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Reconsidering the Nature of Autism

8 Apr

Todd Drezner has a new piece up on the Huffington Post: Reconsidering the Nature of Autism. He starts out by quoting the forward to one of Jenny McCarthy’s books. The forward is by alternative medical practitioner Jerry Kartzinel.

Here is what Mr. Drezner wrote in his introduction:

“Autism … steals the soul from a child; then, if allowed, relentlessly sucks life’s marrow out of the family members, one by one.” So wrote Dr. Jerry Kartzinel in the introduction to Jenny McCarthy’s bestselling “Louder Than Words.” No wonder, then, that the concept of neurodiversity– the idea that we should understand and accept autistic people as a group that thinks differently from the majority — has proven to be so controversial.

The quote takes me back. Back to when I was starting to look online for information about autism. I remember when Jenny McCarthy hit the scene. Kev responded here with his blogging. The blog might have been kevleitch.co.uk then, not LeftBrainRightBrain. I remember that Kev’s blog went down: the traffic was so high that he hit his bandwidth quota. I remember that he responded to the forward from Jerry Kartzinel. He responded with words and, a little later, with video:

I don’t bring this up just for some sort of nostalgia. But this reminds me of two major themes. First: words hurt. What Dr. Kartzinel wrote, and Jenny McCarthy published, hurt. It hurt a lot of people. It added to the stigma of autism and disability. Second: words can be powerful. Kev fought back, as did many others. How or if this was an influence on Todd Drezner, I can’t say. It influenced me as I still remember it.

We can’t sit back and let people stigmatize others, for whatever reason they may have. Kim Wombles shows that almost every day with her blog Countering. Bev did it with a humor and keen perspective on Asperger Square 8. Corina Becker is taking up the task with No Stereotypes Here. And this is just a few of the many voices, autistic and non, out there.

Having said this, I will bring up one message that I’ve felt needed to be countered for some time. Here is a screenshot of a page from the book “the Age of Autism” by Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill. Both write for the Age of Autism Blog (Dan Olmsted appears to be the proprietor). Mark Blaxill is a member of the organization SafeMinds. Both promote the idea of autism as vaccine injury and, more specifically, the failed mercury hypothesis. (click to enlarge)

To pull but one disturbing quote: “As one of the first parents to observe an autistic child, Muncie learned how well autism targets ‘those functions distinctly human’ “. Yes, I have spent quite a lot of time fighting bad science like the first part in that sentence: the idea that autism is new/the kids in Kanner’s study were the first autistics ever. But what about the second part: that autistics are missing or have impaired “distinctly human” functions? Yes, I’ve also responded to that sentiment in the past and I plan to continue to do so. And that is much more important than the fight against bad science.

Words hurt. Jerry Kartzinel’s words hurt. Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill’s words hurt. They hurt and they are wrong. Plain and simple.

Another phrase from the above paragraph: “autism brutally restricts the interests of the affected”. So say the team that has one interest: pushing mercury in vaccines as a cause of autism. A little ironic?

Reading their writing, I am reminded of one of Bev’s amazing videos:

Back to the paragraph from “The Age of Autism”. Dan, Mark: You don’t think autistics made tools, explored the globe, invented new technologies? The sad thing is, it seems like you don’t.

Yeah, a lot of kids, kids like mine, aren’t in the world explorer/inventor categories. And even kids like mine are still as human as you or I. They are not missing anything “distinctly human”.

Researchers track down autism rates across the globe

8 Apr

The Simons Foundation blog, SFARI, has always had a good quality of articles. Lately it appears to me that the frequency of articles has increased. One recent article hits a subject that has been a focus of mine for some time: prevalence estimates and how they vary by culture and geography. In Researchers track down autism rates across the globe Virginia Hughes talks to a number of researchers working on expanding autism prevalence studies to more countries. Outside of the US and the UK, autism prevalence studies are somewhat rare. Until fairly recently, prevalence estimates outside of the US and Europe were basically nonexistent.

Ms. Hughes starts with this introduction:

In urban areas of South Korea, some families of children with developmental delays will go to great lengths to avoid a diagnosis of chapae, or autism. They think of it as a genetic mark of shame on the entire family, and a major obstacle to all of their children’s chances of finding suitable spouses.

The stigma is so intense that many Korean clinicians intentionally misdiagnose these children with aechak changae, or reactive detachment disorder — social withdrawal that is caused by extreme parental abuse or neglect.

