more on vaccines and autism

I've posted a video of a CBS interview with former N.I.H. director Dr. Bernadine Healy.  You'll find a candid conversation about the lack of research to determine whether there is a link in some sub-groups of people between vaccines and autism.  This video has been circulating through various parenting blogs and I just wanted to make a particular comment; while I am in agreement with Dr. Healy and don't necessarily agree with what has been our Government's stance/approach to this area of research, I can understand that the position has been complicated and difficult.  Vaccine rates are already dropping due to various reasons including general discomfort by parents because of an overload of information and a lack of research.   However, if the government were to officially say with any kind of strong, authoritative statement that "some children are put at risk of developing autism in conjunction with vaccines" without fully understanding who those children are, it would in the meantime of conducting research, cause parents who don't know if their children fall into that category to certainly discontinue vaccinating their children to remove the possible risk.  I do agree that the government should do intense research on these hypotheses, but I also disagree with Dr. Healy when she says that she doesn't think it would scare the public. Being stuck in the unknown is already a source of fear and concern for many parents.  Having clear results following intensive research won't scare us and are a must, but how to handle this in the meantime is tricky.  Vaccines remain the number one effective strategy for wiping out serious epidemic diseases - the government is responsible to those children who may be at risk, but they are responsible for caring for a lot more than that too.  complete CBS story

Comments

[Jenn]

Thank you for posting this with a view from both sides. I agree with you, until they can identify what sub groups are the most at risk, then they shouldn't say not to get the vaccines. Not only that but there are a lot of genetic links that are being discovered. And until there is some concrete proof either way, we'll continue to do what we feel is best for our son, which is vaccinating him. He's had the MMR and he's fine, but I must point out that our pediatrician uses preservative free vaccinations, thus reducing the risk more.