no one denies that vaccines have adverse reactions. In the end, the main question: whether vaccines are the cause of the large increase in autism prevalence is pretty clear. The answer is no. Without the “epidemic”, there is very little evidence to support vaccine causation at all.

“It of course depends on the severity and location of the brain inflammation.”

If we don’t know what causes autism, how is the above “of course”? One, you assume that autism is caused by brain inflammation. While inflammation has been observed, it isn’t known if it is a cause, an effect or something else in relationship to whatever is behind autism.

There is too much time spent on the “whether it happens at all in very rare cases” question. If there is evidence, follow it. Thimerosal doesn’t have evidence. MMR doesn’t have the evidence. The only other cause out there is that in very rare situations vaccine-induced fevers could cause a mitochondrial crisis and result in lasting harm. That is, I believe, being studied.

The court ruled that the vaccine caused ADEM-Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, translated: sudden(acute) wide-spread(disseminated) brain/spinal cord inflammation(encephalomyelitis).

So what is autism? The answer is, no one really knows. No one knows the cause and it is considered “a developmental disorder that appears in the first 3 years of life, and affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills.”

The above paragraph is taken from Pubmed Health. Also, when searching for ADEM no results were returned. The closest result returned for ADEM (a very vague medical term as shown above) was encephalitis or simply brain inflammation. When severe, “the brain tissue swells (cerebral edema), which may destroy nerve cells, cause bleeding in the brain (intracerebral hemorrhage), and brain damage.” Labeled as “Other causes include” on such cause is “allergic reaction to vaccinations.”

The bickering of whether vaccines cause autism or not is really silly. The fact is we don’t really know what autism is. Vaccines are a listed cause of encephalitis and when encephalitis is severe enough it can possibly cause lasting brain damage. I think it is safe to assume that brain damage caused by encephalitis MAY present as “autism-like”. It of course depends on the severity and location of the brain inflammation.

The debate should be whether vaccines can cause brain damage or not. The answer to this is a resounding yes! And absolutely the chances are very very RARE, but the chance DOES exist.

I have never had kids so I don’t know the discussion that goes on between the parent and doctor beforehand. But I hope somewhere in the informed consent that discussed that the mention of brain damage may occur in rare instances.

Yes, many people. Not everyone who questions the safety of vaccinations is “antivax”.

I’m afraid its you whos twisting the words. PDD is not interchangeable with Pdd-NOS. I once again point you to the title of the SM’s ruling. “Non-autistic developmental delay” I mean, what is it you’re not getting in that?

From the ruling, page 2, footnote 4:

Pervasive Developmental Delay describes a class of conditions, and it is apparent from the record that the parties and the medical records are referring to Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (“PDDNOS”) ... In the interest of consistency, the Court will follow the convention adhered to by the medical records and by the parties in this case, and this condition will be referred to herein as “PDD”.

So when the special master uses the term PDD he is referring to PDD-NOS.

PDD-NOS is a diagnosis of autism (unless it is being used in reference to either Rett’s or CDD, which does not seem to be the case).

If you actually read the ruling the title may be “Non-autistic developmental delay” but the diagnosis is still PDD-NOS. The special master says on page 27 that the petitioner has met the burden of proof.

One of these things is not like the other.

Do you think that there is a non-autistic form of PDD-NOS? Or do you believe, as the special master seems to be imply, that since the cause is known we are no longer talking about autism? Or is it still the general form of PDD that does not refer to any one its subtypes yet is still PDD?

No because ADEM is too rare to put a blip in autism prevalence. What do you think a rate of 1-2 per million is going to do?

The pathetic thing about this full page ad the GR bought was they had to lie in it. You can see it quite prominently, where they had to add [autism] to the words of the decision. PDD really is just that – a global developmental delay and is not an ASD diagnostic category. That had to hurt, one lie already. But they really lied to the American public twice more. No where did they mention the rarity of ADEM and why it’s so irrelevant to autism. That’s misleading to the point of telling very big fibs. Finally, they did not say that ADEM has a very unique MRI profile, which is not shared in the slightest by autism. That is more serious misrepresentation of the facts.

So, that’s a lot of lies for one ad. I thought there were laws in the US regarding truth in advertising?

PDD-NOS= Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified. It is on the Autism Spectrum along with Autism and Aspergers. Could it be that the huge increase in the diagnosis of Autism could really be ADEM associated with vaccines? Could so many children be MISdiagnosed as having autism when really they have a condition that resulted from a fever not genetics?

Except that people have performed epidemiology on the MMR vaccine looking for an increase in autism and haven’t found it.

Except that ADEM is detectable by MRI.

“T2-weighted, proton-density, or echo-planar trace diffusion MRI techniques disclose high-signal lesions in more than 80-90% of cases of ADEM.”

http://emedicine.medscape.com/.....-diagnosis

Unless there are a lot of kids out there with misinterpreted MRI scans, I’d say that the chances that ADEM is behind the “epidemic” are slim.

Ah, obvious. Which part of the hearing about her case are you referring to? Because from the use of the word “presented” it is clear you are talking about there being an opportunity for science to be presented. And I was not aware of science presentation – or even any hearings on the evidence for that matter.

Are you joking? I’m talking about the case report co-authored by her father. By presented I mean ‘put forward’ by anyone.

So you have taken a poll of the rest of the world and determined that they are all in agreement with you? That didn’t take you long.

WTF are you talking about? Are you aware of anyone outside the antivax community that does?

MJ - I’m afraid its you whos twisting the words. PDD is not interchangeable with Pdd-NOS. I once again point you to the title of the SM’s ruling. “Non-autistic developmental delay” I mean, what is it you’re not getting in that?

i am amazed with people. do any of the people commenting here have a medical degree???

I doubt it.

do you not think the pharm. cos and the Govt use “spin”?

everyone uses words to bend it a little i n their direction.

i think it is great that generation rescue (not jenny and jim – but a foundation they started and help with respectively) is trying to help children.

Just for consistency sake, shouldn’t “jenny and jim” have a medical degree? Or is it just the people with whom you disagree that need medical degrees?