This won’t come as a surprise for those who have read Roy Richard Grinker’s Unstrange Minds, where Prof. Grinker explores how autism is viewed in various parts of the world, including South Korea.

Prof. Grinker is interviewed, as is his collaborator Dr. Young Shin Kim, and Dr. Eric Fombonne.

Autism prevelance work has been performed or is ongoing in Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, India, South Africa and Oman. Since autism isn’t diagnosed through a biological test, variations in culture can have a significant impact on the test methods.

Ms. Hughes notes:

Language and culture may also affect the way this research is carried out. For instance, the Korean language uses an extensive array of suffixes that denote the relationship between the speaker and the subject. South Korean children with autism have trouble using these social markers, but the Western-based standard tests of autism, such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), don’t test for this.

Similarly, Grinker points out, healthy children from non-Western cultures may display a trait that ADOS counts as a symptom of autism. In South Korea, for example, making eye contact with an adult is not socially appropriate.

“This is why it’s pretty useful to have [anthropologists] who can translate diagnostic instruments that were designed in one culture and used in another,” Grinker says.

Rather than cut and paste the entire article I will point you back to SFARI for the full piece. It is well worth reading.

Brian Deer: Stomping at the Savoy

5 Apr

The Press Awards ceremony is ongoing at the Savoy. Brian Deer was nominated for and won the Specialist Journalist of the Year award for his work on MMR. He was cited for perseverance and for righting a wrong.

Brian Deer, of course, is the journalist who broke the stories surrounding Andrew Wakefield’s MMR research.

and video:

Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders

5 Apr

There are so many “autism” books out there for parents new to the diagnosis. Unfortunately many are just not good. We’ve spent a lot of time here discussing the problems with books that promote “mommy instinct” or therapies untested for safety or efficacy. Warning parents off a book isn’t the same thing as giving them some idea of where to turn for good information. Recently I was loaned a book by friend and fellow blogger Liz Ditz (of the I Speak of Dreams blog): Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders by James Coplan.

I read the first chapter and a couple of bits here and there and came away thinking: this could be a good resource. I plan to go through the book in pieces over time, but I am willing to start recommending it already.

There are a few things I would probably word differently, and I certainly haven’t seen it all yet. It isn’t a quick read, and a new parent may not want to go through it from start to finish linearly. But there are good sections to jump to, refer back to and the like.

Disclosure: I’ve asked for a review copy so I can return this one to Liz.

Loving Lampposts, a review

4 Apr

Loving Lampposts is a new film about autism by filmmaker and autism parent Todd Drezner. You get a good idea of the direction of the movie from the subtitle–Loving Lampposts, living autistic. I “watched” the film. As in, it’s hard to find an hour and a half solid to watch something through. Instead I watched a little on TV and listened and watched what I could on my computer as I worked. I really wish I had blocked out the full hour and a half to watch it in one sitting as it is quite well done. I agree with Shannon Rosa in her review: this is a film I’ve waited for to fill many roles. It is a film that I wish I had available when we got the diagnosis for our kid. It is a film I’d like to recommend to people who ask about autism.

Todd Drezner narrates the film. He does a good job of using narration lightly. He mostly narrates to make the transitions between the segments of the film. In general, he lets the people–the autistics, the parents, the professionals–in the film present the various ideas.

The first part of the film introduces the ideas of autism as a medical condition and neurodiversity. The vaccine discussion does come up later in the film. It is great to see the vaccine discussion not as parents vs. a mainstream medical establishment. It will come as no surprise to readers here that many parents do not subscribe to the vaccine-injury model, and Mr. Drezner presents them in their own voices. Some of those parents featured in the film include Kristina Chew and Roy Richard Grinker.

The discussion of cure and vaccines needs to be addressed. But what makes the film really work is the time spent on autistics. Autistic kids and a good amount of time with autistic adults. Stephen Shore talks about his life and his work in education. Also featured autistics include Barbara Moran, Kassiane Sibley and Sharisa Kochmeister.

There are great segments with Lyndon and his mother Lila Howard. Lyndon was born in the early 1950’s, during the “childhood schizophrenia” and “refrigerator mother” era. He’s now living in his own apartment, with his mother still as his primary caregiver.

Dora Raymaker is also featured, communicating with AAC through her computer.

