MMR and Autism PDF Download

Author: Michael Fitzpatrick
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134355912
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The MMR controversy has been characterized by two one-sided discourses. In the medical world, the weight of opinion is overwhelmingly in favour of MMR. In the public world, the anti-MMR campaign has a much greater influence, centred on the fears of parents that the triple vaccine may cause autism in their children. Both professionals and parents struggle to cope with the anxieties this creates, but find it difficult to find a balanced account of the issues. In MMR and Autism Michael Fitzpatrick, a general practitioner who is also the parent of an autistic child, explains why he believes the anti-MMR campaign is misguided in a way that will reassure parents considering vaccination and also relieve the anxieties of parents of autistic children. At the same time, this informative book provides health care professionals and health studies students with an accessible overview of a contemporary health issue with significant policy implications.

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309168910
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description
The Immunization Safety Review Committee was established by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to evaluate the evidence on possible causal associations between immunizations and certain adverse outcomes, and to then present conclusions and recommendations. The committee's mandate also includes assessing the broader societal significance of these immunization safety issues. While all the committee members share the view that immunization is generally beneficial, none of them has a vested interest in the specific immunization safety issues that come before the group. The committee reviews three immunization safety review topics each year, addressing each one at a time. In this fifth report in a series, the committee examines the hypothesis that exposure to polio vaccine contaminated with simian virus 40 (SV40), a virus that causes inapparent infection in some monkeys, can cause certain types of cancer.

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030909237X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This eighth and final report of the Immunization Safety Review Committee examines the hypothesis that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines, are causally associated with autism. The committee reviewed the extant published and unpublished epidemiological studies regarding causality and studies of potential biologic mechanisms by which these immunizations might cause autism. Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism finds that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism. The book further finds that potential biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism that have been generated to date are only theoretical. It recommends a public health response that fully supports an array of vaccine safety activities and recommends that available funding for autism research be channeled to the most promising areas. The book makes additional recommendations regarding surveillance and epidemiological research, clinical studies, and communication related to these vaccine safety concerns.

Author: Paul A. Offit
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231517963
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
A London researcher was the first to assert that the combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine known as MMR caused autism in children. Following this "discovery," a handful of parents declared that a mercury-containing preservative in several vaccines was responsible for the disease. If mercury caused autism, they reasoned, eliminating it from a child's system should treat the disorder. Consequently, a number of untested alternative therapies arose, and, most tragically, in one such treatment, a doctor injected a five-year-old autistic boy with a chemical in an effort to cleanse him of mercury, which stopped his heart instead. Children with autism have been placed on stringent diets, subjected to high-temperature saunas, bathed in magnetic clay, asked to swallow digestive enzymes and activated charcoal, and injected with various combinations of vitamins, minerals, and acids. Instead of helping, these therapies can hurt those who are most vulnerable, and particularly in the case of autism, they undermine childhood vaccination programs that have saved millions of lives. An overwhelming body of scientific evidence clearly shows that childhood vaccines are safe and does not cause autism. Yet widespread fear of vaccines on the part of parents persists. In this book, Paul A. Offit, a national expert on vaccines, challenges the modern-day false prophets who have so egregiously misled the public and exposes the opportunism of the lawyers, journalists, celebrities, and politicians who support them. Offit recounts the history of autism research and the exploitation of this tragic condition by advocates and zealots. He considers the manipulation of science in the popular media and the courtroom, and he explores why society is susceptible to the bad science and risky therapies put forward by many antivaccination activists.

Author: Peter J. Hotez
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 1421439808
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Internationally renowned medical scientist, frequent media contributor, and autism dad Dr. Peter J. Hotez explains why vaccines do not cause autism. In 1994, Peter J. Hotez's nineteen-month-old daughter, Rachel, was diagnosed with autism. Dr. Hotez, a pediatrician-scientist who develops vaccines for neglected tropical diseases affecting the world's poorest people, became troubled by the decades-long rise of the influential anti-vaccine community and its inescapable narrative around childhood vaccines and autism. In Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism, Hotez draws on his experiences as a pediatrician, vaccine scientist, and father of an autistic child. Outlining the arguments on both sides of the debate, he examines the science that refutes the concerns of the anti-vaccine movement, debunks current conspiracy theories alleging a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and critiques the scientific community's failure to effectively communicate the facts about vaccines and autism to the general public, all while sharing his very personal story of raising a now-adult daughter with autism. A uniquely authoritative account, this important book persuasively provides evidence for the genetic basis of autism and illustrates how the neurodevelopmental pathways of autism are under way before birth. Dr. Hotez reminds readers of the many victories of vaccines over disease while warning about the growing dangers of the anti-vaccine movement, especially in the United States and Europe. Now, with the anti-vaccine movement reenergized in our COVID-19 era, this book is especially timely. Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism is a must-read for parent groups, child advocates, teachers, health-care providers, government policymakers, health and science policy experts, and anyone caring for a family member or friend with autism. "When Peter Hotez—an erudite, highly trained scientist who is a true hero for his work in saving the world's poor and downtrodden—shares his knowledge and clinical insights along with his parental experience, when his beliefs in the value of what he does are put to the test of a life guiding his own child's challenges, then you must pay attention. You should. This book brings to an end the link between autism and vaccination."—from the foreword by Arthur L. Caplan, NYU School of Medicine

