It's no secret...

When your child is diagnosed with autism, you want answers.  You want to
know what might have caused your family's world to be turned upside down.  
Plans for childhood forever altered, dreams rearranged and priorities
permanently shifted.

Some people however, believe that what we want is someone / something to
blame.  Something to pin our frustrations upon.  They say we go looking for a
connection.  A connection to vaccines.  A link that might assuage our pain.  

But this is simply not so.  Not in our in our house.  I went looking, setting out
not to find a link, rather to ease my worry. To reassure myself it could not be
the vaccines we gave to her.

You see, linking autism to vaccines would be blaming no one but ourselves.

We were the ones who took her to the office.  My husband the one who signed
the consent forms... It was us.

Finding a link to vaccines would place the blame squarely on our own
shoulders and is a much harder pill to swallow than a genetic condition.  After
all if it were genetics, we could simply blame our parents -- and really, who
doesn't like to blame their parents for their life's challenges?!

Try as I might though, the proof was there.  The more and more I read, the
more and more the scientists were backing up what we had seen firsthand.
The vaccines harmed our daughter.

Not only could they impair her immune system, they DID.  They caused an
autoimmune reaction creating inflammation both in her fragile gut and
developing brain.  They triggered autism in not only her, but countless
children like her.

It's all right there...

Explained for anyone who takes the time to read it.  Outlined in scientific
journals and on PubMed, a database accessing the MEDLINE references and
abstracts and maintained by the United States National Library of Medicine
(NLM) at the National Institutes of Health.

The answers. Staring at me in black and white.  The answers I hoped not to
find.  The blame, squarely on my shoulders for not doing the research before  
it was too late.

And that is why parents who have done the research are so vocal.  It's not
about us.  It's not about blame.  It's about sparing you from making the same
mistakes we did.  It's about your children and above all else, our desire to
protect them.

We are here for you...  

Read the links to the right and the fifteen PubMed links below.  See what you
think.  If you want more, there are many, many more.  You can search
PubMed for keywords and read until your eyes are bleary.  And it's not just
about autism.

If you have a child with any autoimmune condition: asthma, allergies, pandas,
mitochondria disorder, adhd, diabetes, and so on...  sadly, you will find there
are links to vaccines for all types of autoimmune disorders.   

Anecdotal no more.  You know where to look.  Check it out.  Pass it on.  



Viral / Immune studies:


Abnormal measles-mumps-rubella antibodies and CNS autoimmunity in
children with autism.

Autoimmunity to the central nervous system (CNS), especially to myelin basic
protein (MBP), may play a causal role in autism, a neurodevelopmental
disorder. Because many autistic children harbor elevated levels of measles
antibodies, we conducted a serological study of measles-mumps-rubella
(MMR) and MBP autoantibodies.

….over 90% of MMR antibody-positive autistic sera were also positive for MBP
autoantibodies, suggesting a strong association between MMR and CNS
autoimmunity in autism. Stemming from this evidence, we suggest that an
inappropriate antibody response to MMR, specifically the measles component
thereof, might be related to pathogenesis of autism.



Serological association of measles virus and human herpes virus-6
with brain auto-antibodies in autism.

This study is the first to report an association between virus serology and
brain autoantibody in autism; it supports the hypothesis that a virus-induced
autoimmune response may play a causal role in autism



Hypothesis: conjugate vaccines may predispose children to autism
spectrum disorders.

Conjugate vaccines fundamentally change the manner in which the immune
systems of infants and young children function by deviating their immune
responses to the targeted carbohydrate antigens from a state of hypo-
responsiveness to a robust B2 B cell mediated response.

This period of hypo-responsiveness to carbohydrate antigens coincides with
the intense myelination process in infants and young children, and conjugate
vaccines may have disrupted evolutionary forces that favored early brain
development over the need to protect infants and young children from
capsular bacteria.
.


Effects of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis or tetanus vaccination on
allergies and allergy-related respiratory symptoms among children
and adolescents in the United States.

The odds of having a history of asthma was twice as great among vaccinated
subjects than among unvaccinated subjects  The odds of having had any
allergy-related respiratory symptom in the past 12 months was 63% greater
among vaccinated subjects than unvaccinated subjects  The associations
between vaccination and subsequent allergies and symptoms were greatest
among children aged 5 through 10 years.



Neurological Complications of Pertussis Immunization

Review is made of 107 cases of neurological complications of pertussis
inoculation reported in the literature. The early onset of neurological
symptoms was characteristic, with changes of consciousness and convulsions
as the most striking features. The question of aetiology is considered and
contraindications are discussed....as is the grave danger of further
inoculations when a previous one has produced any suggestion of a
neurological reaction.



