This clip from the Today Show after Robert DeNiro pulled a movie from the Tribeca Film Festival supporting the DISPROVEN CLAIM of a relationship between Autism and Childhood Vaccines is interesting, but does not go far enough to reassure parents about the safety of childhood vaccines and the overwhelming evidence of NO RELATIONSHIP to vaccines as a cause of Autism.
Although Autism is real, many studies have FAILED to identify a relationship to vaccines or to thimersal, a preservative which is now removed from almost all childhood vaccines. In this video clip, one hears about the same frequency of Autism in children who receive vaccines accoding to the recommended effective vaccine schedule AND children who receive vaccines in a staggered and drawn out administration schedule. But the clip does NOT make the point, that children remain UNPROTECTED from childhood diseases when given immunizations in a delayed or deferred immunization schedule.
Clearly parents of Autistic children are looking for the cause of their children's different development, as well they should. So is Medical Science. We are fortunate in Atlanta to have one of the facilites funded to continue this improtant research_The Marcus Autism Center.
The makers of the movie pulled by DeNiro present a theory of cause for Autism that was reported based on falsified research data. The original published article was retracted years later. The author of the original biased discredited article was rebuked by the scientific community and lost his medical license in Great Britain. Much research has been done since the original article by different authors, published in different journals, reviewed by many different scientist and all show NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VACCINES & AUTISM. Yet the public remains fearful of vaccines and a growing number of children are inadequaletly immunized putting all children and the community in general at risk of preventable diseases.
Bottom line: if parents are concerned about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, please discuss your concerns with your doctors and don't forget to discuss as well the diseases that vaccines are designed to prevent.
Dr. T