RFK, Jr. Reportedly Compares Vaccinations To The Holocaust

[AUDub 11,147]

Is Fitting the Pieces the name of an autism society in your area, alexava?

[alexava 6,973]

Is Fitting the Pieces the name of an autism society in your area, alexava?

it is.

[AUDub 11,147]

Is Fitting the Pieces the name of an autism society in your area, alexava?

it is.

Interesting stance they seem to have on vaccinations.

[AUDub 11,147]

I believe he is telling the truth as far as he understands it. I think he truly believes what he's telling you. I just believe, and the science backs me up, that his understanding is wrong. I'm sorry, but I'm trusting the CDC, scientists, immunologists and doctors over uncredentialed, self-appointed health bloggers, former Playboy models turned reality show hosts and quacks.

One last post to support this assertion before I let this thread die its long past due death. Here's a list of studies that support your assertion courtesy of Lavender Blue over at the Straight Dope:

Albizzati, A., Moré, L., Di Candia, D., Saccani, M., Lenti, C. Normal concentrations of heavy metals in autistic spectrum disorders. Minerva Pediatrica. 2012. Feb;64(1):27-31 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22350041

Afzal, MA., Ozoemena, LC., O’Hare, A., Kidger, KA., Bentley, ML., Minor, PD. Absence of detectable measles virus genome sequence in blood of autistic children who have had their MMR vaccination during the routine childhood immunization schedule of UK. Journal Medical Virology. 2006 May;78(5):623-30. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16555271

Andrews, N., Miller, E., Grant, A., Stowe, J., Osborn, V., & Taylor, B. (2004). Thimerosal exposure in infants and developmental disorders: a retrospective cohort study in the United Kingdom does not support a causal association. Pediatrics, 114, 584-591. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15342825

Asif Doja, A., & Roberts, W. (2006). Immunizations and autism: A review of the literature. The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 33(4), 341-346. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17168158

Baird, G., Pickles, A., Simonoff, E., Charman, T., Sullivan, P., Chandler, S., Loucas, T., Meldrum, D., Afzal, M., Thomas, B., Jin, L., Brown, D. Measles vaccination and antibody response in autism spectrum disorders. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2008 Oct;93(10):832-7. doi: 10.1136/adc.2007.122937. Epub 2008 Feb 5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18252754

Berger, BE., Navar-Boggan, AM., Omer, SB. Congenital rubella syndrome and autism spectrum disorder prevented by rubella vaccination--United States, 2001-2010. BMC Public Health. 2011 May 19;11:340. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-340. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21592401

Bower, H. New research demolishes link between MMR vaccine and autism. British Medical Journal. 1999. Jun 19;318(7199):1643. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1116011/

Chen, W., Landau, S., Sham, P., & Fombonne, E. (2004). No evidence for links between autism, MMR and measles virus. Psychological Medicine, 34(3), 543-553. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15259839

Christie, B. Scottish expert group finds no link between MMR and autism. British Medical Journal, 2002. May 11;324(7346):1118. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1172158/

Dales, L., Hammer, S. J., & Smith, N. J. (2001). Time trends in autism and in MMR immunization coverage in California. JAMA, 285(9), 1183-1185. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11231748

DeWilde, S., Carey, IM., Richards, N., Hilton, SR., Cook, DG. Do children who become autistic consult more often after MMR vaccination? British Journal of General Practice. 2001 Mar;51(464):226-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1313956/

Demicheli, V., Jefferson, T., Rivetti, A., & Price, D. (2005). Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in children. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 4. (a review of 31 studies) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22336803

DeStefano, F., Bhasin, T. K., Thompson, W. W., Yeargin-Allsopp, M., & Boyle, C. (2004). Age at first measles-mumps-rubella vaccination in children with autism and school-matched control subjects: a population-based study in metropolitan Atlanta. Pediatrics, 113(2), 259-266. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14754936

DeStefano F., Price CS., Weintraub, ES. Increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines is not associated with risk of autism. Journal of Pediatrics. 2013 Aug;163(2):561-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.02.001. Epub 2013 Mar 30. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23545349

DeStefano F., Thompson, WW. MMR vaccine and autism: an update of the scientific evidence. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2004 Feb;3(1):19-22. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14761240

