Redwood said. "That’s five times the allowable level for mercury. Research studies of children in the Faroe Islands whose mothers were eating mercury-contaminated seafood during pregnancy reported blood levels of 15 to 30 micrograms at birth, resulting in developmental delay. So I started looking at all the diagnostic markers for autism and found all those diagnostic markers to mercury. Looking back at it now, my son’s symptoms for mercury poisoning were classic. My husband’s a physician and he didn’t see it, and I’m a nurse practitioner, but I had never seen a child with mercury poisoning." 

Thimerosal – scientifically associated with a number of neurological disorders including autism, attention deficit disorder, speech delays and tics – was originally determined to be dangerous and was recommended to be withdrawn from nonprescription products by FDA experts in 1982, Redwood said. Some manufacturers dropped it; others didn’t. In 1998, thimerosal was banned for use in over-the-counter products by the FDA, yet it continues to be used in some pediatric vaccines. 

Redwood and the Coalition for Safe Minds filed a petition Oct. 24 in Washington’s federal district court to obtain an immediate recall of all pediatric vaccines containing thimerosal or other toxic mercury compounds. She has written several research papers on mercury toxicity, and the Washington Post published a column by Marguerite Kelly on Nov. 1 that discussed the need for mercury-free vaccines. 

~ Nancy Devine Imagine living in a world where fluorescent lights scream like chainsaws, sunlight pierces like a laser and visual images shatter into fragments. More than half a million Americans live in some variation of that red-alert, anxiety-filled world – those individuals diagnosed with autism or some form of pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) that usually appears during the first three years of life. Autism is a complex developmental disability that affects normal brain development, according to the Autism Society of America.

Several related disorders are grouped together under PDD, all characterized by severe and pervasive impairment in social interaction and communication skills. The disability, which may be mild or severe, is four times more prevalent in boys, and about 75 percent of affected individuals test in the range of mental retardation. Those who test above normal I.Q. are called "high functioning" and may hold jobs. No cause, no cure The prevalence rate for autism, estimated by the CDC to affect one in 500 individuals, has escalated at an alarming rate in certain regions, where increases of up to one in 150 individuals have been reported. 

Health experts have responded with more studies and treatments for a disorder with no proven cause or cure, even as existing services for developmentally disabled patients are overwhelmed. Scientists and parents are pursuing every possible connection or treatment that could pinpoint a cause or relieve painful symptoms for children who have become profoundly isolated and unable to respond to others. 

"We have several medical intervention studies, one of which is a double-blind placebo control study of children within the PDD spectrum taking risperidone, which is approved for adults for problems such as inattention, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior or aggressive and self-injurious behavior," said Kathy Koenig, MSN, an associate research scientist at Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, Conn. 

"We also have social skills intervention studies because early training can help these children, and one new study is on explicit explanations of eye contact skills, turn-taking in conversation and others. Any improvement is progress." Autism is treated with speech/language therapy, physical therapy, sensory integration, occupational therapy, applied behavior analysis, medications and dietary interventions, but more research is needed to determine the most effective treatments for each disability. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial. 

Researching a reason Many experts are looking for possible biomarkers in blood or genes that could indicate a child’s predisposition to autism, while others are examining levels of medications or chemicals that may be involved in triggering the disability to cause the increase in prevalence. "Very often, autism develops after a series of vaccines, or maternal measles, or a series of antibiotics for infections – these things tend to precede the diagnosis," said Sharla Perel, MS, OT, who has worked with autistic children at P.S. 77 in Borough Park, N.Y., for 10 years.

"There’s enough evidence for correlation that one has to look at these things." One team developed the Defeat Autism Now protocol, a guide for parents and practitioners to reduce food allergies, mineral deficiencies, yeast overgrowth and medication toxicities that, when eliminated, have helped autistic individuals progress, according to Maureen McDonnell, RN, owner and director of Health Education Services in Pennington, N.J. Another group has identified a preservative in some pediatric vaccines, thimerosal, as a trigger for autism. Thimerosal contains 49.6 percent mercury by weight and has been scientifically associated with a number of neurological disorders including autism, attention deficit disorder, speech delays and tics, said Lyn Redwood, MSN, FNP, president of the Coalition for Safe Minds in Tyrone, Ga. "We feel strongly this epidemic has been the result of mercury exposure," Redwood said. 

In 1998, parents and physicians launched the Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental N Disorders Institute in Davis because they believed a possible link existed between environmental contributions and neurodevelopmental disorders. The institute received $34 million from the state of California in June to pursue 19 studies, which now are under way. 

"Estimates from the NIH show that 17 percent to 29 percent of all American children have neurodevelopmental disorders," said David Amaral, Ph.D., professor at the UC Davis department of psychiatry. 

"I’m a neuroscientist, not an immunologist, and it might be environmental exposure or some change in 
pediatric care policy, but we’re facing an incredible lack of knowledge. 

"It’s a win-win to conduct the vaccine study in a neutral way. If investigations show a clear link 
between vaccines and autism, then we could prevent future cases," said Amaral, who is also the 
institute’s research director. "If, conversely, we can’t demonstrate a link, that would be reassuring to 
parents." 

Meanwhile, autistic children can greatly benefit from applied behavior analysis at schools like the ABC School in Sacramento. 

"We use a set of principles to reinforce specific behaviors," said Michelle Williams-Wenell, ABC 
school public relations and development specialist. "Our data shows that 40 percent of the kids who 
come here before the age of 4 years and 1 month have gone on to full-inclusion settings." 

============================================================== 
6.) Dangers Of Mercury 
============================================================== 
Source: Thimerosal-autism-Symptoms.com 

Mercury is the second most toxic element on earth to plutonium. Toxicity of mercury has been linked 
to many different diseases, including autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, 
fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, depression, and bipolar disorder. The amount 
of mercury found in one mercury thermometer is enough to pollute a small lake. 

Health effects of mercury toxicity have been a concern because of the potential for it to act as apoison. Toxic doses of mercury can cause developmental effects in the fetus, as well as affecting thekidney and the nervous system in children and adults. Mercury exists in a number of differentchemical forms, each one consisting of different levels of toxicity. The forms of mercury can also beconverted from one to another in the environment and in the body, so symptoms caused by mercurypoisoning depends on the precise chemical forms involved. 

Mercury can be toxic when inhaled, eaten, or when placed on the skin. Low concentrations ofmercury may appear to have no effect but signs of toxicity can develop later or become morenoticeable with continued exposure. When toxicity in humans takes place loss of feeling or a burningsensation in arms and legs, psychological effects, loss of memory, loss of vision, loss of hearing,paralysis, congenital malformations, kidney toxicity, and death may occur. Prenatal toxicity can resultin a child with normal appearance at birth but who later exhibits a developmental delay in the abilityto walk and/or talk. Because of the long latent period for observable effects, the need for treatmentmay be recognized too late. 

Health effects vary according to the amount of mercury exposure is taken into the body. The healthrisks of mercury at low levels of exposure remain uncertain, but this continues to be a highlydebatable topic with ongoing scientific investigation. Fetuses, infants and small children appear to beparticularly sensitive to mercury because their brains are still developing. Vaccines with mercury havebeen considered to contribute to autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s Disease, and otherneurological conditions, and an FDA review conducted in 1998 determined that, at the time, childrenwho received the full complement of childhood vaccines were potentially exposed to levels ofmercury that were sometimes 30 to 50 times the acceptable levels established by the EPA. 

High-level exposures to mercury can cause serious effects or even be lethal. Several historicalexamples of epidemic mercury poisonings in other parts of the world provide classic examples ofinvestigative epidemiology and toxicology and serve to highlight the reasons why regulators areconcerned about mercury. Effects on the brain and nervous system are frequently seen withhigh-level exposures to mercury and can be quite severe. 


============================================================== 
7.) Secret CDC vaccine study Thimerosal an autism risk 
============================================================== 
Source: whale.to 

AUTISM FIRST STEPS 
AUTISM DAILY NEWSLETTER 
Thursday January 3, 2002 
SPECIAL EDITION 


An unreleased confidential report by Center's for Disease Control (CDC) scientists reveals thatexposure to significant amounts of mercury during the first months of life significantly increases achild's risk of developing autism, according to an attorney with the law firm of Walters & Kraus. Thefirm is a part of a coalition of law firms, representing families in at least 25 states, that has filedlawsuits in an attempt to force drug companies to investigate the possible link between mercury anddevelopmental disorders.

Attorney Andy Walters says that the unreleased CDC report, obtained by the SAFEMINDSadvocacy group, found a 2.48 times increased risk of autism in children exposed to more then 62.5micrograms of mercury before they were 3 months of age. In a press release, Walters and Krausnotes that "in the United States, courts of law have generally held that a relative increased risk of 2.0or higher is sufficient to substantiate that a given exposure causes disease." Walters says that in manyof the cases that his firm has evaluated, autistic children have received more than 62.5 micrograms ofmercury through pediatric vaccines. 

A report made public by the CDC in the fall claimed that the thimerosal, the mercury containingpreservative used in many vaccines, could not be linked to autism, while calling on Physicians to avoid thimerosal containing vaccines when possible. However, according to Walters & Kraus, theconfidential CDC report states: "As for the exposure evaluated at 3 months of age, we foundincreasing risks of "neurological developmental disorders" with increasing cumulative exposure tothimerosal... within the group of "developmental disorders"... for the subgroup called "specificdelays," and within the this subgroup for the specific disorder "developmental speech disorder," andfor "autism" "stuttering" and "attention deficit disorder". 

Walters says the report's contents, and the fact that it was kept secret, are "shocking, butunfortunately not surprising, given the political influence of pharmaceutical companies and thetremendous liability they face if they are forced to compensate thousands of families for the costs ofcare that these children require". 

Press Release, Walters & Kraus, 2001 

****************************** 
PRESS RELEASE 

An announcement was made today by the law firm of Waters & Kraus, the firm that filed the firstknown lawsuit alleging that a mercury preservative in children's vaccines caused neurological damageto an infant ultimately diagnosed with autism. Waters & Kraus is leading a consortium of ten firms inas many states that are actively prosecuting cases of this nature (firms listed below). Andy Waters,the lead attorney in the cases, announced that his firm is now in possession of a previouslyunreleased confidential report authored by Centers for Disease Control scientists which studiedautism as a potential neurological injury caused by mercury in children's vaccines. A different versionof the report was made public and has been cited by the recent Institute of Medicine study asinconclusive on the issue of whether the mercury-based vaccine preservative known as Thimerosalhas contributed to cause a nationwide epidemic of regressive autism and other neurological disordersin small children. The confidential version of the study, however, clearly demonstrated that anexposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury within the first three months of life significantlyincreased a child's risk of developing autism.

Specifically, the study found a 2.48 times increasedrisk of autism _ that is to say, children with the exposure were more than twice as likely to developautism as children not exposed. Click here to view the full report. (27 pages formatted in TIFF) Inthe United States, courts of law have generally held that a relative increased risk of 2.0 or higher issufficient to substantiate that a given exposure causes disease. As but one example, in the case ofCook v. United States, 545 F.Supp. 306, at 308 (Northern District _ California 1982) the Courtstated that, "in a vaccine case, a relative risk greater than 2.0 establishes that there is a greater than50% chance that the injury was caused by the vaccine." Waters indicated that, in many of the caseshis firm has evaluated, including the case filed in a Texas state court on behalf of the Counter family,the affected child received more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury through pediatric vaccines in thefirst three months of life.

The confidential report, which was obtained by the SAFEMINDS supportand advocacy group, states: "As for the exposure evaluated at 3 months of age, we found increasingrisks of 'neurological developmental disorders' with increasing cumulative exposure to thimerosal ...within the group of 'developmental disorders'... for the sub_group called 'specific delays,' and withinthis sub_group for the specific disorder 'developmental speech disorder,' and for 'autism,' 'stuttering'and 'attention deficit disorder.'"

The report also contained the graph depicted below which illustratedthe report's findings of a child's increasing risk of developing the neurological symptoms of autismafter receiving increasing amounts of thimerosal.Graph 3: Relative risk 95 % CI of Autism afterdifferent exposure levels of thimerosal at 3 months of age, NCK & GHCWaters pointed out that theconfidential study's lead author, Thomas Verstraeten, has since left the Centers for Disease Controland is now employed by GlaxoSmithKline, a manufacturer of thimerosal_containing vaccines formany years that is a defendant in numerous suits pending nationwide. "We have askedGlaxoSmithKline to provide Mr. Verstraeten's deposition in order to understand if conflict of interestissues may have played a role in the CDC's decision to keep this report confidential, and specifically, their failure to reveal it to the Institute of Medicine."Waters called the report's contents and the fact 

that it was kept from the public as "shocking, but unfortunately not surprising, given the political  influence of pharmaceutical companies and the tremendous liability they face if they are forced to  compensate thousands of families for the costs of care that these children require." Waters added  that "no amount of money can give these children back the potential that they were born with, and no  amount of money will comfort the parents that watched helplessly as their children literally just  slipped away." The purpose of the lawsuits his firm is currently prosecuting, said Waters, is "to bring  to the surface the truth on this issue, a truth that government agencies seem unwilling to admit,  perhaps for fear that parents will stop vaccinating their children, and to force the companies that  profited from this disastrous mistake to shoulder the responsibility that so many families now bear on  their own, often without even the aid of health insurance benefits."

Media inquiries should be  directed to Melissa Miles at 214-357-6244.Client inquiries should be directed to Victoria Gibson,  toll-free at 1-866-829-7529, or to the firms listed below.Other firms working with Waters & Kraus  to prosecute individual cases involving thimerosal exposure are:

ANDERSON & KRIGER,  APLC40925 County Center Drive, Suite 210Temecula, California 92591Telephone:  909.296.5090DOGAN & WILKINSON726 Delmas AvenuePascagoula, Mississippi  39567Telephone: 228.762.2272 DORAN & MURPHY, LLP1234 Delaware AvenueBuffalo, New  York 14209Telephone: 716.884.2000EVERT & WEATHERSBY, L.L.C.3405 Piedmont Road,  Suite 225Atlanta, Georgia 30305-1764Telephone : 404.233.8718HENDRICKSON & LONG214  Capital StreetP.O. Box 11070Charleston, W. VA 25339Telephone: 304.346.5500JONES,  MARTIN, PARRIS, &TESSENER LAW OFFICES, PLLC410 Glenwood Ave., Suite  200Raleigh, North Carolina 27603Telephone: 919.821.0005LEACH, SCHWARZ  &STRASSBERG11 Bala Ave.Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania 19004Telephone:  610.668.7964MARTZELL & BICKFORD338 Lafayette StreetNew Orleans, Louisianna  70130Telephone: 504.581.90653555 College AvenueWISE & JULIAN, PC3555 College  AvenueAlton, Illinois 62002Telephone: 618.462.2600 

To View this CDC Unreleased reportit will be found in the 2nd paragraph: click on the link that  states: Click here to view the full report (27 pages formatted in TIFF) or click below  Mercury - Autism Links 
This story and the link listed above is found here at:  https// www.autismfraud.com/00000121,tiff

Link to the Never Released CDC Report: 

https// www.autismfraud.com/00000121.tiff 

============================================================== 
8.) The FDA REPORT ABOUT VACCINES AND AUTISM 
============================================================== 

STATEMENT BY 
KAREN MIDTHUN, M.D., DIRECTOR 
OFFICE OF VACCINES RESEARCH AND REVIEW 
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICS EVALUATION AND RESEARCH 
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION 
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 
BEFORE THE 
COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM 
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 26, 2001 
INTRODUCTION 


Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am Karen Midthun, M.D., Director, Office of  Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR), Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at  the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency). OVRR regulates the development and  licensure of vaccines. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in this hearing on autism and to  respond to the Committee's concerns regarding a potential link between vaccines and autism. It is  important to note that to date, the existing data do not demonstrate a causal relationship between  vaccines and autism. Nevertheless, we want to assure this Committee, the public, and, especially the  parents that are here today, that FDA takes these concerns very seriously and we want to explain  FDA's ongoing efforts in response to the issue of vaccines and autism. 

