Hep B vaccine confers three-fold risk of autism according to study
Posted By Phyllis on October 9, 2009
The question of whether vaccines cause autism came to the forefront again. In its September issue, the respected Journal of Epidemiology published news of research demonstrating that boys vaccinated with Hepatitis B as infants were three times more likely to develop an autism spectrum disorder than boys where were not.
Now, I tried to take a firsthand look at the abstract, but decided not to pay the necessary $31.50. So we will rely on secondhand info, on others who have seen the abstract, namely Joseph Mercola of Mercola.com and David Kirby of the Huffington Post and The Age of Autism.
The study authors used data from 1997-2002, including boys born before 1999. The authors concluded,”Boys who received the hepatitis B vaccine during the first month of life had 2.94 greater odds for ASD (autism spectrum disorders) compared to later- or unvaccinated boys.” Odds were higher for African-Americans than for whites.
The authors, Carolyn Gallagher and Melody Goodman of the Graduate Program in Public Health at Stony Brook University Medical Center, cited an earlier study they had made which showed a correlation between receipt of the hepatitis B vaccine and requiring early intervention services. So the current study corroborates those findings.
For a really concise review of the vaccine controversy, check out Joseph Mercola ’s article. He contends that there is no need to give infants the hepatitis B vaccine; I have read elsewhere that it is given in order to forestall possible transmission of this venereal disease from the mother during birth. But why not give it in the cases where the mother is known to have hepatitis B, and leave the rest alone?
It’s really obvious to me and many others that research needs to be done comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, just to settle the question. So why isn’t this happening? Turns out that some high-level policy makers blocked it in January, specifically the CDC and the head of NIMH, Dr. Tom Insel. For details, see this press release from the advocacy group SafeMinds. There are too many vested interests in this controversy.
What can we parents do? We need to protect our families’ interests, since the big guys aren’t doing it. For one thing, we can say no to vaccinating our tiny children. Maybe if more of us did this, someone would notice. We can vaccinate them when they get close to school age, or we can homeschool them and vaccinate them even later. Or maybe we don’t need to vaccinate them for every conceivable disease. We need to consider the risks and the benefits of vaccination for each of these diseases. For hepatitis B, the risks are high and the benefits involve protection from a venereal disease. So why not vaccinate near the age of sexual activity, conferring immunity when it is most needed? And so on.
Pro-vaccine professionals talk about “building the herd immunity.” We need to quit acting like a herd and more like humans who can make up their own minds.
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Absolutely! We need to be the humans God created us and not the herd that the Government and Big Pharma have relegated us to. Thanks Phyllis!