Author: Andrew J. Wakefield
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1510729674
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
Callous Disregard is the account of how a doctor confronted first a disease and then the medical system that sought and still seeks to deny that disease, leaving millions of children to suffer and a world at risk. In 1995, Dr. Andrew Wakefield came to a fork in the road. As an academic gastroenterologist at the Royal Free School of Medicine and the University of London, he was confronted by a professional challenge and a moral choice. Previously healthy children were, according to their parents, regressing into autism and developing intestinal problems. Many parents blamed the MMR vaccine. Trusting his medical training, the parental narrative, and, above all, the instinct of mothers for their children?s well-being, he chose what would become a very difficult road. Dr. Wakefield provides the facts and an explanation of the problem that confronted him and his colleagues fifteen years ago. He does this in a detailed forensic analysis of the lies, obfuscation, cover-up, and dystopian science and medicine that panders to commercial interests at the expense of your children.

Author: Brian Deer
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421438011
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
Investigative reporter Brian Deer exposes a conspiracy of fraud and betrayal behind attacks on a mainstay of medicine: vaccinations. 2021 IPPY Book Award Winner (Gold) in Health/Medicine/Nutrition, Recipient of the Eric Hoffer Award for Nonfiction in the Culture Category. From San Francisco to Shanghai, from Vancouver to Venice, controversy over vaccines is erupting around the globe. Fear is spreading. Banished diseases have returned. And a militant "anti-vax" movement has surfaced to campaign against children's shots. But why? In The Doctor Who Fooled the World, award-winning investigative reporter Brian Deer exposes the truth behind the crisis. Writing with the page-turning tension of a detective story, he unmasks the players and unearths the facts. Where it began. Who was responsible. How they pulled it off. Who paid. At the heart of this dark narrative is the rise of the so-called "father of the anti-vaccine movement": a British-born doctor, Andrew Wakefield. Banned from medicine, thanks to Deer's discoveries, he fled to the United States to pursue his ambitions, and now claims to be winning a "war." In an epic investigation spread across fifteen years, Deer battles medical secrecy and insider cover-ups, smear campaigns and gagging lawsuits, to uncover rigged research and moneymaking schemes, the heartbreaking plight of families struggling with disability, and the scientific scandal of our time.

Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309214351
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 894

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Book Description
In 1900, for every 1,000 babies born in the United States, 100 would die before their first birthday, often due to infectious diseases. Today, vaccines exist for many viral and bacterial diseases. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, passed in 1986, was intended to bolster vaccine research and development through the federal coordination of vaccine initiatives and to provide relief to vaccine manufacturers facing financial burdens. The legislation also intended to address concerns about the safety of vaccines by instituting a compensation program, setting up a passive surveillance system for vaccine adverse events, and by providing information to consumers. A key component of the legislation required the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to collaborate with the Institute of Medicine to assess concerns about the safety of vaccines and potential adverse events, especially in children. Adverse Effects of Vaccines reviews the epidemiological, clinical, and biological evidence regarding adverse health events associated with specific vaccines covered by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), including the varicella zoster vaccine, influenza vaccines, the hepatitis B vaccine, and the human papillomavirus vaccine, among others. For each possible adverse event, the report reviews peer-reviewed primary studies, summarizes their findings, and evaluates the epidemiological, clinical, and biological evidence. It finds that while no vaccine is 100 percent safe, very few adverse events are shown to be caused by vaccines. In addition, the evidence shows that vaccines do not cause several conditions. For example, the MMR vaccine is not associated with autism or childhood diabetes. Also, the DTaP vaccine is not associated with diabetes and the influenza vaccine given as a shot does not exacerbate asthma. Adverse Effects of Vaccines will be of special interest to the National Vaccine Program Office, the VICP, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccine safety researchers and manufacturers, parents, caregivers, and health professionals in the private and public sectors.

Author: Seth Mnookin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439158657
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
A searing account of how vaccine opponents have used the media to spread their message of panic, despite no scientific evidence to support them.

Author: Neil Z. Miller
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781881217329
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Autism is a complex disability resulting in brain damage, immune dysfunction, self-destructive behaviour patterns, and unresponsiveness to other people. It often strikes following an early childhood of apparently normal development. Many parents believe that childhood vaccines, especially MMR, are responsible. Some studies confirm that vaccines may cause autism in certain predisposed children. Health authorities, however, deny that autism is linked to vaccines. Some studies support their position. Congress recently held several hearings to investigate the causes of, and cures for, this growing epidemic. The testimony hints at a medical cover-up. This book chronicles Congressional efforts to expose the truth, summarises vaccine studies on both sides of the debate, and provides parents with crucial data to make informed decisions.