Childhood vaccines have contributed to a significant reduction of vaccine-preventable diseases,  (e.g., polio, measles, and whooping cough). In fact, vaccine preventable infectious diseases are at an  all-time low and now it is rare for American children to experience the devastating effects of these  illnesses. Before vaccines were routinely administered, there were over 175,000 cases of diphtheria  annually (1920-22), over 147,000 cases of pertussis (1922-25), and over 503,000 cases of  measles (1951-54) reported in the United States (U.S.). These diseases have essentially  disappeared in countries with high vaccination coverage, such as the U.S. Up until 1985 and the  introduction of an infant vaccine, an estimated 20,000 cases of invasive Haemophilus type b disease,  primarily meningitis, occurred annually in the U.S. Now, because of vaccination, the number of cases  of invasive Haemophilus b disease has been decreased by more than 98 percent. All of the diseases  mentioned above were associated with significant mortality and morbidity. 
BACKGROUND 

Like all products regulated by FDA, vaccines undergo a rigorous review of laboratory and clinical  data by highly trained scientists and clinicians to help ensure the safety, purity, and potency of these  products. From an FDA regulatory perspective, there are four stages in vaccine development: the  pre-investigational new drug (IND) stage (before the product is used in people), the IND stage  (where human use occurs under limited study conditions), the license application stage for vaccines  (where FDA reviews the results of the clinical studies and the manufacturing process), and the  post-licensure stage (following approval of the product for marketing). 

A sponsor seeks licensure of a complete product as it is formulated for use, not of individual  components. Evidence of any acute toxicity from the use of an investigational drug, including  vaccines, is included in safety data from human clinical studies, as required under Title 21, Code of  Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 312. If any ingredient or ingredients causes acute toxicity, the  pre-market safety data would most likely indicate acute toxicity from use of the vaccine product.  Such data, however, generally would not show whether any particular ingredient or combination of  ingredients is the source of toxicity. 

Like other approved drug and licensed biological products, vaccines licensed for marketing may also  be required to undergo additional, Phase IV, studies to further evaluate the vaccine or to address  specific questions about the vaccine. For example, the manufacturer of Varicella Virus Vaccine  committed to perform a post-licensure study with fifteen years of safety follow-up. These studies will  provide information about the effects of the vaccine in a population larger than that exposed during  clinical trials. If additional side effects are identified during the post-marketing phase, either pursuant  to adverse event reports filed by health care providers or consumers, or pursuant to Phase IV  studies, FDA would take appropriate regulatory action to protect the public health such as, among  other options, changing the product's labeling information to reflect the possible side effects, or, in  cases of imminent or substantial hazard to the public health, ordering a recall of the product. 

Because of the complex manufacturing processes for most biological products, each product  undergoes thorough laboratory testing for purity, potency, identity, and sterility. Manufacturers may  release lots only after this testing is documented. FDA may require lot samples and protocols  showing results of applicable tests to be submitted for review, and where appropriate, further testing  by FDA. The lot release program is part of our multi-part strategy that helps ensure product safety  by providing a quality control check on product specifications. 
Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System 

Licensure of all vaccines marketed in the U.S. is based on a benefit-to-risk analysis of the safety and  efficacy data submitted by sponsors to FDA. During the pre-market review process, manufacturers  and FDA focus on identifying and understanding risks before an overall risk-benefit decision can be  made on the product's licensure. When using any drug or medical product, a patient runs the risk of  experiencing reactions. For pharmaceuticals, including vaccines, these reactions are commonly  termed "side effects." They usually are identified in clinical trials conducted before licensure and are  described in a product's labeling. Known side effects, discovered in the course of clinical trials, upon  which a product's licensure or approval is based, comprise the majority of reported adverse events  after licensure. 

Like all other medical products, vaccines are not entirely risk-free. While serious complications are  rare, they can occur. Vaccines are unique medical products in that they are generally administered to  a large number of healthy individuals, primarily children. Therefore, it is very important to identify  even rare adverse reactions. CBER and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  jointly manage the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a cooperative program for  vaccine safety. VAERS is a post-marketing safety surveillance program that collects information  about adverse events that occur after the administration of U.S. licensed vaccines. An "event" is  simply an outcome. However, any outcome that an individual, whether a health care provider or a  consumer, believes may have resulted from the administration of a vaccine may be reported to  VAERS. Such report will be included in the system, regardless of whether there appears to be a  causal relation to the vaccine. Under FDA regulations, 21 CFR, Subpart D - Reporting Adverse  Experiences, section 600.80, licensed vaccine manufacturers must report to FDA adverse  experience information, and establish and maintain records. 

It should be emphasized that adverse event reports can be made by anyone, including health care  professionals, patients, and parents. If a patient's physician does not file a VAERS report, the patient  can do so. FDA protects the confidentiality of patients for whom an adverse event has been  reported. FDA encourages individuals to report to VAERS any clinically significant adverse event  occurring after the administration of any vaccine licensed in the U.S. Individuals who want to make a  report to VAERS can call VAERS at a toll-free number, 1-800-822-7967, to obtain a reporting  form. Forms and reporting instructions also are available on the Internet at  www.fda.gov/cber/vaers.html and at www.vaers.org. 

Follow-up Study of VAERS Autism Reports 

FDA has taken seriously VAERS reports of developmental delay following vaccination and wants to  assure the public that the Agency is researching any possible relationship between vaccines and  autism. CBER proposes to conduct a follow-up study of VAERS reports of autism. As part of the  study, CBER, in conjunction with outside autism experts, will review available medical records and  develop an interview questionnaire for parents and others who have reported autism after  vaccinations. The goal of the interviews is to gather information about demographics, clinical  features, potential risk factors, family history, vaccines administered, time interval from vaccination to  autism onset, rapidity of symptom onset, and interval from diagnosis to submission of reports.  Though this study cannot determine whether vaccines cause autism, it might suggest hypotheses that  could be further evaluated in subsequent controlled, epidemiologic studies. 

Autism-related Laboratory Activities  FDA is actively pursuing research involving the characterization and development of the first  virus-induced animal model for autism - Borna disease virus (BDV) infection of the neonatal rat.  There is no direct evidence for any relationship between BDV infection and human autism. However,  BDV is used as the environmental damaging agent because it infects the brain of newborn rats. It is  important to note that BDV is not a cause of autism. The damage it does and the disease syndrome it  produces in rats are used only as a "model" to study general biological principles of autism. The  features of this model, which FDA scientists have developed over the past ten years, have excellent  correlation with what is known about human autism including neuroanatomical, behavioral, and  neurochemical correlations. This model is being used in laboratories throughout the U.S. and  internationally. 

Thimerosal 

FDA, together with other U.S. public health agencies, recognizes and supports the goal of reducing  exposure to mercury from all sources. Consistent with this goal, FDA has encouraged manufacturers  for several years to develop new vaccines without thimerosal as a preservative and to remove or  reduce the thimerosal content of existing, licensed vaccines. This joint effort by manufacturers and  FDA is reflected by the licensure of thimerosal-free products such as Comvax [Haemophilus b  Conjugate Vaccine and Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) manufactured by Merck & Company,  Inc.], licensed October 2, 1996, Infanrix [Diphtheria and Tetanus Toxoids and Acellular Pertussis  (DTaP) manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline], licensed January 29, 1997, and Prevnar  (Pneumococcal 7-valent Conjugate Vaccine manufactured by Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines and  Pediatrics), licensed on February 17, 2000, and the removal or reduction of thimerosal from  previously licensed products. 

In response to section 413 of the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) of  1997, FDA conducted a review of the use of thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Our review revealed  no evidence of harm caused by thimerosal used as a preservative in vaccines, except for local  hypersensitivity reactions. Under the U.S. recommended childhood immunization schedule, the  maximum cumulative exposure to mercury from thimerosal, at the time of this review in 1999, was  within acceptable limits for the methyl mercury exposure set by FDA, the Agency for Toxic  Substances and Disease Registry, and the World Health Organization. Of note, such guidelines  contain safety margins and are meant as starting points for evaluation of mercury exposure, not  absolute levels above which toxicity can be expected to occur. However, the maximum cumulative  exposure level exceeded the more conservative limits of the Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA). The clinical significance of exceeding EPA's limits is not currently known. 

Nevertheless, reducing exposure to mercury from vaccines is warranted. This is achievable, in part,  because it is possible in the U.S. to replace multi-dose vials with single dose vials, which do not  require a preservative.  We are pleased to be able to report substantial progress in the effort to reduce thimerosal exposure 

from vaccines. At this time, all routinely recommended licensed pediatric vaccines that are currently  being manufactured for the U.S. market, contain no thimerosal or contain only trace amounts of  thimerosal. The vaccines with trace amount of thimerosal licensed to date contain less than 0.5  micrograms of mercury per dose, that is, a given dose of vaccine contains less than 1 part per  million. 
Our efforts over approximately the past year and a half to accomplish this goal include the licensure  of a thimerosal free Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant) manufactured by Merck and Company in  August 1999. FDA licensed another hepatitis B vaccine with trace amounts of thimerosal,  manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline in March 2000. A supplement for a new formulation of Aventis  Pasteur's DTaP Vaccine with only a trace amount of thimerosal was approved in March 2001.  Additionally, Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines and Pediatrics now only markets a single-dose,  thimerosal-free formulation of its Haemophilus b Conjugate Vaccine in the U.S. 

Therefore, all routinely recommended U.S. licensed pediatric vaccines are now available in either  thimerosal-free formulations or in formulations that contain only trace amounts of thimerosal. The  routinely recommended vaccines include hepatitis B Vaccine, Haemophilus b Conjugate Vaccine,  Measles Mumps and Rubella Vaccine, Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, DTaP Vaccine,  Inactivated Polio Vaccine, and Varicella Vaccine. Prior to the recent initiative to reduce or eliminate  thimerosal from childhood vaccines, the maximum cumulative exposure to mercury via routine  childhood vaccinations during the first six months of life was 187.5 micrograms. With the newly  formulated vaccines, the maximum cumulative exposure during the first six months of life will now be  less than three micrograms of mercury; this represents a greater than 98 percent reduction in the  amount of mercury a child would receive from vaccines in the first six months of life. 

Thimerosal and the National Toxicology Program  The National Toxicology Program (NTP) was established in 1978 by the Secretary of the  Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS or the Department) to coordinate toxicology  research and testing activities within the Department, to provide information about potentially toxic  chemicals to regulatory and research agencies and the public, and to strengthen the science base in  toxicology. The NTP has become a world leader in designing, conducting, and interpreting animal  assays for toxicity and/or carcinogenicity. 

NTP uses a chemical nomination and selection process as a means to best use its resources with  respect to the testing of chemicals of greatest health concern. Member agencies of the NTP,  including FDA, are the primary sources of nominations to the NTP. Because of the continued  interest on the part of the public, as well as public health agencies, to better characterize the potential  toxicity that could have accompanied an exposure to thimerosal from vaccines, FDA is in the  process of nominating thimerosal to the NTP for further study to adequately assess gaps in  knowledge regarding, among other things, neurodevelopmental toxicity. 

CONCLUSION 

Vaccines provide a great public health benefit in reducing or eliminating vaccine preventable  diseases. Like all medical products, there are risks with vaccines and FDA is committed to  continuing its efforts to ensure the safety of vaccines. We have worked diligently with manufacturers  to eliminate or reduce exposure to mercury from thimerosal in vaccines. As stated previously, all  licensed vaccines currently being manufactured for the U.S. market that are on the routine childhood  immunization schedule have formulations that are thimerosal-free or contain only trace amounts of  thimerosal. Although no causal relationship between vaccines and autism has been established, FDA,  along with other DHHS agencies, continues to pursue research activities to increase our  understanding of any relationship between vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders. 

We thank you for your leadership in this area. I would be happy to answer any questions you might  have. 
============================================================== 
9.) Vaccines, Mercury Toxicity and Skyrocketing Autism: 2002 Update Report 
============================================================== 
Source: tetrahedron.org 

by Ingri Cassel-Harkins 

Dear Friends: 

Please read the following three articles that should make it very clear why the concept of "safer" 
vaccines is an oxymoron (i.e., the 2 words that basically are recited together are oppositional and 
"make no sense.") We need to be clear when we communicate to others that: 

1. all "vaccine preventable" diseases are not scary; most well fed and cared-for children and adults  recover from them with natural immunity (immunity that lasts a lifetime) provided they are not already  "immune compromised" by nutritional and hygienic neglect and abuse. 

2. Most vaccines use thimerosal in the manufacturing process and this is not always mentioned in the  package insert of ingredients. In fact, if the vaccine is thimerosal-free, they often double the amount  of other adjuvants such as aluminum phosphate (or other "activating" ingredients which are often  heavy metals.) 
3. Vaccines are toxic and we are experiencing skyrocketing epidemics of disabled and neurologically 
impaired children because of them. Now more than ever before. ~The damage to the entire human 
genome of this grand and coerced medical experimentation is unparalleled in history and catastrophic 
to our survival as a species. 

Source: https// www.autismsocietyofberks.org/pages/news.html

California has just experienced the  largest quarterly increase in the number of new cases of level one autism in it's history. According to  DDS, between July 6, 2001, and October 4, 2001, a record number 705 new cases of DSM IV  autism entered California's developmental services system. As with all of DDS's autism case growth  reporting, the 705 new cases do NOT include other autism spectrum disorders such as PDD, NOS,  Asperger's, etc. The 2001 Third Quarter report represents a 54% increase over year prior, and  shows that autism accounts for 8 new children entering the system PER DAY. In October 2000  level one autism accounted for 28% of the total number of all new intakes (autism, cerebral palsy,  mental retardation, epilepsy, and conditions similar to mental retardation). Now in October 2001  level one autism accounted for 36% of all new intakes. California's numbers are significant because  they are one of the few states to actually track, record and report. Source: California Department of  Developmental Services (DDS). read the full text at https// www.feat.org 

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LAWYERS CLAIM CDC COOKED BOOKS ON MERCURY; SECRET REPORT  REVEALED A leading vaccine injury law group announced today that their firm is now in  possession of an unreleased confidential report authored by Centers for Disease Control scientists  which studied autism as a potential neurological injury caused by mercury in children's vaccines. An  announcement was made by the law firm of Waters & Kraus, the firm that filed the first known  lawsuit alleging that a mercury preservative in children's vaccines caused neurological damage to an  infant ultimately diagnosed with autism. Andy Waters, the lead attorney in the firm, warned that a  different version of the report was eventually made public and has been cited by the recent Institute  of Medicine study as inconclusive on the issue of whether the mercury-based vaccine preservative  known as thimerosal has contributed to cause a nationwide epidemic of regressive autism and other  neurological disorders in small children. The confidential version of the study, however, clearly  demonstrated that an exposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury within the first three  months of life significantly increased a child's risk of developing autism. Specifically, the study found  a 2.48 times increased risk of autism - that is to say, children with the exposure were more than  twice as likely to develop autism as children not exposed. For your own copy of the new report,  please email [email protected]. (at Waters & Kraus.) 