Hepatitis B vaccination of male neonates and autism diagnosis, NHIS
1997-2002.

Findings suggest that U.S. male neonates vaccinated with the hepatitis B
vaccine prior to 1999 (from vaccination record) had a threefold higher risk for
parental report of autism diagnosis compared to boys not vaccinated as
neonates during that same time period. Nonwhite boys bore a greater risk.



Aluminum Studies:


Do aluminum vaccine adjuvants contribute to the rising prevalence of
autism?

Our results show that: (i) children from countries with the highest ASD
prevalence appear to have the highest exposure to Al from vaccines; (ii) the
increase in exposure to Al adjuvants significantly correlates with the increase
in ASD prevalence in the United States observed over the last two decades;

and (iii) a significant correlation exists between the amounts of Al administered
to preschool children and the current prevalence of ASD in seven Western
countries, particularly at 3-4 months of age.



Aluminum hydroxide injections lead to motor deficits and motor
neuron degeneration.

...A second series of experiments was conducted on mice injected with six
doses of aluminum hydroxide. Behavioural analyses in these mice revealed
significant impairments in a number of motor functions as well as diminished
spatial memory capacity.



Aluminum Vaccine Adjuvants: Are they Safe?

Experimental research, clearly shows that aluminum adjuvants have a
potential to induce serious immunological disorders in humans. In particular,
aluminum in adjuvant form carries a risk for autoimmunity, long-term brain
inflammation and associated neurological complications and may thus have
profound and widespread adverse health consequences.  click for entire study



Thimerosal studies:


Integrating experimental (in vitro and in vivo) neurotoxicity studies of
low-dose thimerosal relevant to vaccines.

There is a need to interpret neurotoxic studies to help deal with uncertainties
surrounding pregnant mothers, newborns and young children who must
receive repeated doses of Thimerosal-containing vaccines (TCVs).

Information extracted from studies indicates that: (a) activity of low doses of
Thimerosal against isolated human and animal brain cells was found in all
studies and is consistent with Hg neurotoxicity; (b) the neurotoxic effect of
ethylmercury has not been studied with co-occurring adjuvant-Al in TCVs; (c)
animal studies have shown that exposure to Thimerosal-Hg can lead to
accumulation of inorganic Hg in brain, and that (d) doses relevant to TCV
exposure possess the potential to affect human neuro-development.



Neurodevelopmental disorders following thimerosal-containing
childhood immunizations: a follow-up analysis.

“The present study provides additional epidemiological evidence supporting
previous epidemiological, clinical and experimental evidence that
administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines in the United States resulted
in a significant number of children developing NDs.”



Neonatal administration of thimerosal causes persistent changes in
mu opioid receptors in the rat brain

“These data document that exposure to thimerosal during early postnatal life
produces lasting alterations in the densities of brain opioid receptors along
with other neuropathological changes, which may disturb brain development.”
.


Persistent behavioral impairments and alterations of brain dopamine
system after early postnatal administration of thimerosal in rats.

“These data document that early postnatal THIM administration causes lasting
neurobehavioral impairments and neurochemical alterations in the brain,
dependent on dose and sex. If similar changes occur in THIM/mercurial-
exposed children, they could contribute do neurodevelopmental disorders.”



Maternal Thimerosal Exposure Results in Aberrant Cerebellar
Oxidative Stress, Thyroid Hormone Metabolism, and Motor Behavior
in Rat Pups; Sex- and Strain-Dependent Effects.

Thimerisol exposure also resulted in a significant increase in cerebellar levels
of the oxidative stress marker 3-nitrotyrosine.... This coincided with an
increased (47.0%) expression of a gene negatively regulated by T3,... Our
data thus demonstrate a negative neurodevelopmental impact of perinatal
thimerisol exposure.



Administration of thimerosal to infant rats increases overflow of
glutamate and aspartate in the prefrontal cortex: protective role of
dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate.

Thimerosal, a mercury-containing vaccine preservative, is a suspected factor
in the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders. We previously showed that
its administration to infant rats causes behavioral, neurochemical and
neuropathological abnormalities similar to those present in autism.



#16, Extra Credit:

Influenza Vaccination during Pregnancy

The ACIP’s recommendation of influenza vaccination during pregnancy is not
supported by citations in its own policy paper or in current medical literature.
Considering the potential risks of maternal and fetal mercury exposure, the
administration of thimerosal during pregnancy is both unjustified and unwise.
                Also, take note of the 71 references at the end of this study. 

www.regardingcaroline.com/pubmed.html