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DeStefano, F. Chen, RT. Negative association between MMR and autism. Lancet. 1999 Jun 12;353(9169):1987-8. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...160-9/fulltext

DeStefano, F., Chen, RT. Autism and measles-mumps-rubella vaccination: controversy laid to rest? CNS Drugs. 2001. 2001;15(11):831-7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11700148

D’Souza J., Todd T. Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and the development of autism or inflammatory bowel disease: the controversy should end. Journal of Pedatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2003 Jul;8(3):187-99. doi: 10.5863/1551-6776-8.3.187. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3469143/

D’Souza, Y., Fombonne, E., Ward, BJ. No evidence of persisting measles virus in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from children with autism spectrum disorder. Pediatrics. 2006 Oct;118(4):1664-75. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17015560

Farrington, C., Miller, E., & Taylor, B. (2001). MMR and autism: further evidence against a causal association. Vaccine, 19(27), 3632-3635. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11395196

Fombonne, E., & Chakrabarti, S. (2001). No evidence for a new variant of measles-mumps-rubella–induced autism. Pediatrics, 108(4), e58-e58. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11581466

Fombonne, E., Zakarian, R., Bennett, A., Meng, L., & McLean-Heywood, D. (2006). Pervasive developmental disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Prevalence and links with immunizations. Pediatrics 118(1) e139-e150; doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2993. http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...ent/118/1/e139

García-Fernández, L., Hernández, AV., Suárez Moreno, V., Fiestas, F. Addressing the controversy regarding the association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Revista Peruana de Medicine Experimental Salud Publica. 2013 Apr;30(2):268-74. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23949514

Gentile, I., Bravaccio, C., Bonavolta, R., Zappulo, E., Scarica, S., Riccio, MP., Settimi, A., Portella, G., Pascotta, A., Borgia, G. Response to measles-mumps-rubella vaccine in children with autism spectrum disorders. In Vivo 2013 May-Jun;27(3):377-82. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23606694

Glasper, EA. New evidence reaffirms the safety of the MMR vaccine. British Journal of Nursing. 2002 Jun 27-Jul 10;11(12):794. http://www.internurse.com/cgi-bin/go...JN_11_12_794_0

Hayney MS. Vaccine Safety: no link between thimerosal and autism. Journal of American Pharmacists Association. 2003. 2004 Nov-Dec;44(6):725-6. http://japha.org/article.aspx?articleid=1039011

Hertz-Picciotto, I., Green, P., Delwiche, L., Hansen, R., Walker, C., & Pessah, I. (2010). Blood mercury concentrations in CHARGE Study children with and without autism. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(1), 161-166. doi:10.1289/ehp.0900736 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20056569

Hensley, E. Briars, L. Closer look at autism and the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Journal of American Pharmacist’s Association. 2003. 2010 Nov-Dec;50(6):736-41. doi: 10.1331/JAPhA.2010.10004. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21071320

Hurley, A., Tadrous, M., Miller, ES. Thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism: a review of recent epidemiological studies. Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 2010 Jul-Sep; 15(3): 173-181. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3018252/

Honda, H., Shimizu, Y., & Rutter, M. (2005). No effect of MMR withdrawal on the incidence of autism: a total population study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 46(6), doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01425.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15877763

Hornig, M., Briese, T., Bule, T., Bauman, M.L., Lauwers, G., Siemetzki, U., Hummel, K., Rota, PA., Bellini, WJ., O’Leary, JJ., Sheils, O., Alden, E., Pickering, L., Lipkin, W.I. Lack of association between measles virus vaccine and autism with enteropathy: a case-control study. 2008. PLoS One, 3(9), e3140. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003140. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18769550

Hviid A., Stellfeld, M., Wohlfahrt, J., Melbye, M. Association between thimerosal-containing vaccine and autism - No causal relationship found. JAMA. 2003 Oct 1;290(13):1763-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14519711

Insitute of Medicine (US) Immunization Safety Review Committee. Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autisms. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2004. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20669467

Jick, H., Kaye, JA. Epidemiology and possible causes of autism. Pharmacotherapy. 2003 Dec;23(12):1524-30. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14695031

Kaye, J. A., del Mar Melero-Montes, M., & Jick, H. Mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine and the incidence of autism recorded by general practitioners: a time trend analysis. 2001. British Medical Journal, 322(7284), 460-463. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071423/