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another site----- source: https// forums.parenthood.com/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=55&Topic=617  (Email forum) 
We should be past the point of wasting time with claims that the amount of mercury in shots is 
"miniscule." 
Study Finds Excessive Mercury in Hair of Infants: 'Cause for Concern' 1: Neurotoxicology 2001 
Oct;22(5):691-7 

Mercury (Hg) is considered one of the world's most toxic metals. Current thinking suggests that  exposure to mercury occurs primarily from seafood contamination and rare catastrophic events.  Recently, another common source of exposure has been identified. Thimerosal (TMS), a  preservative found in many infant vaccines, contains 49.6% ethyl mercury (EtHg) by weight and  typically contributes 25 microg of EtHg per dose of infant vaccine. As part of an ongoing review, the  Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in 1999 that infants who received multiple  TMS-preserved vaccines may have been exposed to cumulative Hg in excess of Federal safety  guidelines. According to the centers for disease control (CDC) recommended immunization  schedule, infants may have been exposed to 12.5 microg Hg at birth, 62.5 microg EtHg at 2 months,  50 microg EtHg at 4 months, 62.5 microg EtHg at 6 months, and 50 microg EtHg at approximately  18 months, for a total of 237.5 microg EtHg during the first 18 months of life, if all TMS-containing  vaccines were administered. 

Neurobehavioral alterations, especially to the more susceptible fetus and infant, are known to occur  after relatively low dose exposures to organic mercury compounds. In effort, to further elucidate the  levels of ethyl mercury resulting from exposure to vaccinal TMS, we estimated hair Hg  concentrations expected to result from the recommended CDC schedule utilizing a one compartment  pharmacokinetic model. This model was developed to predict hair concentrations from acute  exposure to methymercury (MeHg) in fish. Modeled hair Hg concentrations in infants exposed to  vaccinal TMS are in excess of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) safety guidelines of 1  ppm for up to 365 days, with several peak concentrations within this period. More sensitive  individuals and those with additional sources of exposure would have higher Hg concentrations.  Given that exposure to low levels of mercury during critical stages of development has been  associated with neurological disorders in children, including ADD, learning difficulties, and speech  delays, the predicted hair Hg concentration resulting from childhood immunizations is cause for  concern. Based on these findings, the impact which vaccinal mercury has had on the health of  American children warrants further investigation. PMID: 11770890 [PubMed - in process] 

======== 
Ingri Cassel, 
President Vaccination Liberation - Idaho Chapter 
P.O. Box 1444 Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816 
(208)255-2307/ 765-8421 
[email protected] 
www.vaclib.org 

"The Right to Know, The Freedom to Abstain" 

Courtesy of Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz and Tetrahedron Publishing Group 
206 North 4th Avenue, Suite 147 Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 
https// www.tetrahedron.org 

Toll free order line: 888-508-4787; 
Office telephone: 208-265-2575; 
FAX: 208-265-2775 E-mail: [email protected] 
See also: https// www.healingcelebrations.com for vaccine injury treatment recommendations. 

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10.) Vaccine Induced Autism 
============================================================== 
Source: mercola.com 

Rick Rollens is a parent advocate who presented this testimony last week in Washington D.C. to a  packed hearing room. The immediate reaction in the room at the end of his speech was stunned  silence, reports Rick.

Mr. Chairman and Members: 

My name is Rick Rollens. I currently reside in Granite Bay, California which is located 30 miles east  of Sacramento with my wife of 23 years, Janna, and my two sons, Matthew, 13 and Russell, 8.  Thank you for inviting me to testify today. For me, this is somewhat of a homecoming. In 1973, I  had the privilege of serving on the Washington staff of former Representative Jerome Waldie of  California. Following my service in the House, I embarked upon a 23-year career of public service  with the California State Senate. Working through the ranks, I was elected by the Members of the  Senate to serve as the Secretary of the Senate until I chose to resign my position in 1996, in order to  dedicate myself to the pursuit of effective treatments and a cure for my son, Russell. 

I am here today to share with you the story of my son's case of vaccine induced autism, and to  report on the growing autism epidemic in California, and the pandemic of autism sweeping across  this country. Russell began his life as a normal, healthy, and robust child, meeting all his age  appropriate milestones. At seven months old, within 72 hours after receiving his third DPT and his  first HIB vaccinations, Russell developed a high fever and shrieked with a high wailing scream for  days. After these vaccinations, he started losing eye contact, smiling less, losing interest in people,  developed constant croup and was chronically sick. At seven months old, Russell's life had begun to  change along with the lives of all who know and love him. Within days after his first MMR  vaccination at 18 months old, Russell began his final journey into the abyss of what my wife and I  now know as autism -- losing most of his remaining skills, developing severe sleep irregularities,  chronic gastrointestinal problems, and expressing constant pain exhibited by harrowing days of  endless crying. 

Russell was officially diagnosed at two and a half years old with autism. After many months of  medical investigation of Russell's condition, including state-of-the-art brain scans, immunological,  neurological and genetic work-ups, we consulted a noted pediatric neurologist who thoroughly  examined Russell and reviewed all of Russell's medical history. He advised us that, in part, Russell's  brain dysfunction had very likely occurred as a result of some form of encephalitis, resulting in  bilateral damage to the temporal lobes of his brain. Based on the facts that we have absolutely no  family history of autism or any other type of brain disorders in our family, that he was born a normal,  healthy child. That there exists the strong temporal relationship between the timing of the DPT  vaccination he received at seven months and the onset of his autistic condition, his classic DPT  vaccine reactions, coupled with the 18 month old hit from the MMR and the subsequent  deterioration of his condition, as well as the scientific evidence that one of the many serious adverse  effects of DPT vaccine is encephalitis and brain damage, I believe that Russell is a victim of  vaccine-induced autism. 

My story is far from unique. Mr. Chairman and members, next week when you return home to your  districts, talk to your constituents, many of whom are among the growing number of parents who  have children with autism. I can assure you that you will hear first-hand accounts from those parents  about their normally developing children, about the introduction and reaction to a vaccine or multiple  complications that accompany the acquired autistic condition. The first rule of medicine is to listen to  the patient. A child born today in California will have received his first vaccination between six to  eight hours old. By the time that child is 6 months old he will have received 15 doses of vaccines  and by the age of five years old, 33 doses of vaccines. 

Vaccine contains numerous active agents such as live viruses, killed bacteria and toxic chemicals  including aluminum, mercury and formaldehyde. Where are the safety studies on the short or long  term effects of the interaction of these numerous multiple vaccines and their agents on the developing  brain and immune systems of our children? Where is the science? Many safety studies of individual  vaccines only include a few days follow-up period for reactions, but the CDC tells parents and the  news media that the onset of autism after vaccination could only be an "unrelated chance  occurrence." Show me - CDC - the science. Show me the studies Dr. Satchir. 

Is it appropriate to continue to entrust the CDC and the indemnified vaccine manufacturers with the  responsibility of guaranteeing parents of this country that these vaccines do not cause autism or other  brain disorders when these same groups are the most aggressive promoters of vaccine use? The  situation can easily be likened to charging the tobacco industry to undertake independent scientific  studies to find out if there is any relationship between lung cancer and smoking. This science on the  safety of vaccines and their relationship to the development of autism is not there. Not there  because the pleas of parents have been ignored. I suffered the ultimate betrayal of trust by blindly  allowing my child to be injected with a multitude of vaccines . . .trusting my government had made  sure that my child would not become autistic after his vaccinations. 

Responding to the outcry of parents, professionals, and educators over the concern of the rapidly  increasing number of children with autism and autism spectrum disorders, the California Legislature  and two Governors of different political parties responded within the past 12 months by requiring a  study on whether autism was increasing in the State and, after finding that there was a huge,  unexpected increase, appropriated several million dollars for independent research as well as an  independent follow-up study into the real factors causing the increase. Under the leadership of  former State Senator, now U.S. Representative Mike Thompson, last year the Legislature required  the Department of Development Services to report on the increase of autism in California from  1987-1998. The report was released earlier this year and documents a very conservative 237%  increase in the number of new children with autism entering the developmental services system; 1685  new children last year alone when incidence projection would have predicted 105 - 263 new  children. 

The report led the Los Angeles Times to declare that the state has an epidemic of autistic children.  We all know there is no such thing as a genetic disease epidemic, so clearly other factors are  involved. According to the Department, from January 6 to July 7 of this year, 1,027 new children  were added to the system; which means that California alone added on average six new autistic  children a day, seven days a week . . .or one new child every four hours! Besides the immeasurable  human cost on child and family, the thousands of autistic children already in our system along with  these 1,027 new children are, according to the Department, going to cost the taxpayers of California  and the country a minimum of $2 million each for their lifetime of care. Surely any intelligent,  thoughtful person cannot with a straight face suggest that the huge increase in one of the most easily  recognizable of all childhood disorders is all due to genetics, better recognition, or to minor changes  in the diagnostic criteria that occurred 10 years after the massive increase in autism had already  begun over two decades ago. 

Earlier this year, the national and local news media extensively covered the story of the observations  by parents in Brick Township, New Jersey that there were a lot of kids with autism in their  community. In fact, the CDC publicly announced that they had discovered a cluster of autism in  Brick was 1 in 150 children. 1 in 150 children with autism represents a prevalence rate 12 times  higher than the published prevalence rate. My family and I reside in a community approximately  three thousand miles from Brick Township, a community that is almost in every way as different from  Brick as two communities in America can be. Where we live, our children are served by a single  public elementary school district. The prevalence of autism in our elementary school district is 1 in  132 children. Mr. Chairman and Members, Brick Township, New Jersey and Granite Bay  California are not "clusters" of autism, but snapshots of what is occurring everywhere. 

Numerous parent organizations around the world, including the Autism Research Institute, the  National Vaccine Information Center, Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT), Autoimmunity  Research Project, Cure Autism Now, and Allergy Induced Autism are all constantly hearing from  scores of parents reporting vaccine-related autism. You will find these children throughout the  neighborhoods of your own districts. Vaccine policy has always been a cost-benefit proposition. I  am here to tell you today that the once numerically rare sacrificial lambs that society has been willing  to tolerate for the good of the whole could now, very likely before our eyes, be turning into herds of  casualties of the most precious resource we have - our children and grandchildren. We must act  quickly, by investing in good, independent research and science to pursue the truth about the link  between vaccines and autism. If we don't discover all the causes, we will never find a cure. Thank  you. 

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11.) Major CDC Study on Thimerosal Flawed 
============================================================== 
Author Admits Findings Incorrect 

Source: autism.about.com 

Dateline: 07/25/01 

The author of a major study of the link between Vaccinations and Developmental Disorders which is  widely quoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has admitted that the study  is inaccurate in its findings. Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, of the CDC's National Immunization Program,  is quoted as saying, "One thing is for sure, there is certainly under-ascertainment of all these  [conditions] because some of the children are just not old enough to be diagnosed." This was  confirmed by a professor who has reviewed the research. He stated that there were too few children  in the study to pick up all cases of autism. 

The study in question has been widely quoted as evidence that Autism and other Pervasive  Developmental Disorders are in no way linked to the vaccines which are routinely given to children  around the world. Now it seems this conclusion is invalid and the true relationship has yet to be  discovered. 

Additionally, it appears that the CDC is now reversing its stand. According to the Sunday Times, the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a "statistically significant" link between  mercury in vaccines and developmental disorders, including Attention Deficit Disorder and speech  and language delays. The CDC, however, still recommends vaccinations with thimerosal containing  vaccines, saying there are safety measures in place to prevent overdoses of mercury. 
Autism rates around the world are rising and the rise coincides with the availability of more vaccines  containing mercury, a lowering of the age at which vaccines are given to babies and the introduction  of the combined MMR vaccine, which does not contain mercury, but which has been linked to  Autism by some researchers. 

Now that the research quoted by the CDC and other governmental agencies has been found  inadequate, and since there are research findings which suggest a link between mercury and  developmental disorders, it is time to begin serious research into these issues. In addition, the link  between the MMR vaccine and Autism should be explored further, since it appears to be associated  in some way with the increased rates. 

In spite of the dangers of mercury exposure in infants, the CDC continues to recommend that, "State  and local immunization programs or private health care providers should use the vaccines available in  their stock. All vaccines are safe and effective as stated by FDA." Yet the American Academy of  Pediatrics and other medical groups has called for the removal of mercury from all vaccines. Why  then does the CDC continue to state that they should be used? While they say they are working  cooperatively with vaccine manufacturers to implement a plan to reduce and eventually eliminate  future purchases of thimerosal containing vaccines for federal programs, it appears that these moves  may be too little, too late. While the government is, "working cooperatively," with the manufacturers,  more and more children are being exposed to potentially toxic levels of mercury and more and more  families are having their lives destroyed by its effects. The time to act is now. 

Congressman Dan Burton (R-Indiana) and others have called for the removal of all vaccines  containing thimerosal. So far their words have fallen on deaf ears. Vaccines with excessive levels of  mercury are still being routinely used and there is no clear end in sight. Until adequate research is  done either proving or disproving the relationship between these vaccines and neurological damage,  their use should be discontinued. Vaccines which do not contain thimerosal are available and their  use should be mandated by the federal government 

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12.) Effects of Ethylmercury Exposure in Infants Never Studied 
============================================================== 
Expert Tells IOM No Studies Done 

Source:autism.about.com 

On July 26, 2001, the Institute of Medicine will conduct hearings into thimerosal-containing vaccines  and the neurodevelopmental outcomes of exposure to them. As a part of their preliminary research,  the Immunization Safety Review Committee questioned Dr. L�szl� Magos, author of "Physiology  and Toxicology of Mercury" and an internationally known expert in field. 
While many of the answers that Dr. Magos gave were so scientifically complex that the lay person  could never hope to comprehend them, I found it interesting that two of these answers, perhaps the  most important two, were perfectly plain, clear and understandable to anyone reading his statement. 

Have there been any studies, including animal studies, which have looked specifically at infant  ethylmercury exposure and the effect on neurological development? "No, it has not been studied."  What is thought to be currently the best hypothesis (if any) regarding the mechanism of neurotoxic  mechanism of neurotoxicity of organic Hg (mercury)? "Unfortunately, there is no answer. Chang  (1996) suggested four "major thoughts" on the mechanism of actions. These "thoughts" have not  reached the level of a hypotheses, and even less the level of 'the best hypothesis'." 

Why are these questions so important? The answer is simple. They provide a clue into the direction  that researchers and government agencies need to go, if we are to ever learn the true relationship  between mercury based substances such as thimerosal and their effects on the lives of our children  when they are ingredients in the vaccines we are routinely administering. 