Director Todd Drezner is not heavy handed, but he dispels myths. Here are two of them: Neurodiversity is not all about “high functioning” autistic adults. Neurodiveristy advocates do not deny that autism is a disability.

I’ve never wanted to attend an autism-parent/biomed convention. But Loving Lampposts really makes me want to put into action my desire to attend Autcom or Auttreat. Loving Lampposts was partially filmed at Autcom 2007.

As I wrote above, I wish I had this film years ago. I wish I could have seen it. I wish I could have offered it to the many people who have asked questions about autism. I’ll certainly be telling my family and friends about this and offering it to people asking about autism.

Disclosure: I asked for and was provided with a copy of the DVD to screen. I am very grateful that this was made available to me, but I am not compensated in any way for purchases of the film. With that said: You can purchase the film from Amazon.com, or from the Loving Lampposts website. It isn’t available yet on Netflix, but you can put it in your queue and give them the idea that they should make it available.

Loving Lampposts video clips

1 Apr

Loving Lampposts is a new documentary film by filmaker and autism parent Todd Drezner. Here’s a blurb from their website to give you an idea about the film:

What would you call a four year old who caresses all the lampposts in the park? Quirky? Unusual? Or sick?

Such labels are at the center of the debate about autism: is it a disease or a different way of being—or both? In Loving Lampposts, we witness this debate and meet the parents, doctors, therapists, and autistic people who are redefining autism at a moment when it’s better known than ever before. Motivated by his son’s diagnosis, filmmaker Todd Drezner explores the changing world of autism and learns the truth of the saying, “if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person.”

I put it on my Netflix list (you can too: link) right after reading the review on The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism and the interview with the director on Neurotribes. Netflix doesn’t carry it yet, but with luck I may have a copy soon. One can purchase a copy as well.

If you are interested in what Todd Drezner has to say, he has the first in a series of articles up on the Huffington Post: Learning to Embrace Autism.

For more on what the film is about, here are a series of video clips the produces have made available:

Opening sequence with director Todd Drezner introducing autism spectrum disorder through his son, Sam

Loving Lampposts Clip#1 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Understanding autism through “Rain Man” and as described by author of “Unstrange Minds” Roy Richard Grinker

Loving Lampposts Clip #2 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Sharisa Kochmeister, autistic adult with a genius level IQ, and her father, Jay – “I don’t have a disease. I have a disability that causes unease…”

Loving Lampposts Clip #3 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Mothers Kristina Chew and Nadine Antonelli initially hoping to find a “fix” for their autistic children

Loving Lampposts Clip #4 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre, explains definitions of autism and Asperger’s

Loving Lampposts Clip #5 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

About the anti-childhood vaccination movement featuring actress and mother, Jenny McCarthy

Loving Lampposts Clip #6 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Blogger, mother, and activist Kristina Chew shares the joy of watching her son ride a bike

Loving Lampposts Clip #7 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Autistic adult, Dora Raymaker, using a computer to talk, explains how autism affects her ability to communicate

Loving Lampposts Clip #8 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Dr. Paul Offit discusses his involvement in the vaccine industry and the MMR vaccination

Loving Lampposts Clip #9 from Cinema Libre Studio on Vimeo.

Robert MacNeil returns to PBS NEWSHOUR to report on Autism Today

30 Mar

The PBS Newshour is one of the premiere news programs in the US. Many will remember it as the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, for Robert Macneil and Jim Lehrer. Robert MacNeil is returning from retirement to present a series of episodes on autism for autism awareness month.

Aside: wow, has it really been 16 years since Robert MacNeil retired?

The press release is shown below:

Robert MacNeil returns to PBS NEWSHOUR to report on Autism Today

6-part series airs during Autism Awareness Month

April 18 – 26, 2011

ARLINGTON, VA (March 29, 2011) – Autism – it’s a developmental disorder that has become increasingly prevalent, affecting 1 out of 110 American children. Despite years of study, little is known about its cause and access to treatment varies. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of American families hungry for answers struggle to care for the unique needs of children with the disorder. Among them, Robert MacNeil, co-founder of the PBS NewsHour and grandfather of Nick, a 6-year old boy with autism.

“I’ve been a reporter on and off for 50 years, but I’ve never brought my family into a story … until Nick,” MacNeil said, “because he moves me deeply.”

MacNeil and producer Caren Zucker tell the story of Autism Today in a 6-part broadcast series beginning Monday, April 18, 2011 and a robust online component where viewers can join the conversation. Ms. Zucker has produced many stories on autism and is the mother of a 16-year old son with autism.

