Moorings on Monday

Autism and MMR Vaccine

In the movie, I, Robot, the detective played by Will Smith gets to question the hologram of the slain James Cromwell. Smith asks questions but the hologram tells him that he is only programmed to answer the right questions and Smith is not asking them. By the end of the movie, Smith does realize the right questions and gets answers. However, I don’t think we’re anywhere close to asking the right questions about autism and the MMR vaccine.

I know there is a lot of buzz in the news regarding autism and the MMR vaccine due to a recent federal court ruling against the plaintiffs which did not find a relationship between autism and the mercury in the vaccine.

Additionally, the current research seems to suggest a genetic component in autism. And why not? It’s so much easier to put more guilt and pain on parents than to admit, or even do research into, a link between multi-billion pharmaceutical companies’ vaccines and autism.

My experience with autism is teaching special education; my experience with the MMR vaccine is what happened after it was given to a child I day-care.

This leads me to my anecdotal story about two children and the MMR vaccine:

I was day-caring a bright, lively, talkative 18-month old when she got her MMR vaccine. By the end of the week, I noticed that her talking was almost down to zero. Within a few months she was tested by a Special Services team from the state and it was discovered that her verbal skills were slightly less than 6 months below normal. (Six months is the cut-off for getting Special Services therapy.) In all other areas, she was fine. We went to art museums; read 20 library books together each week; did science experiments; baked cookies; but the road back to her verbal communications was slow.

(Ironically, if this child had developed autism after the MMR vaccine all my suspicions of a link to the vaccine would have been discounted by professionals. I would have joined the chorus of parents who believe there is a link to the vaccine but are refuted by health and insurance professionals at every turn. But she didn’t develop autism. All I knew was that right after receiving the MMR vaccine, something bad happened to her verbal skills.)

From 18 months to 4 years, she was periodically tested by Special Services and at 4 years she was given extensive testing; no problems were found with verbal skills; the case file was closed; and she entered kindergarten a bright, happy, talkative 5-year old. End of story. But.....

Her antibody titer level was tested before she was given the mandatory MMR booster at 4 years and it was discovered she was at the immune level for measles; meaning that even without the booster vaccine, she still had an immunity to the disease.

Fast forward to her brother who is 3 years younger. When he was ready for his first MMR vaccine at 18 months his mom demanded to have his antibody titer level tested. He also had a titer level which showed immunity to measles. His mom was able to find another pediatrician who gave the vaccine unbundled (3 shots over 3 visits) and he never received the measles part of the vaccine. When he was four years old and ready for his MMR booster, his titer level was tested again. It was still at the immune level for measles.

Unfortunately, this is not a Hollywood movie where we can tie the ends together but here are some things I wonder about:

1. Their mom’s OB/GYN tested her before she became pregnant and discovered that she did not have an immunity to rubella. He gave her the MMR vaccine. Did she pass immunity on to both children in utero?

2. Is it possible that a lot of children have the high antibody titer level of immunity at birth, passed on from their mothers, many of whom get the MMR vaccine again at college during a measles/German measles outbreak? These children at 18 months get a double whammy of protection with their own MMR vaccine. Could that affect their systems and cause damage? (Remember the 1st Bush’s invasion into Iraq when the soldiers were complaining about health problems - Gulf War Syndrome - due to all the vaccines they received?)

3. Do we know the effect of double/triple doses of immunity from vaccines in the body - especially tiny bodies? We don’t tell people: Take as much of this medicine as you want; more is always better. We have limits on dosage for over-the-counter and prescription medication. Why would vaccines be different?

4. New Jersey has an Antibody Titer Law. A little girl named Holly Stavola died 7 days after receiving the MMR booster from encephalopathy. No one can alleviate the sadness of losing a child but her parents took action and got this law passed. The law allows parents to seek testing to determine a child’s immunity to measles, mumps, and rubella, before receiving the second dose of the vaccine. And most importantly, the state brochure informs parents that: If a person has developed a sufficient level of antibodies, they may not need the second dose of vaccine. (Here’s the law: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2002/Bills/PL03/257_.PDF)

5. While the NJ Antibody Titer Law is a good first step. The next step must be to allow antibody titer testing before the first MMR vaccine.

6. As I understand it, it's getting more difficult to get the MMR vaccine unbundled. Why not have the unbundled vaccine as an option? That’s how it used to be done. It won’t harm the children. It may harm the profits.

Autism is not like getting a bad cold; it can be a lifetime of hell.

I don’t know the answers but I know we must start asking the right questions.