How can we ever believe the reports that attempt to validate the use of vaccines which contain  thimerosal, when there have been NO STUDIES done on this important question, according to Dr.  Magos? And how can we believe the theories that have been proposed on how mercury works to  damage the neurological system of the body, when there hasn't even been a hypothesis made on this  question. As I remember my studies of the "scientific method," a hypothesis must be made and tested  and the tests replicated, before a theory can be advanced. We are not at the point of having a  hypothesis, let alone enough material to propose a theory. 

As parents, we know what happened to our children. We know when their development began to  regress, but our knowledge is not enough to base policy on, according to the experts. They say we  must have hard facts and research studies before our "anecdotal evidence" can be believed. Yet the  scientific community has failed to provide the same standard of evidence in support of their opinions.  Hearings and inquiries are not enough. Neither are statements that defend the status quo and tout the  safety of vaccines. Until that research is done, the public will have every right to be skeptical about  the statements that come out of the medical community regarding the safety of these vaccines 
============================================================== 
13.) ER Exploits MMR Vaccine Myth 
============================================================== 
Alternatives to the MMR Vaccine 
Source|: autism.about.com 

A recent episode of the NBC Television program, ER, featured a story about a child who died of  measles after his parents refused to have him vaccinated. This storyline exploited the myth that the  Measles, Mumps and Reubella (MMR) vaccine is perfectly safe and that those who choose to not  use this combination vaccine are risking the lives of their children. The program has caused people  across the country to think carefully about the benefits and risks of mandatory childhood  vaccinations and wondering about their decisions to immunize or not. If you've been keeping up with  the controversy about the effects of the Measles, Mumps and Reubella (MMR) vaccine and its  potential for being a cause or trigger for Autism, pay close attention to this article. While it is not  intended as medical advice, it does provide valuable information which you and your physician need  to make an informed decision regarding this vaccine. Always consult with your physician regarding  any medication or vaccination questions you might have. 

For years a controversy has raged in the medical community about the effects of the MMR vaccine.  Researchers, such as Dr. Andrew Wakefield, have found that the MMR potentially is a trigger or  even the cause of Autism and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders. Further research has found  that it may be the combination of ingredients in the MMR that is the culprit, not the individual  vaccines themselves. Because of this, it has been recommended that these multiple vaccines be  avoided and instead single dose vaccines be substituted. 

I have heard from countless parents who have said they requested the single measles, mumps or  reubella vaccine and been told, it isn't available. If you are one of those parents, you were either lied  to or your medical provider is uninformed. The single dose vaccine is available, from the same  manufacturer who makes the multi-dose version, however many physicians and clinics hesitate to  purchase it because of the way the vaccine is marketed. It seems that Merck Pharmaceuticals  requires that it be purchased in minimum lots of 10, which means that to cover your child, the health  care provider must purchase 30 doses, instead of the 10 required for the multi-dose vaccine. 
It's a matter of basic economics. It costs less to get 10 doses than it does 30, so why spend the  extra money. Their cost cutting measures could be the reason your child can't get the single dose  vaccine, and could possibly, if the researchers are correct, be the reason that Autism/PDD has  increased so dramatically in the past 20 years. Additionally, managed health care plans have put in  place a system that only allows for a certain number of well-child visits, falsely leading the parents to  believe they cannot make additional appointments for separated vaccinations. A vaccination  appointment in nearly every medical office, is not an appointment with the physician and should not  be billed as such. It is an appointment with the nurse and therefore is not constricted by a managed  health care's well-child health care schedule. 

What can you do about this? The answer is simple. When you go to your doctor or clinic, arrive  armed with the correct information which will allow you to counteract their claim that the vaccine is  not manufactured and can't be purchased. According to information from the FEAT newsletter and  Elizabeth Bowers of ARMED (Autism Recovery through Medicine, Education & Diet), the item  numbers below are from the current Physician's Desk Reference (PDN) for the individual dosages of  the vaccines, manufactured by Merck. Demand that these be purchased for use with your child, and  put it in writing. If the health care provider refuses, get it in writing that you provided them with the  information and made a formal written request which was refused. In this way, you have the  evidence that might help in a potential legal action, should the vaccine injury compensation laws ever  be changed to cover this type of situation. Without it, it's your word against theirs. 

Measles: # NDC00064709-00, single dose 
Mumps: #NDC00064753-00, single dose 
Rubella (called Meruvac II): #NDC00064747-00, single dose 

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14.) Autism: a Novel Form of Mercury Poisoning 
============================================================== 
S. Bernard, B.A., A. Enayati, M.S.M.E., L. Redwood, M.S.N., H. Roger, B.A., T. Binstock 
Sallie Bernard, ARC Research, 14 Commerce Drive, Cranford, NJ 07901 USA, 908.276.6300, 
fax 908.276.1301 

Source: mercola.com 

Summary 

Autism is a syndrome characterized by impairments in social relatedness and communication,  repetitive behaviors, abnormal movements, and sensory dysfunction. Recent epidemiological studies  suggest that autism may affect 1 in 150 U. S. children.  Exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor, and behavioral dysfunctions  similar to traits defining or associated with autism, and the similarities extend to neuroanatomy,  neurotransmitters, and biochemistry.  Thimerosal, a preservative added to many vaccines, has become a major source of mercury in  children who, within their first two years, may have received a quantity of mercury that exceeds  safety guidelines. 

 A review of medical literature and U.S. government data suggests that  i) many cases of idiopathic autism are induced by early mercury exposure from thimerosal;  (ii) this type of autism represents an unrecognized mercurial syndrome; and  (iii) genetic and non-genetic factors establish a predisposition whereby thimerosal's adverse effects  occur only in some children. 

 Introduction  Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental syndrome with onset prior to age 36  months. Diagnostic criteria consist of impairments in sociality and communication plus repetitive and  stereotypic behaviors (1). Traits strongly associated with autism include movement disorders and  sensory dysfunctions (2). Although autism may be apparent soon after birth, most autistic children  experience at least several months, even a year or more of normal development -- followed by  regression, defined as loss of function or failure to progress (2,3,4). 

The neurotoxicity of mercury (Hg) has long been recognized (5).  Primary data derive from victims of contaminated fish (Japan - Minamata Disease) or grain (Iraq,  Guatemala, Russia); from acrodynia (Pink Disease) induced by Hg in teething powders; and from  individual instances of mercury poisoning (HgP), many occurring in occupational settings (e.g., Mad  Hatter's Disease).

  Animal and in vitro studies also provide insights into the mechanisms of Hg toxicity. More recently,  the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have  determined that the typical amount of Hg injected into infants and toddlers via childhood  immunizations has exceeded government safety guidelines on an individual (6) and cumulative  vaccine basis (7).  The mercury in vaccines derives from thimerosal (TMS), a preservative which is 49.6%  ethylmercury (eHg) (7). 

Past cases of HgP have presented with much inter-individual variation, depending on the dose, type  of mercury, method of administration, duration of exposure, and individual sensitivity. Thus, while  commonalities exist across the various instances of HgP, each set of variables has given rise to a  different disease manifestation (8,9,10,11).

  It is hypothesized that the regressive form of autism represents another form of mercury poisoning,  based on a thorough correspondence between autistic and HgP traits and physiological  abnormalities, as well as on the known exposure to mercury through vaccines.  Furthermore, other phenomena are consistent with a causal Hg-ASD relationship.

These include:  a) symptom onset shortly after immunization;  (b) ASD prevalence increases corresponding to vaccination increases; (c) similar sex ratios of  affected individuals;  (d) a high heritability rate for autism paralleling a genetic predisposition to Hg sensitivity at low doses;  and  (e) parental reports of autistic children with elevated Hg.  Trait Comparison  ASD manifests a constellation of symptoms with much inter-individual variation (3,4).

 A comparison  of traits defining, nearly universal to, or commonly found in autism with those known to arise from  mercury poisoning is given in Table I. The characteristics defining or strongly associated with autism  are also more fully described.  Autism has been conceived primarily as a psychiatric condition; and two of its three diagnostic  criteria are based upon the observable traits of  a) impairments in sociality, most commonly social withdrawal or aloofness, and  b) a variety of perseverative or stereotypic behaviors and the need for sameness, which strongly  resemble obsessive-compulsive tendencies. 

Differential diagnosis may include childhood schizophrenia, depression, obsessive-compulsive  disorder (OCD), anxiety disorder, and other neuroses.  Related behaviors commonly found in ASD individuals are irrational fears, poor eye contact,  aggressive behaviors, temper tantrums, irritability, and inexplicable changes in mood (1,2,12-17).  Mercury poisoning, when undetected, is often initially diagnosed as a psychiatric disorder (18).  Commonly occurring symptoms include:  a) "extreme shyness," indifference to others, active avoidance of others, or “a desire to be alone”;(b) 

depression, “lack of interest” and “mental confusion;”  (c) irritability, aggression, and tantrums in children and adults;  (d) anxiety and fearfulness; and  (e) emotional lability.  Neuroses, including schizoid and obsessive-compulsive traits, problems in inhibition of perseveration,  and stereotyped behaviors, have been reported in a number of cases; and lack of eye contact was  observed in one 12 year old girl with mercury vapor poisoning (18-35). 

The third diagnostic criterion for ASD is impairment in communication (1). Historically, about half of  those with classic autism failed to develop meaningful speech (2), and articulation difficulties are  common (3). Higher functioning individuals may have language fluency but still show semantic and  pragmatic errors (3,36). In many cases of ASD, verbal IQ is lower than performance IQ (3).  Similarly, mercury-exposed children and adults show a marked difficulty with speech (9,19,37). 

 In milder cases scores on language tests may be lower than those of unexposed controls (31,38).  Iraqi children who were postnatally poisoned developed articulation problems, from slow, slurred  word production to an inability to generate meaningful speech; while Iraqi babies exposed prenatally  either failed to develop language or presented with severe language deficits in childhood (23,24,39).  Workers with Mad Hatter's disease had word retrieval and articulation difficulties (21).  Nearly all cases of ASD and HgP involve disorders of physical movement (2,30,40). 

 Clumsiness or lack of coordination has been described in many higher functioning ASD individuals  (41). Infants and toddlers later diagnosed with autism may fail to crawl properly or may fall over  while sitting or standing; and the movement disturbances typically occur on the right side of the body  (42).

Problems with intentional movement and imitation are common in ASD, as are a variety of  unusual stereotypic behaviors such as toe walking, rocking, abnormal postures, choreiform  movements, spinning; and hand flapping (2,3,43,44). 

 Noteworthy because of similarities to autism are reports in Hg literature of: 

a) children in Iraq and Japan who were unable to stand, sit, or crawl (34,39); 

(b) Minamata disease patients whose movement disturbances were localized to one side of the  body, and a girl exposed to Hg vapor who tended to fall to the right (18,34); 

(c) flapping motions in an infant poisoned from contaminated pork (37) and in a man injected with  thimerosal (27); 

(d) choreiform movements in mercury vapor intoxication (19); 

 (e) toe walking in a moderately poisoned Minamata child (34); 

(f) poor coordination and clumsiness among victims of acrodynia (45); 

(g) rocking among infants with acrodynia (11); and 

(h) unusual postures observed in both acrodynia and mercury vapor poisoning (11,31).

The  presence of flapping motions in both diseases is of interest because it is such an unusual behavior that  it has been recommended as a diagnostic marker for autism (46).  Virtually all ASD subjects show a variety of sensory abnormalities (2). Auditory deficits are present  in a minority of individuals and can range from mild to profound hearing loss (2,47). Over- or  under-reaction to sound is nearly universal (2,48), and deficits in language comprehension are often  present (3).

Pain sensitivity or insensitivity is common, as is a general aversion to touch; abnormal  sensation in the extremities and mouth may also be present and has been detected even in toddlers  under 12 months old (2,49).  There may be a variety of visual disturbances, including sensitivity to light (2,50,51,52). As in autism,  sensory issues are reported in virtually all instances of Hg toxicity (40). HgP can lead to mild to  profound hearing loss (40);

speech discrimination is especially impaired (9,34,). Iraqi babies  exposed prenatally showed exaggerated reaction to noise (23), while in acrodynia, patients reported  noise sensitivity (45). Abnormal sensation in the extremities and mouth is the most common sensory  disturbance (25,28). Acrodynia sufferers and prenatally exposed Iraqi babies exhibited excessive  pain when bumping limbs and an aversion to touch (23,24,45,53). A range of visual problems has  been reported, including photophobia (18,23,34).  Comparison Of Biological Abnormalities 

The biological abnormalities commonly found in autism are listed in Table II, along with the  corresponding pathologies arising from mercury exposure. Especially noteworthy similarities are  described.  Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which has been characterized as "a disorder of neuronal  organization, that is, the development of the dentritic tree, synaptogenesis, and the development of  the complex connectivity within and between brain regions" (54).

Depressed expression of neural  cell adhesion molecules (NCAMs), which are critical during brain development for proper synaptic  structuring, has been found in one study of autism (55). Organic mercury, which readily crosses the  blood-brain barrier, preferentially targets nerve cells and nerve fibers (56); primates accumulate the  highest Hg-levels in the brain relative to other organs (40).

  Furthermore, although most cells respond to mercurial injury by modulating levels of glutathione  (GSH), metallothionein, hemoxygenase, and other stress proteins, neurons tend to be “markedly  deficient in these responses” and thus are less able to remove Hg and more prone to Hg-induced  injury (56). In the developing brain, mercury interferes with neuronal migration, depresses cell  division, disrupts microtubule function, and reduces NCAMs (28, 57-59). 

While damage has been observed in a number of brain areas in autism, many nuclei and functions are  spared (36). HgP’s damage is similarly selective (40). Numerous studies link autism with neuronal  atypicalities within the amygdala, hippocampi, basal ganglia, the Purkinje and granule cells of the  cerebellum, brainstem, basal ganglia, and cerebral cortex (36,60-69). Each of these areas can be  affected by HgP (10,34,40,70-73).

Migration of Hg, including eHg, into the amygdala is particularly  noteworthy, because in primates this brain region has neurons specific for eye contact (74) and it is  implicated in autism and in social behaviors (65,66,75).  Autistic brains show neurotransmitter irregularities which are virtually identical to those arising from  Hg exposure:  both high or low serotonin and dopamine, depending on the subjects studied;  elevated epinephrine and norepinephrine in plasma and brain; elevated glutamate; and  acetylcholine deficiency in hippocampus (2,21,76-83). 

Gillberg and Coleman (2) estimate that 35-45% of autistics eventually develop epilepsy. A recent  MEG study reported epileptiform activity in 82% of 50 regressive autistic children; in another study,  half the autistic children expressed abnormal EEG activity during sleep (84). Autistic EEG  abnormalities tend to be non-specific and have a variety of patterns (85). Unusual epileptiform  activity has been found in a number of mercury poisoning cases (18,27,34,86-88). 

 Early Hg exposure enhances tendencies toward epileptiform activity with a reduced level of  seizure-discharge amplitude (89), a finding consistent with the subtlety of seizures in many autism  spectrum children (84,85). The fact that Hg increases extracellular glutamate would also contribute  to epileptiform activity (90). 

