US Vaccine Lobby: There is no such thing as an autism epidemic.

[Guest guest]

AUTISM IN ROOM 5

 

By David Kirby

 

Huffington Post

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/autism-in-room-5_b_53110.html

 

 

 

 

 

Some witnesses for the U.S. Justice Department will testify in Vaccine

 

Court this week that there's no such thing as an autism epidemic. They will

 

say that autism is genetic in origin, and that its rate is generally

 

static: about 1-in-150 children. A genetic disorder, of course, has no

 

external " cause, " and nothing in the environment -- least of all mercury in

 

vaccines -- could be driving autism numbers upward.

 

 

 

Better diagnosis and wider reporting, they say, are really to blame.

 

 

 

But there is a pivotal flaw to this argument: As a genetic disorder that

 

seems to affect all races equally, autism rates should be roughly 1-in-150

 

in every age group, in every country, in every state, virtually in every

 

town. But they are not.

 

 

 

Just ask the special ed teachers at St. Anthony's school in Northvale, NJ:

 

not about their students, but about their own kids.

 

 

 

New Jersey may very well be the developmental disorder capital of North

 

America. The CDC tells us that children here are three times more likely to

 

have an autism diagnosis than kids in, say, Alabama.

 

 

 

That means that, if autism spectrum disorders are genetic only, then New

 

Jersey officials must be three times better at diagnosing and counting ASD

 

cases than their Alabama counterparts.

 

 

 

Conversely, if some autism cases really do have an environmental component

 

-- heavy metals, for instance -- then geography itself might become a risk

 

factor.

 

 

 

Which brings us to Northvale, a hardworking, middle class community near

 

the New York border, and home to St. Anthony's, a church-owned property

 

that also serves as a public school for special education students, many

 

with autism.

 

 

 

On Tuesday, the Bergen Record reported a " high prevalence of autism and

 

learning disabilities among children of teachers " employed at St. Anthony's.

 

 

 

According to an admittedly " informal poll " of school administrators, 14

 

out of 39 children born to female instructors since 1997 were diagnosed

 

with a learning disability: three with autism, and 11 with speech and

 

language delays.

 

 

 

Yes, this is an unscientific survey of a limited population. But it is

 

alarming nonetheless -- and the impetus for several media reports generated

 

among the jaded, heard-it-all metro New York press.

 

 

 

Keep in mind that 1-in-6 American children has a learning disability; but

 

among children of teachers at St. Anthony's, the rate is reportedly 1-in-3.

 

As for autism, the NJ rate is 1-in-94; while at St. Anthony's, it's just

 

1-in-13.

 

 

 

My own initial reporting on this subject has turned up slightly different,

 

but even more disturbing evidence of a possible developmental disability

 

" cluster " in Northvale.

 

 

 

Dr. Lawrence Rosen, a pediatrician from nearby Old Tappan, NJ, treats over

 

300 kids with ASD, including at least 20 who attend St. Anthony's, or are

 

children of teachers there. " The direct information I have from one parent

 

and one teacher, " he told me, " is that, out of 12 children born to women

 

who taught in Room 5 at the school, nine have autism or severe learning

 

disabilities, and all of them are boys. The three non-affected children are

 

girls. "

 

 

 

In other words, nine out of nine boys born to women who taught in Room 5

 

now have severe developmental disabilities.

 

 

 

What is going on? Many worried parents and parent/teachers at the school

 

want to know, and they packed an emergency meeting on Tuesday night to find

 

out.

 

 

 

Was there something evil lurking in Room 5, they worried? Personally, I

 

doubt it. But I do wonder about known neurotoxins lurking just outside the

 

school, and especially mercury. (This is, after all, Northern New Jersey,

 

the brunt of every poisonous pollution joke you can think of).

 

 

 

Perhaps not so remarkably then, the first thing to jump into most people's

 

mind -- parents, teachers, town officials and reporters - was not " better

 

diagnosis, " but environmental toxins. The genetic theory largely flew out

 

the open window like stale air on a warm spring day.

