![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I just can't deal with people who parrot the "vaccines cause autism" BS any more. There's no evidence. None. At least, not any that comes from a reputable, peer reviewed source. I got accused of not having any empathy because I don't believe parental sob stories. (I don't believe they're lying; I believe they're making connections that aren't there. I've actually seen stories on boards where you go back and see how the timeline's been compressed.)
Hannah Poling was not an admission of guilt. She had a mitochondrial disorder that was aggravated by vaccines--a rare but plausible problem. (Doctors normally advise against vaccination for children with mito.) Moreover, getting compensation from VICP (something else which is often cited) does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A lawyer described the burden of proof as "50% and a feather".
Wakefield has been discredited. Thimerosal (previously fingered as the culprit) has been removed from all vaccinations other than the flu shot since 2001, and autism rates have continued to rise.
The top cause for the "autism epidemic" is that the goalposts have moved. More children are assessed and more are diagnosed. Today, I would be sent for assessment and probably diagnosed as having mild Asperger's. Diagnosis of other learning disabilities has gone down. If your child is having any difficulty in school, it is to your and their benefit to have them assessed and diagnosed in order to obtain help. The system is biased in favour of diagnosis. So why are we surprised when that is, in fact, what happens?
MMR rates have dropped since the Wakefield brouhaha--but autism rates have increased, not decreased.
On top of that there are the American-centric claims that just drive me mad. It isn't a "Big Pharma"/government conspiracy. The UK has an entirely different system (doctors are not marketed to in the same way; vaccines and schedules are decided on by the NHS) and trends here are the same.
Hannah Poling was not an admission of guilt. She had a mitochondrial disorder that was aggravated by vaccines--a rare but plausible problem. (Doctors normally advise against vaccination for children with mito.) Moreover, getting compensation from VICP (something else which is often cited) does not require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A lawyer described the burden of proof as "50% and a feather".
Wakefield has been discredited. Thimerosal (previously fingered as the culprit) has been removed from all vaccinations other than the flu shot since 2001, and autism rates have continued to rise.
The top cause for the "autism epidemic" is that the goalposts have moved. More children are assessed and more are diagnosed. Today, I would be sent for assessment and probably diagnosed as having mild Asperger's. Diagnosis of other learning disabilities has gone down. If your child is having any difficulty in school, it is to your and their benefit to have them assessed and diagnosed in order to obtain help. The system is biased in favour of diagnosis. So why are we surprised when that is, in fact, what happens?
MMR rates have dropped since the Wakefield brouhaha--but autism rates have increased, not decreased.
On top of that there are the American-centric claims that just drive me mad. It isn't a "Big Pharma"/government conspiracy. The UK has an entirely different system (doctors are not marketed to in the same way; vaccines and schedules are decided on by the NHS) and trends here are the same.