Klein, K. C., & Diehl, E. B. Relationship between MMR vaccine and autism. 2004. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 38(7-8), 1297-1300. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15173555

Kuwaik, GA., Roberts, W., Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Smith, IM., Szatmari, P., Modi, BM., Tanel, N., Brian, J. Immunization uptake in younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. Autism. 2014 Feb;18(2):148-55. doi: 10.1177/1362361312459111. Epub 2012 Oct 8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23045216

Lingam, R., Simmons, A., Andrews, N., Miller, E., Stowe, J., & Taylor, B. (2003). Prevalence of autism and parentally reported triggers in a North-east London population. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 88(8), 666-670. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12876158

Madsen, K.K., Hviid, A., Vestergaard, M., Schendel, D., Wohlfahrt, J., Thorsen, P., Olsen, J., Melbye, M. A population-based study of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and autism. 2002. The New England Journal of Medicine, 347(19), 1477-82. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12421889

Madsen KM., Hviid, A., Vestergaard, M., Schendel, D., Wohlfahrt, J., Thorsen, P., Olsen, J. Melbye, M. MMR vaccination and autism--a population-based follow-up study. Ugeskr Laeger. 2002. Dec 2;164(49):5741-4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12523209

Madsen, K.M., Lauritsen, M.B., Pedersen, C.B., Thorsen, P., Plesner, A.M., Andersen, P.H. & Mortensen, P.B. Thimerosal and the occurrence of autism: negative ecological evidence from Danish population-based data. 2003. Pediatrics, 112, 604-606. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.3.204 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12949291

Madsen, KM. Vestergaard, M. MMR and Autism: what is the evidence for a causal association? Drug Safety. 2004;27(12):831-40. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15366972

Makela, A., Nuorti, J., & Peltola, H. (2002). Neurologic disorders after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Pediatrics, 110(5), 957-963. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12415036

Marwick, C. US Report finds no link between MMR and autism. British Medical Journal. May 5, 2001; 322(7294): 1083. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1120232/

MacDonald, NE., Pickering, L. Canadian Paediatric Society, Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee. Autism Spectrum Disorder: No causal relationship with vaccines. Paediatric Child Health 2007;12(5):393-5 http://www.cps.ca/documents/position...-with-vaccines

Meadows, M. IOM Report: no link between vaccines and autism. FDA Consumer. 2004 Sep-Oct;38(5):18-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15595144

Miller, E. Measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and the development of autism - epidemiologic evidence against such an association is compelling. Seminars in Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 2003 Jul;14(3):199-206. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12913832

Miller, L., Reynolds J. Autism and vaccination – the current evidence. Journals for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing. 2009 Jul;14(3):166-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6155.2009.00194.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19614825

Mrozek-Budzyn, D., Kiełtyka, A. The relationship between MMR vaccination and the number of new cases of autism in children. . Przeglad epidemiologiczny. 2008;62(3):597-604. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19108524

Mrozek-Budzyn, D., Majewska, R. Kiełtyka, A. & Augustyniak, M. Lack of association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. Przeglad epidemiologiczny. 2011, 65(3), 491-495. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19952979

Stratton, K., Ford, A., Rusch, E., Wright Clayton, E. Committee to Review Adverse Effects of Vaccines; Institute of Medicine. Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2012. (a review of more than ONE THOUSAND studies). http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13164

Parker, S.K., Schwartz, B., Todd, J., Pickering, L.K. Thimerosal-containing vaccines and autistic spectrum disorder: A critical review of published original data. 2004. Pediatrics, 114, 793-804. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15342856

Parker, S. Todd, J., Schwartz., B., Pickering, L.K. Thimerosal-containing vaccines and autistic spectrum disorder: A critical review of published original data. 2005. Pediatrics. Jan;115(1):200. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15630018

Peltola, H., Patja, A., Leinikki, P., Valle, M., Davidkin, I., & Paunio, M. No evidence for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in a 14-year prospective study. 1998. Lancet, 351(9112), 1327. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9643797

Plotkin, S., Gerber, J. S., & Offit, P. A. (2009). Vaccines and autism: a tale of shifting hypotheses. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 48(4), 456-461. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908388/

Price, C. S., Thompson, W. W., Goodson, B., Weintraub, E. S., Croen, L. A., Hinrichsen, V. L., DeStefano, F. Prenatal and infant exposure to thimerosal from vaccines and immunoglobulins and risk of autism. 2010. Pediatrics, 126(4), 656-664. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20837594

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Taylor, B., Miller, E., Lingam, R., Andrews, N., Simmons, A., & Stowe, J. Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and bowel problems or developmental regression in children with autism: population study. 2002. British Medical Journal, 324(7334), 393-396. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11850369

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[alexava 6,973]

thx Ben. i will read it all and get back with you when i'm done.