 

 

 

Even so, it was reported that recent tests for mold and asbestos turned up

 

nothing, and now officials will search for signs of lead, volatile organic

 

chemicals, and other neurotoxins inside the school. Local health

 

authorities, meanwhile, noted that two EPA Superfund sites were located in

 

town, but doubted that they could be implicated.

 

 

 

They might have looked a little closer. For example, within a half-mile

 

radius or so, there are several companies who manufacture generic and

 

name-brand pharmaceutical drugs.

 

 

 

New Jersey has one of the highest concentrations of drug factories in the

 

world, and many of these facilities use mercury-derived products, such as

 

thimerosal, to maintain sterility during production.

 

 

 

Companies like Merck have paid multi-million dollar fines for illegally

 

discharging mercury, the state's largest non-carcinogenic pollutant, into

 

New Jersey waterways. (In 1997, the pharmaceutical industry in this region

 

released nearly five million pounds of pollutants, according to government

 

records.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, back in Northvale, one of the pharmaceutical facilities was

 

cited by state environmental officials for emitting more than 1,000 pounds

 

of hazardous waste per month.

 

Other businesses not far from St. Anthony's make or finish metal products,

 

a process that emits lead, cadmium and mercury into the air.

 

 

 

And, less than one block, or 200 feet from the school, sits the U.S.

 

Headquarters of a major global manufacturer of mercury switches, batteries,

 

and other electronic equipment made with the heavy metal.

 

 

 

Dr. Rosen, for one, thinks this is more than a coincidence.

 

" It's horrifying, " he told me. " There is enough preliminary evidence to

 

warrant a thorough investigation of all potential environmental neurotoxins

 

that might be causing this. "

 

 

 

The superintendent for public schools in Northvale, Jan Furman, agrees.

 

She was unaware of the mercury-switch factory or the other plants nearby,

 

but agreed that it was " very important, " to find out more about their

 

industrial activities and environmental controls.

 

 

 

No one knows why so many women who worked in Room 5 apparently gave birth

 

to boys who were all developmentally disabled - but it seems too high a

 

number to be a mere coincidence.

 

 

 

I am not saying these local businesses caused even a single case of

 

disabilities. And perhaps the borough of Northvale is not the least bit

 

toxic. But some people here believe that something, somewhere in the area,

 

might be.

 

 

 

" I am certain there are environmental factors involved in many cases of

 

autism and other developmental disorders, " Dr. Rosen told me. " It is

 

unscientific to believe that there are not. " Some families do relocate to

 

New Jersey for the many disabled services that are offered, he said. " But

 

that is just part of it. We have unique environmental factors here as well,

 

and we need to look into them. "

 

 

 

So what does this have to do with vaccine court? Nothing directly, though

 

it does provide evidence to refute the " all genetics, all the time "

 

argument being offered up this week.

 

 

 

And, of course, if elevated mercury levels are detected in the air, soil

 

or water around Room 5 at St. Anthony's, this could be taken into account

 

by local health officials as a genuine risk factor for autism and other

 

disorders. (I will be following and reporting on this developing story

 

closely),

 

 

 

" If mercury from the environment could potentially harm these kids, then

 

what about mercury from other sources, like vaccines? " Dr. Rosen asked.

 

" There is no reason to think that one form of mercury would cause this

 

neurotoxic effect, but not another. "

 

 

 

And, he added, quite sincerely: " How we could do this to our own kids is

 

just mind-boggling. "

US: 1 in 150 children has Autism

US: 1 in 6 children suffers a developmental disorder

New Jersey: 1 in 94 has Autism

UK: 1 in 86 has Autism

 

China : Over 20 lakh autistic children,

India : No authentic figures, expected one crore+ (1 in 250)

AUTISM IS NOTHING BUT MERCURY POISONING.

THERE IS MERCURY IN VACCINES!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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