 Some autistic children show a low capacity to oxidize sulfur compounds and low levels of sulfate  (91,92). These findings may be linked with HgP because (a) Hg preferentially binds to sulfhydryl  molecules (-SH) such as cysteine and GSH, thereby impairing various cellular functions (40), and (b)  mercury can irreversibly block the sulfate transporter NaSi cotransporter NaSi-1, present in kidneys  and intestines, thus reducing sulfate absorption (93). 

 Besides low sulfate, many autistics have low GSH levels, abnormal GSH-peroxidase activity within  erythrocytes, and decreased hepatic ability to detoxify xenobiotics (91,94,95). GSH participates in  cellular detoxification of heavy metals (96); hepatic GSH is a primary substrate for organic-Hg  clearance from the human (40); and intraneuronal GSH participates in various protective responses  against Hg in the CNS (56).  By preferentially binding with GSH, preventing absorption of sulfate, or inhibiting the enzymes of  glutathione metabolism (97), Hg might diminish GSH bioavailability. Low GSH can also derive from  chronic infection (98,99), which would be more likely in the presence of immune impairments arising  from mercury (100).  Furthermore, mercury disrupts purine and pyrimidine metabolism (97,10).

Altered purine or  pyrimidine metabolism can induce autistic features and classical autism (2,101,102), suggesting  another mechanism by which Hg can contribute to autistic traits.  Autistics are more likely to have:  allergies  asthma  selective IgA deficiency (sIgAd)  enhanced expression of HLA-DR antigen  and an absence of interleukin-2 receptors  as well as familial autoimmunity  and a variety of autoimmune phenomena 

These include elevated serum IgG  and ANA titers,  IgM and  IgG brain antibodies,  and myelin basic protein (MBP) antibodies (103-110).  Similarly, atypical responses to Hg have been ascribed to allergic or autoimmune reactions (8), and  genetic predisposition to such reactions may explain why Hg sensitivity varies so widely by individual  (88,111).  Children who developed acrodynia were more likely to have asthma and other allergies (11); IgG  brain autoantibodies, MBP, and ANA have been found in HgP subjects (18,111,112); and mice  genetically prone to develop autoimmune diseases "are highly susceptible to mercury-induced  immunopathological alterations" even at the lowest doses (113). 

Additionally, many autistics have reduced natural killer cell (NK) function, as well as immune-cell  subsets shifted in a Th2 direction and increased urine neopterin levels, indicating immune system  activiation (103,114-116). Depending upon genetic predisposition, Hg can induce immune  activation, an expansion of Th2 subsets, and decreased NK activity (117-120).  Population Characteristics  In most affected children, autistic symptoms emerge gradually, although there are cases of sudden  onset (3). 

 The earliest abnormalities have been detected in 4 month olds and consist of subtle movement  disturbances; subtle motor-sensory disturbances have been observed in 9 month olds (49). More  overt speech and hearing difficulties become noticeable to parents and pediatricians between 12 and  18 months (2).

TMS vaccines have been given in repeated intervals starting from infancy and  continuing until 12 to 18 months.  While HgP symptoms, may arise suddenly in especially sensitive individuals (11), usually there is a  preclinical "silent stage" in which subtle neurological changes are occuring (121) and then a gradual  emergence of symptoms. 

The first symptoms are typically sensory- and motor-related, which are followed by speech and  hearing deficits, and finally the full array of HgP characteristics (40).  Thus, both the timing and nature of symptom emergence in ASD are fully consistent with a vaccinal  Hg etiology.  This parallel is reinforced by parental reports of excessive amounts of mercury in urine or hair from  younger autistic children, as well as some improvement in symptoms with standard chelation therapy  (122).  The discovery and rise in prevalence of ASD mirrors the introduction and spread of thimerosol in  vaccines. 

 Autism was first described in 1943 among children born in the 1930s (123). Thimerosal was first  introduced into vaccines in the 1930s (7). In studies conducted prior to 1970, autism prevalence  was estimated, at 1 in 2000; in studies from 1970 to 1990 it averaged 1 in 1000 (124). This was a  period of increased vaccination rates of the TMS-containing DPT vaccines among children in the  developed world.  In the early 1990s, the prevalence of autism was found to be 1 in 500 (125), and in 2000 the CDC  found 1 in 150 children affected in one community, which was consistent with reports from other  areas in the country (126). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, two new TMS vaccines, the HIB and  Hepatitis B, were added to the recommended schedule (7).  Nearly all US children are immunized, yet only a small proportion develop autism. 

A pertinent characteristic of mercury is the great variability in its effects by individual, so that at the  same exposure level, some will be affected severely while others will be asymptomatic (9,11,28). An  example is acrodynia, which arose in the early 20th Century from mercury in teething powders and  afflicted only 1 in 500-1000 children given the same low dose (28).  Studies in mice as well as humans indicate that susceptibility to Hg effects arises from genetic status,  in some cases including a propensity to autoimmune disorders (113,34,40).

ASD exhibits a strong  genetic component, with high concordance in monozygotic twins and a higher than expected  incidence among siblings (4); autism is also more prevalent in families with autoimmune disorders  (106).  Additionally, autism is more prevalent among boys than girls, with the ratio estimated at 4:1 (2). 

Mercury studies in mice and humans consistently report greater effects on males than females, except  for kidney damage (57). At high doses, both sexes are affected equally; at low doses only males are  affected (38,40,127). 

Discussion 

We have shown that every major characteristic of autism has been exhibited in at least several cases  of documented mercury poisoning. 

Recently, the FDA and AAP have revealed that the amount of mercury given to infants from  vaccinations has exceeded safety levels. The timing of mercury administration via vaccines coincides  with the onset of autistic symptoms. Parental reports of autistic children with measurable mercury  levels in hair and urine indicate a history of mercury exposure.

Thus the standard primary criteria for  a diagnosis of mercury poisoning - observable symptoms, known exposure at the time of symptom  onset, and detectable levels in biologic samples (11,31) - have been met in autism.  As such, mercury toxicity may be a significant etiological factor in at least some cases of regressive  autism. Further, each known form of HgP in the past has resulted in a unique variation of  mercurialism - e.g., Minamata disease, acrodynia, Mad Hatter’s disease - none of which has been  autism, suggesting that the Hg source which may be involved in ASD has not yet been characterized;  given that most infants receive eHg via vaccines, and given that the effect on infants of eHg in  vaccines has never been studied (129),

 vaccinal thimerosal should be considered a probable source.  It is also possible that vaccinal eHg may be additive to a prenatal mercury load derived from  maternal amalgams, immune globulin injections, or fish consumption, and environmental sources.  Conclusion  The history of acrodynia illustrates that a severe disorder, afflicting a small but significant percentage  of children, can arise from a seemingly benign application of low doses of mercury.

his review  establishes the likelihood that Hg may likewise be etiologically significant in ASD, with the Hg  derived from thimerosal in vaccines rather than teething powders. Due to the extensive parallels  between autism and HgP, the likelihood of a causal relationship is great. Given this possibility, TMS  should be removed from all childhood vaccines, and the mechanisms of Hg toxicity in autism should  be thoroughly investigated.  With perhaps 1 in 150 children now diagnosed with ASD, development of HgP-related treatments,  such as chelation, would prove beneficial for this large and seemingly growing population. 

For References Click Here  Originally published in the FEAT (https// www.feat.org) online newsletter. 
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DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: 

This is an excellent review of the mercury-autism link and is well referenced. It has been increasingly 
obvious that mercury should be screened for in autism which is why I have started to aggressively screen and treat this problem in the autistic children that I care for. 

This week I post my pediatric mercury detoxification program which is a modification of the program 
that I have used for adults for many years. I will start chelating my first patients in about one month as many are in the process of preparing for the chelation process with some homeopathic preparations. 

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15.) Adverse Effects Of Adjuvants In Vaccines 
============================================================== 
by Viera Scheibner 

Source: mercola.com 

Systemic lupus erythematosus is one of the innumerable recognized side effects of a number of  vaccinations. One of the best papers (if not the best on this) is by Ayvazian and Badger (1948), and  it has not lost any of its punch and relevance since it was published. 

They describe three cases of nurses who were literally vaccinated to death. The authors surveyed a  group of 750 nurses who trained at a large municipal hospital between 1932 and 1946, and detailed  the cases of three nurses who were vaccinated with a multitude of vaccines over a period of time and  developed and succumbed to disseminated lupus erythematosus. 

Typically, these nurses were given the following tests and vaccines in short succession: 

the Schick test; 

three days later, the Dick test; 

seven days later, typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine; 

seven days later, another typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine (a double dose); 

seven days later, the third typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine; 

and seven days later, the fourth typhoid-paratyphoid vaccine.  Every time, the recipient developed local erythema and/or fever and malaise, but it did not deter the  doctor from administering yet another series of vaccines, starting only 14 days after the first lot of  tests and typhoid-paratyphoid vaccines. 

This time, after all these injections, one of the trainee nurses was given her first injection of scarlet  fever streptococcus toxin with "no ill results". 

One week later, she was given the second injection of streptococcus toxin, after which she  developed joint pains and fever. She did not report these reactions to the health office. 

Nine days later, she returned and received the third injection of a fourfold dose of streptococcus,  after which she developed severe joint pain in the fingers and knees and a sore throat. 

She was hospitalized for five days and discharged with the diagnosis "Dick-toxin reaction". Only five  days later her inoculations were continued, first in lower and then in gradually increasing doses so  that the series included a total of 10 instead of the usual seven injections. Epinephrine was  administered with each of these injections of streptococcus toxin and toxin-antitoxin. 

Two months after the last lot, the trainee nurse was re-admitted to the hospital with swelling and pain  of the ankles and toes and tenderness of the joints of both hands, which had been constant since the  first Dick test five months earlier. The diagnosis was "rheumatic arthritis". 

She was given aspirin, but two weeks later the pain came back and she developed chills and fever,  sore throat and cough. One month later, the trainee nurse was readmitted to hospital for two weeks,  and during this admission a streptococcus vaccine was started in small doses, but because of her  severe reaction "further vaccines were refused". The diagnosis after this admission was "rheumatoid  arthritis and infectious mononucleosis". 

Four months later, the trainee nurse noticed skin eruptions over her nose and both cheeks, and her  saliva became foul. The skin and cheeks, upper lips and the bridge of the nose were covered with  purplish red, mottled and indurated rash eruptions. Two months later, the eruptions spread over  much of the body. A year later, the trainee nurse died, but not before developing severe symptoms  of high fever, tachycardia, diarrhea and showing abnormal blood tests. 

It was not enough that this unfortunate trainee nurse died; there were another two cases reported,  almost identical to the first case. We shall never know how many of the remaining 747 trainee nurses  developed less lethal, but still health-incapacitating. reactions. 

If someone said that this type of "medical treatment' had been given to the inmates of the Nazi  concentration camps, I would not be surprised. However, this type of "medical treatment" was and is  being given with impunity to millions of babies, children, teenagers and adults in so-called free and  democratic countries as well as in the Third World. Meanwhile, the health authorities refuse to  accept that vaccines cause such reactions and even deaths. 
Vaccination: A Safety Warning 

The conclusions which follow the study of relevant medical and immunological literature dealing with  vaccines and the adjuvants used in vaccines is that the absolute safety of these substances can never  be guaranteed. 

According to Gupta et al. (1993), the toxicity of adjuvants can be ascribed in part to the unintended  stimulation of various mechanisms of the immune response. That's why the safety and adjuvancy  must be balanced to get the maximum immune stimulation with minimum side effects. 

My conclusion is that such balance is impossible to achieve, even if we fully understood the immune  system and the full spectrum of deleterious effects of foreign antigens and other toxic substances such  as vaccine and drug adjuvants and medications on the immune system of humans, and particularly on  the immature immune system of babies and small children. 

Injecting any foreign substance straight into the bloodstream will only cause anaphylactic  (sensitization) reactions. Nature, over thousands and thousands of years, has developed effective  immune responses; yet man, without respect for nature, demonstrably causes more harm than good. 
Vaccination procedures are a highly politically motivated non-science, whose practitioners are only  interested in injecting multitudes of vaccines without much interest or care as to their effects. Data  collection on reactions to vaccines is only paid lip service, and the obvious ineffectiveness of  vaccines to prevent diseases is glossed over. 

The fact that natural infectious diseases have beneficial effect on the maturation and development of  the immune system is ignored or deliberately suppressed. 

Consequently, parents of small children and any potential recipients of vaccines and any orthodox  medications should be wary of any member of the medical establishment (which is little more than a  highly politicized business system) extolling the nonexistent virtues of vaccination. 

https// www.whale.to/vaccine/adjuvants1.html 

You can go on to the more technically oriented manuscript which details many of the specifics of  vaccine adjuvants. 

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DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: 

This is an excellent resource that clearly documents all the OTHER material that are in the vaccines.  One of the worst is thimerosol, a mercury derivative, which US health authorities finally recognized a  few years may be causing problems. 

Problems with mercury? Yes, indeed. Many experts believe the mercury in the hepatitis B vaccine,  which was often given to children the DAY OF BIRTH, may be largely responsible for the huge  increase in autism that we have experienced in the US. 

Adjuvants, Preservatives And Tissue Fixatives In Vaccines 

Vaccines contain a number of substances which can be divided into the following groups: 

Micro-organisms, either bacteria or viruses, thought to be causing certain infectious diseases and  which the vaccine is supposed to prevent. These are whole-cell proteins or just the broken-cell  protein envelopes, and are called antigens.  Chemical substances which are supposed to enhance the immune response to the vaccine, called  adjuvants. 

Chemical substances which act as preservatives and tissue fixatives, which are supposed to halt any 
further chemical reactions and putrefaction (decomposition or multiplication) of the live or attenuated 
(or killed) biological constituents of the vaccine. 

All these constituents of vaccines are toxic, and their toxicity may vary, as a rule, from one batch of 
vaccine to another.

In this article, the first of a two-part series, we shall deal with adjuvants, their expects role and the  reactions (side effects). 

Adjuvants 

The desired immune response to vaccines is the production of antibodies, and this is enhanced by  adding certain substances to the vaccines. These are called adjuvants (from the Latin adjuvare,  meaning "to help"). 

The chemical nature of adjuvants, their mode of action and their reactions (side effect) are highly  variable. According to Gupta et al. (1993), some of the side effects can be ascribed to an  unintentional stimulation of different mechanisms of the immune system whereas others may reflect  general adverse pharmacological reactions which are more less expected. 

There are several types of adjuvants. 

Today the most common adjuvants for human use are 

aluminum hydroxide, 
aluminum phosphate 
and calcium phosphate. 

However, there are a number of other adjuvants based on oil emulsions, products from bacteria  (their synthetic derivatives as well as liposomes) or gram-negative bacteria, endotoxins, cholesterol,  fatty acids, aliphatic amines, paraffinic and vegetable oils. 

Recently, monophosphoryl lipid A, ISCOMs with Quil-A, and Syntex adjuvant formulations (SAFs)  containing the threonyl derivative or muramyl dipeptide have been under consideration for use in  human vaccines. 

Chemically, the adjuvants are a highly heterogenous group of compounds with only one thing in  common: their ability to enhance the immune response-their adjuvanticity. 