[AUDub 11,147]

thx Ben. i will read it all and get back with you when i'm done.

Not necessary. They all reach the same conclusion. I was simply demonstrating the preponderance of scientific literature dealing with the matter and confirming that there is no link.

[alexava 6,973]

thx Ben. i will read it all and get back with you when i'm done.

Not necessary. They all reach the same conclusion. I was simply demonstrating the preponderance of scientific literature dealing with the matter and confirming that there is no link.

i understand and respect your intelligence on the issue.

[quietfan 233]

A new study, for what it's worth:

http://www.nbcnews.c...-autism-n345611

Another study aimed at soothing the fears of some parents shows that vaccines don't cause autism.

This one takes a special look at children with older siblings diagnosed with autism, who do themselves have a higher risk of an autism spectrum disorder. But even these high-risk kids aren't more likely to develop autism if they're vaccinated, according to the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"We found that there was no harmful association between receipt of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine and development of autism spectrum disorder," said Dr. Anjali Jain of The Lewin Group, a health consulting group in Falls Church, Virginia, who led the study.

Kids who had older brothers or sisters with autism were less likely to be vaccinated on time themselves, probably because their parents had vaccine worries. But those who were vaccinated were no more likely than the unvaccinated children to develop autism, Jain's team found.

Autism is very common. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in 68 U.S. kids has an autism spectrum disorder.

Numbers have been growing but CDC says much of this almost certainly reflects more awareness and diagnosis of kids who would have been missed in years past.

Although fears grew 15-20 years ago that vaccines might cause autism, research backing up these worries has been discredited and study after study since then has shown no link. The Institute of Medicine, an independent group that advises the U.S. government on health matters, has strongly advised that researchers stop wasting time looking at vaccines and look elsewhere for the causes of autism.

Most research shows genes are strongly involved, and some studies suggest the DNA flaws that cause autism often arise randomly. But fears persist about vaccines. The most recent fallout: a measles outbreak that started at California's Disneyland that infected 147 people in the U.S., including 131 in California.

CDC said unvaccinated people were the source.

Many vaccine-averse parents argue that while vaccines might be harmless to most kids, their own children have a particular susceptibility. Jain set out to see if this might be the case.

The Lewin Group looked at more than 95,000 children covered by health insurance who were born between 2001 and 2007. As expected, kids with an older sibling who had an autism spectrum disorder were more likely to have autism — about 7 percent of them did. And they were less likely to have been given an MMR vaccine.

"Their vaccination rates were about 10 percent less than kids with unaffected siblings," Jain said.

But the risk of autism was less than one percent in vaccinated kids, whether they had an older sibling with autism or not.

"These findings indicate no harmful association between MMR vaccine receipt and ASD (autism spectrum disorder) even among children already at higher risk for ASD," Jain's team wrote.

[AUDub 11,147]

95,000 kids is a huge study. Not that it will matter. Evidence won't sway those that have already reached their conclusion.

[TitanTiger 20,479]

What's interesting is just how impervious to evidence the anti-vax view is. Someone did a study on people who hold these views and found that the more evidence they are given of the safety of vaccines and the lack of a link between them an autism, the more hardened those same people became in their anti-vax views. They actually dug in their heels more when shown real evidence than they did before knowing that information.

[AUDub 11,147]

What's interesting is just how impervious to evidence the anti-vax view is. Someone did a study on people who hold these views and found that the more evidence they are given of the safety of vaccines and the lack of a link between them an autism, the more hardened those same people became in their anti-vax views. They actually dug in their heels more when shown real evidence than they did before knowing that information.

That's generally the case with most conspiracy theorists/denialists.