Trump Pushing forward on Vaccines Causing Autism

[finnbow]

I guess he's trying to figure out why he himself is so feckin' stupid.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent skeptic of the safety of vaccines, told reporters at Trump Tower Tuesday that President-elect Donald Trump had asked him to chair a commission focused on that subject, The Washington Post's Abby Phillip reports.

"President-elect Trump has some doubts about the current vaccine policies and he has questions about it," he said.

Hours of controversy followed before the transition issued a statement saying nothing was official just yet -- the president-elect was just considering a "committee on autism." It did not explain why the president would have been discussing autism with a figure known for pressing the discredited theory that the condition is caused by vaccinations.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...accine-safety/

Maybe Jenny McCarthy turned him down.

[Oerets]

Just what we need, more chicken pox measles rubella. Most people under thirty never worried about getting sick with these.



Something may be the cause of the increase in autism. They should be going after that instead of a debunked study on vaccines.



Barney

[whell]

As a father of a child with autism, I'm glad to see this issue getting attention. The Autism Science Foundation's position is that studies have effectively ruled out vaccines as a trigger for autism. Other bodies have taken the same position, based on currently available data.

I think its important to understand that while recent studies have not found a link, the research on this topic is not complete. Some of the studies that didn't find a link clearly stated that more research was necessary, and the that results of the study could not prove or disprove a link between vaccination and the onset of autism. There are on-going studies attempting to determine the cause / trigger for autism. It is still not known what causes / triggers autism.

Among those studies is the CHARGE study at UC Davis. The study is continuing to enroll families who have a child or children with autism. This study is looking at the interplay between genetic and a wide range of environmental factors in autism. Vaccines are one of the many environmental factors being analyzed. The CDC and NIH are still conducting research as well.

Do I think there's a link between vaccinations and autism? I certainly hope not and current evidence doesn't support it. But some of these studies were based on statistical analysis of available data rather than direct examination. The CHARGE study is an example of pursuing an angle that is unique. Also interesting is that the methods used to diagnose autism have changed, leading to more frequent reports of autism cases. This suggests, but doesn't prove, that the link between increased vaccination rates and the rise in autism cases isn't causal.

Then there's this:

Interestingly, the city of Yokohama, Japan has not administered the MMR vaccine to any children born since 1993. Yet, autism rates have increased even among these unvaccinated children [27]. Thus, even as scientists continue to untangle the exact causes of autism, one thing remains unchanged: no one has yet found a scientifically sound and robust link between vaccines and autism.

Interestingly, Japan still bans the MMR vaccine for reasons unrelated to autism.

Finally, there are folks in medicine who respectfully disagree with the research that has been done so far, questioning both methodology and the interpretation of the data. Some of these folks are crusaders against current vaccination practices, and believe there's an unholy alliance between the government and vaccine manufacturers: similar to the "military industrial complex", this would be the "big pharma government research complex".

Until the trigger is found, keeping an open mind and not discounting any possibility is the right thing to do. Calling people stupid because they question available evidence is hardly productive or useful.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Until the trigger is found, keeping an open mind and not discounting any possibility is the right thing to do. Calling people stupid because they question available evidence is hardly productive or useful.

Yeh, I'm sure RFK, Jr. will get to the bottom of this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert...m_and_vaccines

[Oerets]

Whell, I also have Autism in a close family member. A nephew and feel the urgent need to find the culprit behind the causes.




I'm thinking it is stupid for a parent to forgo giving their child vaccines and roll the dice on them getting sick and spreading it.

There is more of a chance something from the many chemicals in processing foods or the increase in fats sugars and salt to their prep and packaging. The increase in the use of plastics. Yes even vaccines should be ruled out. But we will never know until a answer or answers are found.




Barney

[whell]

Originally Posted by Oerets

Whell, I also have Autism in a close family member. A nephew and feel the urgent need to find the culprit behind the causes.

I'm thinking it is stupid for a parent to forgo giving their child vaccines and roll the dice on them getting sick and spreading it.

There is more of a chance something from the many chemicals in processing foods or the increase in fats sugars and salt to their prep and packaging. The increase in the use of plastics. Yes even vaccines should be ruled out. But we will never know until a answer or answers are found.


Barney

Our child was vaccinated as well. I don't think we'd do anything differently but we did choose to space out the administration of the vaccines rather then have a number of them administered at the same time.

But how miserable do you think it would make us feel if it was somehow determined that a combination of environmental end genetic factors which somehow include vaccines provided the trigger?

I can't blame parents for wanting to be cautious about this, regardless whether someone else might think their actions are "stupid". While I also have thought that - like the CHASE study - an investigation of environmental factors might be revealing, there's still no conclusive proof that environmental factors are linked to autism either.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Yeh, I'm sure RFK, Jr. will get to the bottom of this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert...m_and_vaccines

Ah yes. There's Finn demonstrating an open mind.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Ah yes. There's Finn demonstrating an open mind.

Why do you believe that he's the appropriate person to lead such a study/investigation? His PhD in epidemiology? Oops, he doesn't have one.

[Oerets]

Stupid may of been a poor choice of wording on my part.. Not wanting to offend any, if so I sincerely apologize. As a parent and grandparent who worried about vaccine use over and over have felt worried. But trust in the medical professionals knowledge.
Never wanting even a one in a million plus chance of doing harm by any of my actions. Know fully the fears of any perceived or results of my actions. Caution is always the best policy.

A better word might of been uninformed, distrusting even.



Barney

[whell]

Originally Posted by Oerets

Stupid may of been a poor choice of wording on my part.. Not wanting to offend any, if so I sincerely apologize. As a parent and grandparent who worried about vaccine use over and over have felt worried. But trust in the medical professionals knowledge.
Never wanting even a one in a million plus chance of doing harm by any of my actions. Know fully the fears of any perceived or results of my actions. Caution is always the best policy.

A better word might of been uninformed, distrusting even.

Barney

No worries.

I think there's reason to be skeptical about a lot of things. For example, I think its reasonable to wonder about environmental factors - you mentioned the proliferation of plastics - as a possible trigger to a number of health issues. But there's no effort to pull plastics from the market at this time. I think there are a number of folks who are aware of the health risks of plastics, but they continue to use them - including me.

There's just too much we don't know. More info is needed.