They are highly variable in terms of how they affect the immune system and how serious their  adverse effects are due to the resultant hyperactivation of the immune system. 

The mode of action of adjuvants was described by Chedid (1985) as: the formation of a depot of  antigen at the site of inoculation, with slow release; the presentation of antigen immunocompetent  cells; and the production of various and different lymphokines (interleukins and tumour necrosis  factor). 

The choice of any of these adjuvants reflects a compromise between a requirement for adjuvanticity  and an acceptable low level of adverse reactions. 

The discovery of adjuvants dates back to 1925 and 1926, when Ramon (quoted by Gupta et al.,  1993) showed that the antitoxin response to tetanus and diphtheria was increased by injection of  these vaccines, together with other compounds such as agar, tapioca, lecithin, starch oil, saponin or  even breadcrumbs. 

The term adjuvant has been used for any material that can increase the humoral or cellular immune  response to an antigen. In the conventional vaccines, adjuvants are used to elicit an early, high and  long-lasting immune response. The newly developed purified subunit or synthetic vaccines using  biosynthetic, recombinant and other modern technology are poor immunogens and require adjuvants  to evoke the immune response. 

The use of adjuvants enables the use of less antigen to achieve the desired immune response, and this  reduces vaccine production costs. 

With a few exceptions, adjuvants are foreign to the body and cause adverse reactions.  Oil Emulsions 
In the 1960s, emulsified water-in-oil and water-in-vegetable-oil adjuvant preparations used  experimentally showed special promise in providing exalted "immunity" of long duration (Hilleman,  1966). The development of Freund's adjuvants emerged from studies of tuberculosis. 

Several researchers noticed that immunological responses in animals to various antigens were  enhanced by introduction into the animal of living Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In the presence of  Mycobacterium, the reaction obtained was of the delayed type, transferable with leukocytes. 

Freund measured the effect of mineral oil in causing delayed-type hypersensitivity to killed  mycobacteria. There was a remarkable increase in complement-fixing antibody response as well as  in delayed hypersensitivity reaction. 

Freund's adjuvant consists of a water-in-oil emulsion of aqueous antigen in paraffin (mineral) oil of  low specific gravity and low viscosity. Drakeol 6VR and Arlacel A (mannide monooleate) are  commonly used as emulsifiers. 

There are two Freund's adjuvants: incomplete and complete. 

The incomplete Freund's adjuvant consists of water-in-oil emulsion without added mycobacteria; the  complete Freund's adjuvant consists of the same components but with 5 mg of dried, heat-killed  Mycobacterium tuberculosis or butyricum added. 

The mechanism of action of Freund's adjuvants is associated with the following three phenomena: 

1. The establishment of a portion of the antigen in a persistent form at the injection site, enabling a  gradual and continuous release of antigen for stimulating the antibody; 

 2. The provision of a vehicle for transport of emulsified antigen throughout the lymphatic system to  distant places, such as lymph nodes and spleen, where new foci of antibody formation can be  established; and, 

3. Formation and accumulation of cells of the mononuclear series which are appropriate to the  production of antibody at the local and distal sites.  The pathologic reaction to the Freund's adjuvants starts at the injection site with mild erythema and  swelling followed by tissue necrosis, intense inflammation and the usual progression to the formation  of a granulomatous lesion. Scar and abscess formation may occur. The reactions observed following  the administration of the complete adjuvant are generally far more extensive than with the incomplete  adjuvant. 

The earliest cellular response is polymorphonuclear, then it changes into mononuclear and later  includes plasmocytes. The adjuvant emulsion may be widely disseminated in varrious organs,  depending on the route of inoculation, with the development of focal granulomatous lesions at distal  places. Various gram-negative organisms may show a potentiating effect of the adjuvant, similar to  that displayed by mycobacteria. 

The earliest use of oil emulsion adjuvants was made with the influenza, vaccine by Friedwald (1944)  and by Henle and Henle (1945). Following their promising results on animals, Salk (1951)  experimented with such adjuvants on soldiers under the auspices of the US Armed Forces  Epidemiological Board. 

He used a highly refined mineral oil, and developed a purified Arlacel A emulsifier which was free of  toxic substances, such as oleic acid which had caused sterile abscesses at the injection site, and he  administered the vaccine by intramuscular route. 

Subsequently, Miller et al. (1965) reported their, failure to enhance the antibody and protective  response to types 3, 4 and 7 adenovirus vaccines in mineral oil adjuvant compared with aqueous  vaccine. Unpublished studies have revealed the need for an adequate minimal amount of antigen to  trigger an antibody response to the emulsified preparations. 

Salk et al. (1953) applied Freund's adjuvant to poliomyelitis vaccine, and later followed with  extensive testing of killed crude as well as purified polio virus vaccine in animals and humans, where  the reactions in humans were considered inconsequential. 

Grayston et al. (1964) reported highly promising results with the trachoma vaccine using an oil  adjuvant. 

However, the trachoma vaccine lost its relevance because, as demonstrated by Dolin et al. (1997) in  their 37 years of research in a sub-Saharan village, the dramatic fall in the disease occurrence was  closely connected with improvements in 

sanitation, 
water supply, 
education 
and access to health care. 
According to Dolin et al. (1997), the decline in trachoma occurred without any trachoma-specific 
intervention. 

Allergens in Freund's adjuvant deserve special attention because they can be dangerous. These  dangers include an overdose, i.e., the immediate release of more than the tolerated amount of  properly emulsified vaccine in sensitive persons, or the breaking of the emulsion with the release of  all or part of the full content of the allergen within a brief period of time. 

Long-term delayed reactions include the development of nodules, cysts or sterile abscesses requiring  surgical incision. It is also likely that some allergens used, such as house dust or mould, might have  acted like mycobacteria to potentiate the inflammatory response. Such reactions have been reduced  with the use of properly tested and standardized reagins. 

One must also consider that the first application of Freund's adjuvants was made at a time when  modern concepts of safety were nonexistent Indeed, mineral oil adjuvants have not been approved  for human use in some countries, including the USA. 

Mineral Compounds 

Aluminum phosphate or aluminum hydroxide (alum) are the mineral compounds most commonly  used as adjuvants in human vaccines. Calcium phosphate is another adjuvant that is used in many  vaccines. Mineral salts of metals such as cerium nitrate, zinc sulfate, colloidal iron hydroxide and  calcium chloride were observed to increase the antigenicity of' the toxoids, but alum gave the best  results. 

The use of alum was applied more than 70 years ago by Glenny et al. (1926), who discovered that a  suspension of alum-precipitated diphtheria toxoid had a much higher immunogenicity than the fluid  toxoid. Even though a number of reports stated that alum-adjuvanted vaccines were no better than  plain vaccines (Aprile and Wardlaw, 1966), the use of alum as an adjuvant is now well established. 

The most widely used is the antigen solution mixed with pre-formed aluminum hydroxide or  aluminum phosohate under controlled conditions. Such vaccines are now called aluminium-adsorbed  or aluminium-adjuvanted. However, they are difficult to manufacture in a physico-chemically  reproducible way, which results in a batch-to-batch variation of the same vaccine. 

Also, the degree of antigen absorption to the gels of aluminum phosphate and aluminum hydroxide  varies. To minimize the variation and avoid the non-reproducibility, a specific preparation of  aluminum hydroxide (Alhydrogel) was chosen as the standard in 1988 (Gupta et al., 1993). 

The aluminum adjuvants allow the slow release of antigen, prolonging the time for interaction  between antigen and antigen-presenting cells and lymphocytes. However, in some studies, the  potency of adjuvanted pertussis vaccines was more than that of the plain pertussis vaccines, while in  others no effect was noted. 

The serum agglutinin titres, after vaccination with adjuvanted pertussis vaccines, were higher than  those of the plain vaccines, with no difference in regard to protection against the disease (Butler et  al., 1962). 

Despite these conflicting results, aluminum compounds are universally used as adjuvants for the DPT  (diphtheriapertussis-tetanus) vaccine. Hypersensitivity reactions following their administration have  been reported which could be attributed to a number of factors, one of which is the production of  IgE along with IgG antibodies. 

It was suggested that polymerased toxoids, such as the so-called glutaraldehyde-detoxifled purified  tetanus and diphtheria toxins, should be used instead of aluminum compounds. They are usually  combined with glutaraldehyde-inactivated pertussis vaccine. 

Calcium phosphate adjuvant has been used for simultaneous vaccination with diphtheria, pertussis,  tetanus, polio, BCG, yellow fever, measles and hepatitis B vaccines and with allergen (Coursaget et  al., 1986). 

The advantage of this adjuvant has been seen to be that it is a normal constituent of the body and is  better tolerated and absorbed than other adjuvants. It entraps antigens very efficiently and allows  slow release of the antigen. Additionally, it elicits high amounts of IgG-type antibodies an much less  of IgE-type (reaginic) antibodies. 

Bacterial Products 

Microorganisms in bacterial infections and the administration of vaccines containing whole killed  bacteria and some metabolic products and components of various microorganisms have been known  to elicit antibody response and act as immunostimulants. The addition of such microorganisms and  substances into vaccines augments the immune response to other antigens in such vaccines.

The most commonly used microorganisms, whole or their parts, are 

Bordetella pertussis components, 
Corenybacterium derived P40 component, 
cholera toxin and mycobacteria. 
B. Pertussis Components 

The killed Bordetella pertussis has a strong adjuvant effect on the diptheria and tetanus toxoids in the  DPT vaccines. However, there are a number of admitted and well-describe reactions to it, such as 
convulsion Reye syndrome 

infantile spasms Guilain-Barre syndrome 

epilepsy sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 

transverse myelitis 

Immunology Principles: Antibody Response:

To explain the action of adjuvants, we should look into immunology. 

The theory of vaccine efficacy is based on the ability of vaccines to evoke the formation of  antibodies. 
This is of varying efficacy, depending on the nature of the antigen(s) and the amount of antigenic substance administered. 

However, the mechanisms for the diversity of immune reactions are complex, and to this day are not  quite known and understood. There are numerous theories, the favoured one being antibody  response as the sign of immunization (acquiring immunity).  Specific immunity to a particular disease is generally considered to be the result of two kinds of  activity: 

the humoral antibody and the cellular sensitivity.  The ability to form antibodies develops partly in utero and partly after birth in the neonatal period. In  either case, immunological competence-the ability to respond immunologically to an antigenic  stimulus-appears to originate with the thymic activity. 

The thymus initially consists largely of primitive cellular elements which become peripheralised to the  lymph nodes and spleen. These cells give rise to lymphoid cells, resulting in the development of  immunological competence. 

The thymus may also exert a second activity in producing a hormone-like substance, which is  essential for the maturation of immunological competence in lymphoid cells. Such maturation also  takes place by contact with thymus cells in the thymus.

Stimulation of the organism by antigen results in proliferation of cells of the lymphoid series  accompanied by the formation of immunocytes, and this leads to the antibody production. 
Certain lymphocytes and possibly reticulum cells may be transformed into immunoblasts, which  develop into immunologically active ("sensitized") lymphocytes and plasmocytes (plasma cells).  Antibody formation is connected with plasma cells, while cellular immunity reactions are mainly  lymphocytic. 

None of the theories for antibody formation comprehends all the biological and chemical data now  available. However, several principal theories have been considered at length. 

The so-called instructive theory holds that the antigen is brought to the locus of antibody synthesis  and there imposes in some way the synthesis of the specific antibody with reactive sites that are  complementary to the antigen. 

The clonal selection theory, evolved by Burnett (1960), presupposes that the information requisite to 
the synthesis of the antibody is part of the genetics. While the body develops a wide range of clones 
of cells necessary to cover all antigenic determinants by random mutation during early embryonic life, 
those clones which are capable of reacting with antigens of the body ("self') are destroyed, leaving 
only those cells which are not oriented to self ("non-self'). 

Upon stimulation by a foreign antigen, the clones of the cells corresponding to the particular foreign 
antigen are stimulated to proliferate and to produce the antibody. 

Other researchers demonstrated that there are at least four different antigens formed by descendants  of a single cloned cell. By this mechanism, the information for antibody synthesis is contained in the  genetic material of each cell (DNA) but is normally repressed. 

The antigen then assumes the role of a de-repressor and initiates (provokes) the RNA synthesis for a  particular messenger, resulting in the corresponding antibody production. 
The antigen would instruct the genetically predisposed capability of multipotential cells as to which  antibody to produce and might also command the cells to proliferate, resulting in clones of properly  instructed cells. 
There are two possible mechanisms for the elimination of antibodies against self: 

immunological nonresponsiveness and immunological paralysis. 

There are several states of immunological nonresponsiveness; one is illustrated by the exposure of a fetus or newborn to an antigen prior to the development of its ability to recognize the antigen as non-self (immunological incompetence). Immunological paralysis results from the injection of a very large amount of antigen into immunologically competent individuals. Nonspecific immunological suppression by cortisone, ACTH, nitrogen mustards and irradiation is also well known. 

Cellular sensitivity, also known as delayed or cellular hypersensitivity, depends on the development  of immunologically reactive or "sensitive" lymphocytes and possibly other cells which react with the  corresponding antigen to give a typical delayed-type reaction after a period of several hours, days or  even weeks. 

Cellular hypersensitivity depends on the original antigenic stimulation and a latent period, and is  specific in its response. Delayed-type hypersensitivity is characteristic of the body's response to  various infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, spirochetes and parasites. It is also  characteristic of the body's response to various chemicals, such as mercury, endotoxins, antibiotics,  various drugs and many other substances foreign to the body. 

The induction of a hypersensitivity reaction requires the presence in the tissues of the whole organism  or certain derivatives of it, in addition to the specific antigen such as a lipid in addition to tubercle  bacillus protein. 

Sensitization to a noninfectious substance must be mediated through the skin or mucous membranes  which probably provide further necessary cofactors. 

A delayed hypersensitivity reaction may be enhanced experimentally by the employment of the  antigen in a mineral oil adjuvant with added Mycobacterium tuberculosis or by injection of the  antigen directly into the lymphatics. 

The delayed hypersensitivity response is accompanied by mild to severe inflammation that may cause  cell injury and necrosis. The inflammatory response which occurs in delayed-type hypersensitivity  may not be protective, and in many instances may even be harmful (e.g., rejection of grafts is directly  linked to delayed hypersensitivity). 

Immunopathology Of Hypersensitivity Reactions: 

Immediate Hypersensitivity 

This is the antibody-type reaction that is a secondary consequence to the beneficial effect of the  combination of an antibody with its antigen.  Arthus-type Reaction  This reaction results from the precipitative union of a large amount of antigen with a highly reactive  antibody in the blood vessels, and leads to vascular damage. The cascade of events includes spastic  contraction of the arterioles, endothelial damage, formation of leukocyte thrombi, exudation of fluid  and blood cells into the tissues, and sometimes ischemic necrosis. 

Periarteritis nodosa results from a similar antigen-antibody reaction and is characterized by  inflammation of the smaller arteries and periarterial structures. It is accompanied by proliferation of  the intima and two types of occlusion: 

(a) by proliferation or thrombosis;  or

(b) by the formation of nodules containing neutrophils and eosinophils.  Anaphylaxis Injection of antigen and its combination with antibody may cause release from the cells  (especially mast-cell fixed basophils) of physiologically active substances such as histamine,  serotonin, acetyicholine, slow-reacting substances (SRS) and heparin. 