Monday, April 18 An introduction to Nick and autism as a whole body experience: MacNeil brings viewers along on a visit with his daughter and grandson Nick in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to see how autism affects the whole family, including his 10-year-old sister, Neely. Nick experiences autism not just as a disorder in brain development but also as physical ailments affecting the whole body.

Tuesday, April 19 Autism Prevalence: Why are the numbers of children with autism increasing? At the UC Davis MIND Institute in Sacramento, California, MacNeil sees the wide range of different behaviors that comprise the autism spectrum. Anthropologist Richard Grinker argues that the rising numbers of children with autism is explained because conditions previously given other names, like mental retardation, are now included in the autism spectrum. Scientist Irva Hertz-Picciotto says the wider definition only partly explains the increased prevalence, pointing instead to a variety of environmental factors.

Wednesday, April 20 Autism Causes: The rise in autism numbers has caused a surge in research to find the causes. For the latest thinking, Robert MacNeil speaks with four leading researchers: Dr. Gerald Fischbach of the Simons Foundation, Dr. David Amaral of the MIND Institute, Dr. Martha Herbert of Harvard University and Dr. Craig Newschaffer of Drexel University.

Thursday, April 21 Autism Treatment: Although children with autism see doctors periodically, they go to school everyday. It is the school system that bears most of the burden of treating children with autism because treatment means education. MacNeil visits two schools in New York – a public school in the Bronx teaching 700 children with autism and a charter school created in Manhattan as a model of possibilities in educating children with autism. With only 30 students, it can use one-on-one teacher/student ratios employing intensive Applied Behavioral Analysis – the gold standard treatment for autism.

Monday, April 25 Adults with Autism: Although federal law mandates educational services for children with autism, there are virtually no services when they become adults. MacNeil profiles Zachary Hamrick in Mahwah, New Jersey, about to turn 21. As his family contemplates the uncertain future now facing hundreds of thousands of young people like him, his parents ask themselves, “What will happen when we die?”

Tuesday, April 26 Autism Policy: The NewsHour series ends with a discussion of the public policy issues raised in the series, including the enormous discrepancy in the quality and availability of services for children and future adults in what the federal committee that determines research priorities for autism now calls a “national health emergency” with a panel of experts including: Dr. Thomas Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Catherine Lord, Professor of Psychology, Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Ilene Lainer, Executive Director of the New York Center for Autism – a private advocacy group, and John Shestack, a Hollywood producer and the co-founder of “Cure Autism Now” a former advocacy group.

PBS NEWSHOUR will host an online content hub that will offer easy access to video of all the pieces in the series, as well as web-only features that are part of Autism Today, including:

§ First Look Online: In a brand new online-on-air cross promotion, check the NewsHour’s website after each night’s broadcast during the week April 18: We’ll post the next chapter in the Autism Today series online by 7pm ET.

§ Autism 101 – A primer on autism, how it’s diagnosed, the spectrum of disorders, and available resources. We’ll also look at the costs of austim, through the lens of the families profiled in the series and others.

§ The Story of Donald – A new look at Caren Zucker and John Donvan’s profile of the first child diagnosed with autism as reported in The Atlantic.

§ Live Chat with Experts – Viewers can ask their questions directly to the experts and doctors profiled in the broadcast segments via live text chat moderated by PBS NEWSHOUR digital correspondent Hari Sreenivasan.

§ Ask Robin MacNeil – Hari Sreenivasan will preview the series with Robin MacNeil in a special interview on the Rundown news blog. MacNeil will also answer viewer questions after the series concludes.

§ Join us on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook: We want to hear how you or those you know are coping with autism. Use the Twitter hashtag #autismtoday to ask questions or join the conversation on the series.

PBS NEWSHOUR is seen five nights a week on more than 315 PBS stations across the country and is also available online, via public radio in select markets and via podcast. The program is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, in association with WETA Washington, DC, and THIRTEEN in New York. Major corporate funding for The NewsHour is provided by Chevron, Bank of America and Intel, with additional support from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.

Somali community start to fight back against Andrew Wakefield and Generation Rescue

26 Mar

Taken from http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/118686794.html

Hodan Hassan of Minneapolis understands why some parents are afraid to have their children vaccinated. Until recently, she was one of them.

