From an article recapping Oprah's interview with Hollywood mothers Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete:
In recent years, the number of children diagnosed with autism has risen from 1 in every 500 children to 1 in 150—and science has not discovered a reason why. Jenny says she believes that childhood vaccinations may play a part. "What number will it take for people just to start listening to what the mothers of children who have seen autism have been saying for years, which is, 'We vaccinated our baby and something happened."
Jenny says even before Evan received his vaccines, she tried to talk to her pediatrician about it. "Right before his MMR shot, I said to the doctor, 'I have a very bad feeling about this shot. This is the autism shot, isn't it?' And he said, 'No, that is ridiculous. It is a mother's desperate attempt to blame something,' and he swore at me, and then the nurse gave [Evan] the shot," she says. "And I remember going, 'Oh, God, I hope he's right.' And soon thereafter—boom—the soul's gone from his eyes."
Despite her belief, Jenny says she is not against vaccines. "I am all for them, but there needs to be a safer vaccine schedule. There needs to be something done. The fact that the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] acts as if these vaccines are one size fits all is just crazy to me," she says. "People need to start listening to what the moms have been saying."
The recap goes on to say:
We contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about whether there is a link between autism and vaccines and they gave us the following statement:
"CDC places a high priority on vaccine safety and the integrity and credibility of its vaccine safety research. This commitment not only stems from our scientific and medical dedication, it is also personal—for most of us who work at CDC are also parents and grandparents. And as such, we too, have high levels of personal interest and concern in the health and safety of children, families and communities. We simply don't know what causes most cases of autism, but we're doing everything we can to find out. The vast majority of science to date does not support an association between thimerosal in vaccines and autism. But we are currently conducting additional studies to further determine what role, if any, thimerosal in vaccines may play in the development of autism. It is important to remember, vaccines protect and save lives. Vaccines protect infants, children and adults from the unnecessary harm and premature death caused by vaccine-preventable diseases."
Read more of this article here.
The CDC is short sited to reference a concern with only a link between thimerosal and vaccines. This has been the primary debate exposed in the public venue regarding vaccines, but there are many other possibilities as to why vaccines may be leading to autism spectrum disorders among other serious effects. As Tim O'Shea writes in The Sanctity of Human Blood:
This fragile, unknown universe within the forming infant brain is exceedingly delicate. It is literally struggling its way into existence. If left to itself for the first two years, nature pulls most of us through. But here's the problem. We've stopped leaving the brain to itself, in this most critical period. First with the additives in vaccines like aluminum, mercury, formaldehyde, phenol, radiator fluids - proven beyond controversy to be neurotoxic (nerve-destroying.) [(16) Blaylock] As these toxins are allowed to freely circulate in the blood environment of the brain, nerve cells are killed. Half-formed nerve cells stop forming. Connectors never get made. Worse, the damage is random, because every infant brain is unique, developing at its own pace, like flowers in a field. There is no predicting when the damage will show up. Maybe the child drops dead, or goes into shock, or turns autistic 2 weeks later, or can't learn to read at age 5, or has "ADD" in adolescence, or Parkinson's at 28, or any other neurologic disorder. Or maybe is simply a little dumber than his parents. Over and over and over.
Returning to the Oprah article once more:
Holly says the CDC's statement about vaccinations has given her hope that parents and medical professionals can lay down their arms and open the lines of communication. "I would just say to the pediatricians, listen to [mothers] sometimes and give us a little bit more respect," Holly says. "Our gut is really dead on."
It's true. Follow your gut. Do the research and don't be afraid to stick with your decision. Doctors will treat you like you are an idiot and they will use scare tactics to convince you otherwise, but if you have looked for information on both sides of the issue and have determined your course of action based on research, be confident in that decision.