They act on smooth muscle and blood vessels and cause 

• rhinitis or hay fever • anaphylactic (hypersensitivity) shock 
• asthma attack • accumulation of fluid in the joints 
• allergic oedema 

Atopy is caused by the union of antigen-usually pollens, dust, milk, wheat and animal danders-with a  peculiar type of antibody (reagin). This reaction is relatively heat-labile and cannot be demonstrated  by in vitro procedure. It has a special affinity for the skin and for familial predisposition to the  disease. 
The reaction is nevertheless similar to other immediate-type sensitivities, with the release of histamine  and its manifestation principally as  asthma (breathing paralysis), hay fever, urticaria, angioedema and infantile eczema.

Delayed Hypersensitivity The typical pathology of delayed hypersensitivity due to infectious agents  involves perivascular infiltration of lymphocytes and histiocytes with the destruction of the  antigen-containing parenchyma in the infiltrated area. The visual manifestations may vary from slight  erythema and oedema to a violent reaction with progressive tissue destruction and necrosis. 

Local reactions include papular rose spots of typhoid fever, meningitis and a variety of infectious  diseases, and contact sensitivities to plant and chemical substances manifesting as erythema, followed  by papule and vesicle formation with resultant tissue damage and desquamation. 

Systemic reactions may accompany severe local reactions or may result from inhalation of the  allergenic substances. 

Humoral antibodies do not seem to play a role in delayed hypersensitivity reaction. The reactivity is  transferred only by cells, presumably sensitized lymphocytes, and it is unlikely that histamine or other  physiologically active substances play a role in the reaction. The reaction extends to any or all tissues  where the offending antigen may occur. 

Isoimmunological Disease This is the result of an immunological reaction of a member of the same  species to the tissue of another member of the same species. A blood transfusion reaction in a  person given an incompatible blood type is a typical example. 

Another example is erythroblastosis fetalis, which results from the transfer of antibodies against the  red blood cells of the foetus to the foetal circulation. Homograft rejection of tissues or organs  between nonisologous members of a species is also immunologically based. 

Immunological Disease Resulting from Adsorption of Foreign Substances Under certain  circumstances, foreign substances such as medications may combine with cells to render them  antigenic. Subsequent exposure to such a foreign substance results in lytic, agglutinative or other  types of cell-destructive activity. Such a reaction may involve red blood cells (drug-induced  anaemias), platelets (drug-induced thrombocytopemc purpura), and leukocytosis (drug-induced  agranulocytosis). 
Bacteria or viruses may also alter cell surfaces by coating or by unmasking antigens through  enzymatic activity which may render them vulnerable to immunological destruction. 

Autoimmune Disease Under certain circumstances, the body may respond immunologically to its  own components or to intrinsic substances which are related antigenically to the host's own tissues.  The circulating antibody or sensitized cells which are produced are then active in causing cellular  injury to the tissues or organs of the body which bear the corresponding antigen. 

Waksman (1962) proposed several mecnamsms of autoimmunisation, such as: 

1. Vaccination with organ-specific antigens which are isolated from the lymphatic channels and  bloodstream and are not recognized as self when brought into contact with the immunologic process.  They are represented in the central and peripheral nervous systems, lens, uvea, testes, thyroid  (thyroglobulin), kidneys and other organs. 

2. Vaccination against constituents of tissues which have been altered antigenetically by various  factors. These include  myocardial infarction, X-irradiation, enzymatic or other chemical alteration, 
and changes induced by infectious disease agents or by drugs.  Erythrocytes, platelets and leucocytes are the most affected cells. Various organs may also be  affected. 

3. Vaccination with heterologous antigens which are sufficiently different to permit an immunological  response but sufficiently alike to react with autologous antigens. 

4. Alteration of the immunological apparatus so as to result in the failure of recognition of self. This  occurs in neoplasia of the lymphatic system and in experimental grafting of immunologically  competent heterologous lymphatic tissues under conditions which suppress the host's response to the  graft and give rise to the wasting "runt disease" or "homologous disease". 

5. Possible hereditary or other immunological abnormality. This is represented by a hyper-reactivity  to antigens or other aberrations without apparent antigenic stimulation. Such mechanisms might be  related to certain forms of the "collagen diseases", such as systemic lupus erythematosus in which  there is an antibody against a diversity of antigens. 

6. Experimentally, Freund's mineral oil adjuvant (usually with added mycobacteria) and certain  bacteria or bacterial toxins may so alter the host as to bring about a ready response to unaltered  normal homologous tissue.

These "experimental autoallergies" include a wide variety of organs and  tissues, and are now being employed as model systems for investigation of autoimmune phenomena. 

Both humoral antibody and sensitized cells may function in autoimmune disease. Auto-antibodies  seem to be involved in reactions with cells which are easily accessible, such as the formed elements  of the blood (in haemolytic anaemia, leucopeni thrombocytopenia), vascular endothelium, vascular  basement membrane including the glomerulus (in acute glomerulonephritis and ascites cells  (neoplastic immunity). 

Production of lesions in the solid vascularised tissues appears to depend on delayed hypersensitivity  reactions with sensitized lymphoid cells (such as in allergic encephalomyeitis, thyroiditis, subacute  and chronic glomerulonephritis, orchitis, adrenalitis and many other diseases). 

It is quite obvious now that the same autoimmune mechanisms are responsible for the same diseases  in human beings and that the extent of such damage is enormous and keeps increasing with more and  more vaccines added to to "recommended" schedule. 

Indeed, vaccines such as the pertussis vaccine are actually used to induce autoimmune diseases in  laboratory animals, the best and most publicized example being the so-called experimental allergic  encephalomyelitis (EAE). 

When, as expected, these unfortunate animals develop EAE from the pertussis vaccine, the causal  link is never disputed; yet when babies after vaccination with the same vaccines develop the same  symptoms of EAE as the laboratory animals, the causal link to the administered vaccine is always  disputed and usually considered "coincidental". 

Lately, innocent parents and other carers have been accused of causing the symptoms of vaccine  darn age by allegedly shaking their babies. 
============================================================== 
16.) Thimerosal info 
============================================================== 
Source:thimerosal-info.com 

Inquiry into vaccine safety is exploding like never before, even in the popular press. Research  coming from dozens of mainstream medical studies can no longer be easily suppressed, as it has 
been in the past, especially with the prevalence of online information exchange. 

By age two, American children have already received 237 micrograms of mercury through vaccines  alone, which far exceeds current EPA "safe" levels of .1 mcg/kg. per day. That's one-tenth of a  microgram, not one microgram. 

In the U.S., EPA mercury toxicity studies have involved contamination from fish, air, and other  environmental sources. This is inorganic mercury (methylmercury). 

Methylmercury has long been associated with serious neurological disorders, demyelinating diseases,  gut disease, and visual damage. 

The mercury in vaccines, however, is in the form of Thimerosal, which is 50 times more toxic than  plain mercury (methylmercury). 

Reasons for this include: 

Injected mercury is far more toxic than ingested mercury.  There's no blood-brain barrier in infants.  Mercury accumulates in brain cells and nerves.  Infants don't produce bile, which is necessary to excrete mercury.  If you need information about the safety of various children's vaccines information is available from  the Center For Disease Control & Prevention. The link below will take you to the center's website 
============================================================== 
17.) Thimerosal litigation 
============================================================== 
Source:thimerosal-litigation.com 

A drastic jump has been made in the number of children that have been affected by autism. In 1970  there was 1 in 2,000 children with autism compared to 1 in 250 in 2000, and the number of children  diagnosed with learning disabilities is now 1 in 5. Thimerosal vaccines contain mercury, which is  considered to contribute to autism and learning disabilities, as well as Alzheimer’s disease and other  neurological conditions. 

Find out some of the US licensed vaccines that still contain thimerosal from the Vaccine Safety  Institute. Click here. 

As early as 1982 the FDA issued a proposed regulation calling for the removal of thimerosal from  over the counter products, but these regulations were not finalized until 1998, 16 sixteen years after  the FDA expert panel concluded thimerosal was unsafe, ineffective as a bacteriostatic agent, and  caused cell damage. For the 16 years, and even today, thimerosal was continued in use regardless of  the known fact that it is a neurotoxin. Mercury exposures may cause neurological problems in  60,000 children every year. 

In July of 1999 the FDA requested that manufacturers remove thimerosal from pediatric vaccines  because the immunization schedule had resulted in some children receiving a higher amount of  mercury than the established amount deemed safe. Researchers found that by following the vaccine  schedule that American children are given would result in exposure of 30 times the minimum  acceptable level of mercury from vaccines. Yet, thimerosal continues to be stocked on shelves while  clinics and other healthcare centers use up the stocks of mercury containing vaccines. 

Thimerosal can cause life-altering effects on a child’s life, exposing them to chemicals that may lead  to neuro-developmental disorders. Drug companies withheld information to doctors regarding how  much mercury was contained in the vaccines until the FDA ordered them in 1997. We have  provided contact information for those of you with questions regarding possible suffering that  thimerosal has caused a loved one. Learn about your legal rights and help get thimerosal off the  shelves. 
The Dangers of Thimerosal and Mercury 
------------------------------------- 

In June of 1999, the Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products in Europe, the equivalent of  the U.S.’s FDA, completed an 18-month inquiry into the risks and benefits of using thimerosal in  vaccines. They concluded that, “although there is not evidence of harm caused by the level of  exposure from vaccines, it would be prudent to promote the general use of vaccines without  thimerosal.” It was then that the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER)  confirmed that thimerosal was present in over 30 licenses vaccines in the U.S. in concentrations of  0.003% to 0.01%. CBER than make the remarkable discovery than the mercury intake through  vaccination in the first six months of life exceeded the limit set by the EPA. 

Mercury is the second most toxic element on earth to plutonium. Toxicity of mercury has been linked  to many different diseases, including autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis,  fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, arthritis, depression, and bipolar disorder. The amount  of mercury found in one mercury thermometer is enough to pollute a small lake. 

Health effects of mercury toxicity have been a concern because of the potential for it to act as a  poison. Toxic doses of mercury can cause developmental effects in the fetus, as well as affecting the  kidney and the nervous system in children and adults. Mercury exists in a number of different  chemical forms, each one consisting of different levels of toxicity. The forms of mercury can also be  converted from one to another in the environment and in the body, so symptoms caused by mercury  poisoning depends on the precise chemical forms involved. 

Find out some of the US licensed vaccines that still contain thimerosal from the Vaccine Safety  Institute. Click here. 

Mercury can be toxic when inhaled, eaten, or when placed on the skin. Low concentrations of  mercury may appear to have no effect but signs of toxicity can develop later or become more  noticeable with continued exposure. When toxicity in humans takes place loss of feeling or a burning  sensation in arms and legs, psychological effects, loss of memory, loss of vision, loss of hearing,  paralysis, congenital malformations, kidney toxicity, and death may occur. Prenatal toxicity can result  in a child with normal appearance at birth but who later exhibits a developmental delay in the ability  to walk and/or talk. Because of the long latent period for observable effects, the need for treatment  may be recognized too late. 

Health effects vary according to the amount of mercury exposure is taken into the body. The health  risks of mercury at low levels of exposure remain uncertain, but this continues to be a highly  debatable topic with ongoing scientific investigation. Fetuses, infants and small children appear to be  particularly sensitive to mercury because their brains are still developing. Vaccines with mercury have  been considered to contribute to autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s Disease, and other  neurological conditions, and an FDA review conducted in 1998 determined that, at the time, children  who received the full complement of childhood vaccines were potentially exposed to levels of  mercury that were sometimes 30 to 50 times the acceptable levels established by the EPA. 

High-level exposures to mercury can cause serious effects or even be lethal. Several historical  examples of epidemic mercury poisonings in other parts of the world provide classic examples of  investigative epidemiology and toxicology and serve to highlight the reasons why regulators are  concerned about mercury. Effects on the brain and nervous system are frequently seen with  high-level exposures to mercury and can be quite severe. 
============================================================== 
18.) Lawyers Claim CDC Cooked Books on Mercury: Secret Report Reveals 
============================================================== 
Source: goodlight.net 

October 17, 2001 
Press release re internal CDC report on thimerosal and autism 

An announcement was made today by the law firm of Waters & Kraus, the firm that filed the first  known lawsuit alleging that a mercury preservative in children's vaccines caused neurological damage  to an infant ultimately diagnosed with autism. Waters & Kraus is leading a consortium of ten firms in  as many states that are actively prosecuting cases of this nature (firms listed below). Andy Waters,  the lead attorney in the cases, announced that his firm is now in possession of a previously  unreleased confidential report authored by Centers for Disease Control scientists which studied  autism as a potential neurological injury caused by mercury in children's vaccines. 

A different version of the report was made public and has been cited by the recent Institute of  Medicine study as inconclusive on the issue of whether the mercury-based vaccine preservative  known as thimerosal has contributed to cause a nationwide epidemic of regressive autism and other  neurological disorders in small children. The confidential version of the study, however, clearly  demonstrated that an exposure to more than 62.5 micrograms of mercury within the first three  months of life significantly increased a child's risk of developing autism. Specifically, the study found  a 2.48 times increased risk of autism - that is to say, children with the exposure were more than  twice as likely to develop autism as children not exposed. 

In the United States, courts of law have generally held that a relative increased risk of 2.0 or higher is  sufficient to substantiate that a given exposure causes disease. As but one example, in the case of  Cook v. United States, 545 F.Supp. 306, at 308 (Northern District - California 1982) the Court  stated that, "in a vaccine case, a relative risk greater than 2.0 establishes that there is a greater than  50% chance that the injury was caused by the vaccine." 

Waters indicated that, in many of the cases his firm has evaluated, including the case filed in a Texas  state court on behalf of the Counter family, the affected child received more than 62.5 micrograms of  mercury through pediatric vaccines in the first three months of life. 

The confidential report, which was obtained by the SAFEMINDS support and advocacy group,  states: "As for the exposure evaluated at 3 months of age, we found increasing risks of 'neurological  developmental disorders' with increasing cumulative exposure to thimerosal ... within the group of  'developmental disorders'... for the sub-group called 'specific delays,' and within this sub-group for  the specific disorder 'developmental speech disorder,' and for 'autism,' 'stuttering' and 'attention  deficit disorder.'" 

The report also contained the graph depicted below which illustrated the report's findings of a child's  increasing risk of developing the neurological symptoms of autism after receiving increasing amounts  of thimerosal. 

Graph 3: Relative risk - 95 % CI of Autism after different exposure levels of thimerosal at 3 months  of age, NCK & GHC (see www.vaccineinfo.net/autismHg.html  to view graph) 

Waters pointed out that the confidential study's lead author, Thomas Verstraeten, has since left the  Centers for Disease Control and is now employed by GlaxoSmithKline, a manufacturer of  thimerosal-containing vaccines for many years that is a defendant in numerous suits pending  nationwide. "We have asked GlaxoSmithKline to provide Mr. Verstraeten's deposition in order to  understand if conflict of interest issues may have played a role in the CDC's decision to keep this  report confidential, and specifically, their failure to reveal it to the Institute of Medicine." 