But today, Hassan will be one of the featured speakers at a Somali community forum designed to allay fears about vaccines in the midst of a measles outbreak.

“[I] read about how the world used to be without the immunization program,” said Hassan, who has four children, including a daughter with autism. “This generation doesn’t understand the benefit, and the importance, and how lucky they are having an immunization program in place.”

So far, 11 cases of measles have been confirmed in Hennepin County since February, five in Somali children who had not been vaccinated. Experts say that vaccine rates have dropped in the Somali community, along with other groups, because of unfounded fears of a possible link to autism.

Now, Somali physicians and state health officials have joined forces to counter what they say are widespread misconceptions about vaccine safety, which has left many children vulnerable to preventable diseases. The concern has grown in the last two years, since a Health Department study confirmed that there were an unusually high number of Somali children in the Minneapolis schools’ autism program.

In Hassan’s case, she stopped vaccinating her children after she learned that her daughter, Geni, now 6, had autism. At the time, she said, she was desperate for answers. Medical experts could not explain what caused her daughter’s condition, a severe communication and behavior disorder. But she quickly learned about the autism activists who blame the vaccines, in spite of medical assurances to the contrary. She began reading their books and attending their conferences, she said, and the fear took hold.

In December, she said, she turned out to hear Andrew Wakefield, the hero of the anti-vaccine movement, at a Somali community meeting in Minneapolis. Wakefield conducted a now-discredited 1998 study suggesting a link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

‘I was shocked’

Later, Hassan said, a local doctor challenged her to do her own research on Wakefield, who was accused of scientific misconduct in connection with the study, and ultimately stripped of his medical license in England.

Now she is one of his biggest critics. “I was shocked when I found out people used to die [of measles],” she said. Many still do in her native Somalia, she noted, and in other in parts of the world where vaccines are not available.

“If we could all go back in time, we would have appreciated it,” she said.

Just this week, Wakefield returned to Minneapolis for a private meeting with Somali families. Members of the news media were barred from Wednesday’s gathering, which reportedly drew only about a half-dozen Somali parents.

But one of the organizers, Patti Carroll of Shoreview, said she doesn’t believe parents are worried about the measles outbreak.

“They’d rather have them get the measles than deal with the effects of unsafe vaccines,” said Carroll, a volunteer with Generation Rescue, an autism advocacy group.

Health officials warn that measles is highly contagious and extremely dangerous. So far, six people have been hospitalized in the current outbreak, most of them young children. All are said to be recovering.

This week, Hassan circulated an e-mail inviting members of the Somali community to tonight’s forum at the Brian Coyle Center in Minneapolis.

“Our community has been misled about MMR causing autism,” she wrote. “Vaccines don’t cause autism and the benefit [outweighs] the risk.” She added: “We are very much against an unlicensed doctor to make our community his scapegoat.”

David Kirby shows he’s been out of the loop

19 Mar

David Kirby is back on the Huffington Post blogging about vaccines and autism in a piece titled CDC to Study Vaccines and Autism.

The CDC move comes one month after the federal government’s leading autism body, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) announced a shift in research priorities toward environmental triggers for autism, which the IACC said could include toxins, biological agents and “adverse events following immunization.”

In case we didn’t read that paragraph, he repeats himself later:

Meanwhile, the IACC has signaled a major shift in research priorities into the causes of autism, moving away from purely genetic studies in favor of investigating the interaction between genes and environmental factors, which it said could include toxins, biological agents and vaccines.

What shift? Funding levels for environmental causation and gene-environment interactions have outpaced funding for purely genetic research for the past few years.

Mr. Kirby, I’d like to say you’d know that if you read LeftBrainRightBrain instead of the blogs and websites which claim to be asking for more research into environmental research. But I have to ask, are you really out of the loop, or does it just make a better story to claim these fake “shifts”?

Here are a few posts you might want to read, Mr. Kirby:

US proposes $154M in new autism research projects

US plan for autism research: focus on environmental causation re-emphasized

Here’s one from over a year ago:

IACC calls for $175 million in autism and the environment research

Is his post a misconception because he’s been out of the loop on another book project? No. Here’s Mr. Kirby’s introductory paragraph:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wants to study autism as a possible clinical outcome of immunization, as part of its newly adopted 5-year research agenda for vaccine safety, the agency said on its website.

