELA 1996).

 

Later Suvisaari explains: “ The National Comorbidity Survey, which was based on

interviews of 8098 individuals representing a random sample of the United States

population, found a 0.7% lifetime prevalence of all nonaffective psychotic

disorders and a 0.15% lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia (Kendler et al,

1996). The lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia in the Irish Roscommon study was

0.54% in men and 0.26% in women (Kendler & Walsh 1995). In the British Hampstead

Schizophrenia Survey, the point prevalence of DSM-III-R schizophrenia varied,

depending on the age correction method used, between 0.3 and 0.48% (Jeffreys et

al 1997)… In Finland, the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia seems to be

somewhat higher than elsewhere: 1.3% in the Mini-Finland Health Survey, which

used the Present State Examination interview (Lehtinen et al 1990), and 1.2% in

a register-based study (Hovatta et al 1997). In the UKKI (Uusikaupunki -

Kemijärvi) study, the lifetime prevalence of all nonaffective

psychotic disorders as defined by the Present State Examination was 2.7% in the

population aged 30-80 years (Lehtinen et al 1990a). However, these studies were

based on diagnostic criteria that are broader than the DSM-III-R criteria.”

 

The author states that the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia in Finland is

“somewhat higher” than in The United States and England. In fact, a lifetime

prevalence of schizophrenia of 1.3% in Finland, according to the register, is

distinctlyhigher than the 0.15% in the United States. .

In the past, childhood autism and childhood schezophrenia were often confused;

Many patients suffering from either disease have a significant

hyperpolypeptiduria and are often less symptomatic on strict gluten-free and

casein-free diets.The incidence of suicide has always been significant in

Finland and suicides are listed separately (16) among the causes of death.

 

 

Cause of death

 

Deaths total

 

Males

 

Females

 

Cardiovascular diseases

 

21 133

 

9 670

 

11 463

 

Tumours

 

10 522

 

5 470

 

5 052

 

Respiratory diseases

 

3 865

 

2 081

 

1 784

 

Gastrointestinal diseases

 

2 036

 

1 103

 

933

 

Other diseases

 

7 756

 

2 873

 

4 883

 

Accidents and violence

 

4 077

 

2 788

 

1 289

 

- Suicides

 

1 095

 

824

 

271

 

Total

 

49 389

 

23 985

 

25 404

 

Table IV

Finland: Causes of death, 2002

Source: Statistics Finland, StatFin

 

The population of Finland in 2002 was 5,206,295 (about 2,545 thousand men and

2681 thousand women): 17.8% of the population was under the age of 14, 66.9%

were between the ages of 14 and 65 and 15.3% were above 65. (17) Finland had the

highest suicide rate among the 15 European Union Countries in 1997, according to

a EUROSAVE (European Review of Suicide and Violence Epidemiology) study. (18)

The study’s conclusion was that “Although suicide rates in most countries seem

to be decreasing, the validity of the data is uncertain”. The fact that in

spite of the declining suicide rate, 2.2% of the Finns who died in 2002 took

their own life is alarming.Much has been written to explain the increased

incidence of suicide in Finland. The role of the seasonal changes, the serious

alcohol problem, the economical situation and the austere make-up of the Finnish

personality have been mentioned in recent research. The high prevalence of

Asperger’s syndrome and autistic spectrum disorders (see

above) has not, to the best knowledge of this reviewer ever been considered,

even remotely, among the causes for desperation and suicide attempts or

completion. In her landmark manuscript, Asperger syndrome: a clinical account,

Dr. Lorna Wing, of the MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Institute of Psychiatry,

London, states:

 

“The prognosis is also affected by the occurrence of superimposed psychiatric

illnesses. Clinically diagnosable anxiety and varying degrees of depression may

be found, especially in late adolescence or early adult life, which seem to be

related to a painful awareness of handicap and difference from other people

(Nos. 2 and 3). Wolff & Chick (1980), in a follow-up study of 22 people with

Asperger syndrome, reported one who appeared to have a typical schizophrenic

illness and another in whom this diagnosis was made, but less convincingly. Five

of the 22 had attempted suicide by the time of early adult life.

 

The present author's series included 18 who were aged 16 and over at the time

they were seen. Of these, four had an affective illness; four had become

increasingly odd and withdrawn, probably with underlying depression; 1 had a

psychosis with delusion and hallucinations that could not be classified; I had

had an episode of catatonic stupor; one had bizarre behaviour and an unconfirmed

diagnosis of schizophrenia; and two had bizarre behaviour, but no diagnosable

psychiatric illness. Two of the foregoing had attempted suicide and one had

talked of doing so. These two were referred because of their problems in coping

with the demands of adult life” (19) The fact that 23% of the patients with

Asperger’s Syndrome in the Wolff and Chick group had attempted suicide and that

17% of the young people in Dr. Wing’s groups had either attempted or

contemplated it, should be seriously reviewed by the Health authorities in

Finland. Parents of adolescents and young adults who are so depressed that

they actually take their lives, deserve to know whether there is a connection

between their demise and a certain national vaccination campaign.

 

* * *

 

Acknowledgement of Limitations

 

A comparison of MMR-vaccinated to non MMR-vaccinated individuals was neither

possible nor undertaken. It appears likely from the available data, that the

non-MMR-vaccinated group was very small.

 

The introduction of the Haemophilus Influenzae B (HIB) and its possible impact

on the increase in Diabetes Mellitus were not considered.

 

Conclusions

 

Finland has successfully eliminated measles, mumps and rubella by a national

well- undertaken MMR vaccination campaign.

 

The system of passive reporting of adverse events following MMR vaccination that

was used in Finland, was limited in scope.

 

It has been widely advertised that the vaccination campaign was not followed by

an increase in autistic spectrum disorders and inflammatory bowel disease. This

is effectively contradicted in this study.

 

The role of the MMR campaign in Finland in the recent increased incidence of

certain other syndromes with significant morbidity or mortality must be

considered even if other factors are also involved. The good people of Finland

deserve to know the price they paid for preventing three childhood diseases and

their potential complications.

 

The impact of massive vaccination programs in other countries in the Western

World and the causes of the increasing incidence of asthma, diabetes, immune

disorders, autism and behavioral problems should be investigated.

 

The risk-benefit of any vaccine should be seriously evaluated. It is imperative

that over time, the resulting problems are not more significant than the disease

that the vaccine is supposed to prevent.

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

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http://www.mugsy.org/wing2.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

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