Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: autism + thimerosal + link  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

Amanda Peet, Here's an Idea for Your Next X-Files Movie Age of Autism, Trumbull - Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana, oversaw a three-year investigation of thimerosal after his grandson was diagnosed with autism. "Thimerosal used as a ... MLive.com Contact the Newspaper: MLive.com, MI - Aug 3, 2008 Yet the rate of autism continues to rise, officials contend. Thimerosal contains ethyl mercury, a related though distinct chemical from methyl mercury. ... Dr. Frank Engley: Farewell to a Truth-Teller Age of Autism, Trumbull - Aug 4, 2008 If they would have followed through with our 1982 report, vaccines would have been freed of thimerosal and all this autism as they tell me would not have ... Vaccine-autism link unsupported by science, but theory lives on American Medical News (subscription) - Jul 20, 2008 And if thimerosal is not to blame -- because that's never been proven -- then something about vaccines is causing autism. Every so often, a small study such ... Doctor dismisses link of autism to vaccines St. Louis Post-Dispatch,  United States - Jul 14, 2008 Even without a scientific link, thimerosal has been removed or reduced to trace amounts for all immunizations given to children age 6 or younger. ... Inside the ?Vaccine Court? Scienceline, NY - Jul 24, 2008 A 2004 report from the Institute of Medicine cited 19 large studies that found no link between autism and either the MMR vaccine or thimerosal. ... Autism and the Environment Tri State Observer, PA - Aug 1, 2008 Vaccines containing the mercury preservative thimerosal (now mostly removed from the market) have long been blamed for causing autism, but scientific links ... What to know: Vaccines and autism Meade County Times Tribune, SD - Jul 15, 2008 Several vaccines are also recommended for children at this same age, leading some to speculate that vaccines may cause autism. Thimerosal, a mercury-based ... True Stories: Do vaccines cause autism? Porterville Recorder, CA - Jul 18, 2008 In 2004, the Institute of Medicine reviewed 200 studies related to autism and found no link between MMR or Thimerosal and autism. ... Wilson: Some Vaccines Still Contain Mercury WXYZ, MI - Jul 9, 2008 A congressional committee that studied the matter has already concluded: ?Thimerosal?is directly related to the Autism epidemic. ...

Thimerosal, autism not now linked

  Some parents have voiced concern that mercury-containing thimerosal, formerly used extensively as a preservative for vaccines, could cause autism. But health authorities say that except for some flu vaccines, immunizations for children 6 and younger have not contained thimerosal as a preservative since 2001.

Only harmless trace amounts of the substance, used for cleaning equipment, may still be in some vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Manufacturers are working to produce thimerosal-free flu vaccines, the agency says.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director, also said recently that "the preponderance of evidence consistently does not reveal an association between thimerosal and autism." The independent Institute of Medicine, which analyzes scientific issues in medicine, reviewed studies relating to autism and could not find a link to thimerosal. The National Institutes of Health continues to study the issue.

Immune-system overload?

A study in the Aug. 10 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association also addressed some parents' concerns that multiple vaccines could "overload" the immune system, making children more vulnerable to other diseases. The study by Danish scientists analyzed 805,206 children who had received routine vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella, polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).

The researchers looked for any link between the immunizations and hospitalizations for acute upper-respiratory infections, viral or bacterial pneumonia, septicemia (a blood infection), viral central-nervous system infection, bacterial meningitis or diarrhea. They found a slight increase in the risk of acute upper-respiratory infection hospitalization after Hib vaccination, but said the effect could have been due to chance and was unlikely to be a real result of the vaccine. They found no other risks of hospitalization from the immunizations.

A 2002 review in the journal Pediatrics by U.S. researchers had a similar conclusion that multiple vaccines do not weaken the body's defenses:

"On the contrary, young infants have an enormous capacity to respond to multiple vaccines, as well as to many other challenges present in the environment. By providing protection against a number of bacterial and viral pathogens, vaccines prevent the 'weakening' of the immune system and consequent secondary bacterial infections caused by the natural infection."