Take a look at the CDC research agenda that Mr. Kirby links to. It includes:

In 2004, the IOM concluded that the evidence “favors rejection of a causal relationship” between MMR vaccine and autism and thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism (IOM, 2004).
• VSD has completed a thimerosal and autism case-control study. The chief goal was to determine if exposure to thimerosal in infancy (through 7 months of age) or in-utero is related to development of autism. A secondary objective was to evaluate whether exposure to thimerosal in infancy is related to a subclass of autism predominately associated with regression. The manuscript Prenatal and Infant Exposure to Thimerosal From Vaccines and Immunoglobulins and Risk of Autism (Pediatrics) by Price CS et al. showed that prenatal and early-life exposure to ethylmercury from thimerosal-containing vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations was not related to increased risk for Autistic Spectrum Disorders (Price CS et al, Pediatrics 2010).
• CDC funded a study in Italy comparing children who previously received thimerosal-containing or non-thimerosal-containing DTaP vaccines (Tozzi AE, 2009).
• A VSD study was completed on early thimerosal exposure and neuropsychological outcomes at 7 to 10 years (Thompson WW et al, 2007). Another study using the public dataset was published (Smith MJ, WoodsCR. Pediatrics 2010).

So, the CDC has already been studying autism as a possible outcome of vaccines. In fact, they’ve already completed it and published it: “VSD has completed a thimerosal and autism case-control study.”

And let’s not forget all the other studies of the past 10 years on MMR, and those on thimerosal. We won’t. Apparently David Kirby has. It’s “new” that the CDC would consider vaccines and autism.

And, noting that the IACC federal autism panel “suggested several studies including vaccinated versus unvaccinated children to determine if there are differences in health outcomes,” the CDC said it will convene an “external expert committee to offer guidance on the feasibility of conducting such studies and additional studies related to the immunization schedule, including studies that may indicate if multiple vaccinations increase risk for immune system disorders.”

Germany has already done one of those studies. Kev discussed it here on LeftBrainRightBrain just recently as Vaccinated Children Not at Higher Risk of Infections or Allergic Diseases, Study Suggests. The results were that people are better off vaccinated. Fewer infectious disease. No increased risk of asthma or other problems (the study size, with about 18,000 people, was too small to study autism).

Sorry if I appear to have little patience for David Kirby. It’s true. I don’t have much patience for him. He’s framed his piece in a manner which misleads. And he has no excuse.

Minneapolis reports three more measles cases

18 Mar

In Minneapolis reports three more measles cases, the Minneapolis Star Tribune discusses, well, three more measles cases in the city. Why bring this up here?

Three more children under the age of five have developed cases of measles in Minneapolis, state health officials reported Thursday, including two Somali children who were not vaccinated because of fears about the vaccine safety.

Four children have been infected. Three were hospitalized. At least two unvaccinated out of fear.

Three more children under the age of five have developed cases of measles in Minneapolis, state health officials reported Thursday, including two Somali children who were not vaccinated because of fears about the vaccine safety.

Officials said that the vaccination rate has dropped in Minnesota’s Somali community, largely because of misconceptions about the vaccine safety. Concerns about a possible link between the vaccine and autism have spread in the Somali community, as well as other communities, in spite of medical reports debunking the connection.

“Contrary to misinformation that may still be circulating, the measles vaccine is safe and effective,” said Dr. Edward Ehlinger, Minnesota Commissioner of Health. “Without it, the risk of disease is real. Children can die from measles.”

The previous case, reported March 5, involved a child under a year old who was too young to be vaccinated. Officials said they did not know whether the fourth child had been vaccinated.

I can already write the responses:
“Better measles than autism” (as though this were a real choice. MMR doesn’t increase the risk of autism)
“If they offered a safe measles vaccine, this wouldn’t have happened” (as though the MMR causes autism, making it “unsafe”)
“look at all the reports in VAERS of death/injury/etc” (as though every report in VAERS is an event caused by vaccines)
“but vaccines don’t work anyway”

I could go on with the responses, but why? They are as obvious as they are lame.

(edit to add–I missed on obvious one that has already been made: “4 cases=outbreak?”. That one just boggles the mind. How many should there be before we take action? If these were demonstrated cases of vaccines causing autism, the answer would be no more. But, hey, it’s just a life-threatening disease in children, one under a year old. I guess that “immature immune system” we hear vaccine skeptics claim is just fine at fighting a full on infection. Just not a vaccine.)

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