Waters called the report's contents and the fact that it was kept from the public as "shocking, but  unfortunately not surprising, given the political influence of pharmaceutical companies and the  tremendous liability they face if they are forced to compensate thousands of families for the costs of  care that these children require." Waters added that "no amount of money can give these children  back the potential that they were born with, and no amount of money will comfort the parents that  watched helplessly as their children literally just slipped away."

The purpose of the lawsuits his firm is  currently prosecuting, said Waters, is "to bring to the surface the truth on this issue, a truth that  government agencies seem unwilling to admit, perhaps for fear that parents will stop vaccinating their  children, and to force the companies that profited from this disastrous mistake to shoulder the  responsibility that so many families now bear on their own, often without even the aid of health  insurance benefits." 

============================================================== 
19.) Vaccine Information 
============================================================== 
Source:thimerosal-litigation.com 

A vaccine is a preparation containing the weakened or killed microorganisms that cause a particular  disease. When these substances are injected or taken orally, the body stimulates the immune system  to produce the necessary defenses against that disease. Adverse reactions to vaccines can occur  because of the organisms introduced into the body. 

Vaccine related damage provokes controversy of whether vaccines are good or bad. Vaccines and  diseases both pose risk so it is hard to decide which side to take. Unfortunately, few studies of the  long-term risks of vaccines exist. In July, as a pre-cursor to hearings into thimerosal-containing  vaccines and the neurodevelopmental outcomes of exposure to them, Immunization Safety Review  Committee questioned Dr. Laszlo Magos, author of Physiology and Toxicology of Mercury and an  internationally known expert in field. Two questions he was asked with his answers are as included: 

Have there been any studies, including animal studies, which have looked specifically at infant  ethylmercury exposure and the effect on neurological development?  "No, it has not been studied." 

What is thought to be currently the best hypothesis (if any) regarding the mechanism of neurotoxic  mechanism of neurotoxicity of organic Hg (mercury)?  "Unfortunately, there is no answer. Chang (1996) suggested four "major thoughts" on the mechanism  of actions. These "thoughts" have not reached the level of a hypotheses, and even less the level of  'the best hypothesis'." 

While parents struggle to make hard decisions involving the safety of their children with vaccination,  they receive mixed messages from the experts. Though no vaccines are perfectly safe the FDA has  gone from deeming thimerosal unsafe to asking vaccine manufacturers to voluntarily phase-out  thimerosal from their products. People are now wondering if the vaccines containing thimerosal are in  fact safe to use while clinics are using up the extra supplies they have kept stock of since the 1998  FDA request. 

Vaccination may damage children in several ways. Live or attenuated virus vaccination can actually  produce the infection that the vaccine is supposed to prevent. For example, live polio should never  be administered to a child who comes in contact with an HIV patient, for the attenuated virus can  "leap" to the HIV patient and produce polio. Reports exist of normal parents who have developed  polio from the viral vaccine given to their children. 

A second mechanism of damage comes from neurotoxic materials found sometimes in vaccines.  Thimerosal is the most widely discussed, since it contains mercury. The amount is small. Each  vaccine is equivalent to the amount of mercury found in a 6 oz. can of tuna fish. Nevertheless, some  argue that even these levels may be important in a vulnerable child. 

The third, and probably the most important theory of vaccine damage, relates to allergic reactions  and the development of an autoimmune response, stimulated by the vaccine and its adjuvant.  Vaccines always contain adjuvants, which are substances known to amplify the body's response to  the vaccine. These adjuvants are known to sometimes cause allergic and auto-immune responses on  their own. 

============================================================== 
20.) The facts about vaccine and autism by date 
============================================================== 
Source: Thimerosal-litigation.com 

October 3, 2001, “Chairman Burton Requests Recall Of 

Childhood Vaccines with Thimerosal,” 

Chairman Burton stated, “We cannot in good conscience leave Thimerosal-containing vaccines on  the shelf until used up, potentially exposing children to chemicals that may lead to neuro-developmental disorders. Mercury is toxic to the human body. I will be sending a letter this week to Secretary Thompson asking that these products be recalled. In the meantime, I am asking every doctor, every health clinic, and every facility that provides childhood immunizations to check your vaccine supplies and return all Thimerosal-containing vaccines and request Thimerosal-free vaccines.” Read More… 


July 25, 2001, “Major CDC Study on Thimerosal Flawed,” 

The author of a major study of the link between Vaccinations and Developmental Disorders, which  is widely quoted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has admitted that the  study is inaccurate in its findings. Dr. Thomas Verstraeten, of the CDC's National Immunization  Program, is quoted as saying, "One thing is for sure, there is certainly under-ascertainment of all  these [conditions] because some of the children are just not old enough to be diagnosed."

A  professor who has reviewed the research confirmed this. He stated that there were too few children  in the study to pick up all cases of autism. Additionally, it appears that the CDC is now reversing its  stand. According to the Sunday Times, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found a  "statistically significant" link between mercury in vaccines and developmental disorders, including  Attention Deficit Disorder and speech and language delays. The CDC, however, still recommends  vaccinations with thimerosal containing vaccines, saying there are safety measures in place to prevent  overdoses of mercury. Read More… 

July 4, 2001, “Effects of Ethylmercury Exposure in Infants Never Studied”  On July 26, 2001, the Institute of Medicine will conduct hearings into thimerosal-containing vaccines  and the neurodevelopmental outcomes of exposure to them. As a part of their preliminary research,  the Immunization Safety Review Committee questioned Dr. L�szl� Magos, author of Physiology and  Toxicology of Mercury and an internationally known expert in field. How can we ever believe the  reports that attempt to validate the use of vaccines which contain thimerosal, when there have been  NO STUDIES done on this important question, according to Dr. Magos? And how can we believe  the theories that have been proposed on how mercury works to damage the neurological system of  the body, when there hasn't even been a hypothesis made on this question. Read More… 

April 26, 2001, Statement By Karen Midthun, M.D., Director Office of Vaccines Research and  Review Center For Biologics Evaluation and Research Food and Drug Administration Department  of Health and Human Services, Before the Committee on Government Reform United States  Representatives. Read More… 

January 15, 2001, “Healthcast: Vaccines With Mercury Cause Controversy Medical Community 
Debates Safety of Thimerosal” 

While childhood immunizations are important for maintaining good health, WTAE-TV medical editor  Marilyn Brooks reports that there may be something dangerous in those shots. A mercury-based  preservative called thimerosal is commonly used in several vaccines, Brooks reports. 

Doctors are debating whether the preservative gives parents cause for concern, but Brooks says that  mercury-free vaccinations for children are available upon request. 

Congressman Dan Burton recently asked the Food and Drug Administration to recall all vaccines  containing mercury, but Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, citing extensive safety  testing, refused the request. 

Brooks reports that no case has been documented which proves that vaccines with thimerosal cause  mercury poisoning. Read More... 

“Uproar over a little-known preservative, thimerosal, jostles U.S. hepatitis B vaccination policy”  Read the entire report… 

October 26, 2000, “Chairman Burton Requests Vaccine Recall”  In an October 25, 2000 letter to HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN),  Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, requested a recall of all vaccines  containing Thimerosal. The mercury-based product Thimerosal is added to vaccines as a  preservative. On July 18, 2000 the Committee conducted a hearing entitled, “Mercury in Medicine:  Are We Taking Unnecessary Risks?” During the hearing, the FDA admitted that children are being  exposed to unsafe levels of mercury through vaccines containing Thimerosal. It was also determined  that symptoms of mercury poisoning mimic symptoms of autism -- a disease that has reached  epidemic levels in the United States. However, the FDA has chosen to allow pharmaceutical  companies to merely phase out their use of Thimerosal, leaving mercury-containing vaccines at public  and private health facilities. Read More… 


June 18, 2000, The committee conducted a hearing entitled, “Mercury in Medicine: Are We Taking  Unnecessary Risks?”  During the hearing, the FDA admitted that children are being exposed to unsafe levels of mercury  through vaccines containing Thimerosal. It was also determined that symptoms of mercury poisoning  mimic symptoms of autism -- a disease that has reached epidemic levels in the United States.  However, the FDA has chosen to allow pharmaceutical companies to merely phase out their use of  Thimerosal, leaving mercury-containing vaccines at public and private health facilities. Read More… 

July 11, 2000, “Mercury Toxicity” 

Methyl-mercury exposure is a “widespread and persistent problem in the environment” and may  cause neurological problems in 60,000 children born in the U.S. each year, according to a report  released today by a panel of National Academy of Sciences experts. Read More… 

July 10, 1999, “Mercury Alert: US Urges For Delay For Hepatitis B Vaccine” 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) and vaccine  manufacturers have announced, that because of potential health risks, thimerosal-containing vaccines  should be removed from circulation as soon as possible. Thimerosal contains mercury and is made  from a combination of ethyl mercuric chloride, thiosalicylic acid, sodium hydroxide and ethanol. It is  used as a preservative in many recombinant vaccines, such as the Hepatitis B, diptheria, pertussis,  acellular pertussis, tetanus, and Hib vaccines. Read More… 

============================================================== 
21.) vaccines that contain thimerosal 
============================================================== 
DTaP Acel-Imune 
Lederle Laboratories 
Tripedia Pasteur Merieux Connaught 
Certiva North American Vaccine 
DTwP All products 
DT All products 
Td All products 
TT All products 
DtwP-Hib Tetramune Lederle Laboratories 
TriHIBit Pasteur Merieux Connaught 
HibTITER (multidose) Lederle Laboratories 
ProHIBit4 Pasteur Merieux Connaught 
Hepatitis B virus Engerix-B SmithKline Beecham 
Recombivax HB Merck Influenza All 
Meningococcal Menomune A, C, AC and A/C/Y/W-135 CLI 
Pneumococcal Pnu-Imune 23 Lederle Laboratories 

Rabies Rabies Vaccine Adsorbed BioPort Corporation 
============================================================== 
22.) The secret world of the autism. 
============================================================== 
Source: The national, Newspaper of Venezuela from 4/05/02, t 

Taken of the magazine TIME, by Amy Bonestel/Atlanta 
============================================================== 
23.) [Lichen planus and vaccination against hepatitis B] 
tO: Lichen plan et vaccination anti-hepatite B. 
============================================================ 
AU: Lefort-A; Dachary-D; Vergier-B; Boiron-G 
AD: Service d'Anatomopathologie, Hopital du Haut Leveque, Pessac. 
SO: Ann-Dermatol-Venereol. 1995; 122(10): 701-3 
ISSN: 0151-9638 
PY: 1995 
LA: FRENCH; NON-ENGLISH 
CP: FRANCE 

AB: INTRODUCTION: The association of lichen planus with liver diseases is  now well established. Lichen planus following hepatitis B vaccination are  much more unusual. We report here the fifth case of this kind.

CASE REPORT: 

 A 16 years old girl developed a purely cutaneous lichen planus one week  after the first injection of hepatitis B vaccine Gen Hevac B (Institut  Pasteur), which appeared again 3 days after the second injection. The  histologic features shown lichenoid pattern with intense keratinocytes  necrosis more in favor of lichenoid drug eruption than lichen planus. 

 DISCUSSION: According to our knowledge, only four similar cases have been  previously reported. Comparison between the different vaccines used shows  that only the HBs antigen and its epitope S could be involved in the lichen  planus eruption. Our case is specific due to the early appearance of the  eruption after the first injection and by its histologic features.  CONCLUSION: New cases of lichen planus following hepatitis B vaccination  should help to explain the causal relationship between lichen planus  eruption and hepatitis B vaccination.  ============================================================== 
24.) ALERTAS SOBRE LA SEGURIDAD DE MEDICAMENTOS 
NOTA INFORMATIVA DEL COMITÉ DE SEGURIDAD DE MEDICAMENTOS SOBRE 
TIOMERSAL 
============================================================== 
Source: www.sefh.es   / Sociedad Española de Farmacia Hospitalaria. 

El Tiomersal es un conservante de tipo órgano mercurial cuya acción antimicrobiana se basa en la  liberación de etilmercurio. El tiomersal se ha venido empleando durante muchos años en la  fabricación de medicamentos; en el caso concreto de las vacunas, se utiliza como conservante en el  producto terminado. Sin embargo, la exposición acumulada a etilmercurio procedente de distintas  fuentes (alimentos, medicamentos) puede constituir un motivo de preocupación.  

Recientemente el Centro para el Control y Prevención de las Enfermedades (CDC) de Estados  Unidos ha evaluado los resultados de varios estudios epidemiológicos que fueron diseñados para  establecer si existe algún riesgo de desarrollar alteraciones neurológicas asociadas a la utilización de  vacunas formuladas con tiomersal. Los hallazgos derivados de estos estudios no permiten alcanzar  conclusiones científicamente validas por lo que se hace necesaria la necesaria de mas estudios. 

El Comité de Especialidades Farmaceuticas (CPMP) de la Agencia Europea de Evaluación de  Medicamentos (EMEA), que cuenta con representación española, ha venido promoviendo la  utilización de vacunas exentas de mercurio en su composición y, en esa línea, ha solicitado a los  Laboratorios farmacéuticos fabricantes de vacunas que propongan planes de fabricación en los que  se excluya la utilización de órgano mercuriales como conservantes en el producto final.  

En concordancia con este objetivo, la Agencia Española del Medicamento hizo publica el pasado  día 13 de marzo de 2000 la Circular 1/2000 en la que, además de requerir la inclusión en fichas  técnicas y prospectos de las pertinentes advertencias sobre el riesgo de aparición de reacciones  alérgicas descritas con los conservantes de tipo órgano mercurial, insta a los Laboratorios  productores de vacunas a intensificar sus esfuerzos al efecto de eliminar de forma definitiva la  presencia de los mencionados conservantes. 

En el momento actual, ninguna de las nuevas solicitudes de autorizaciones de vacunas pendientes de  aprobación en la Unión Europea incluyen al tiomersal como conservante. Las nuevas vacunas para  inmunización infantil exentas de tiomersal como conservante están pendientes de aprobación por  procedimiento centralizado y se prevé que estarán disponibles en Europa a finales de este año. Las  vacunas de Hepatitis B libres de tiomersal estarán disponibles en Europa en agosto de 2000. Para el  resto de vacunas se esta trabajando actualmente en la eliminación del tiomersal como conservante;  este proceso va a requerir introducir modificaciones en algunas fases del proceso de fabricación por  lo que resulta imposible prever el plazo para su conclusión. 

Teniendo en cuenta todo lo anterior, la Agencia Española del Medicamento considera que los  beneficios de la vacunación en la población general e infantil son muy superiores a los riesgos  potenciales, si es que existen, derivados de la exposición a vacunas que contienen tiomersal 
EL SUBDIRECTOR GENERAL 
DE SEGURIDAD DE MEDICAMENTOS 
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25.) Strong Association of the Third 
Hypervariable Region of HLA-DRb1 with Autism 
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Source: www.enabling.org 

Copyright by Michael Jones, Bill Elkus, Jim Lyles, and Lisa Lewis 1995, 1996, 1997 - All rights 
reserved worldwide. 

Disclaimer 
Feedback to the Listowners. 


By Reed P. Warren, J. Dennis Odell, W. Louise Warren, Roger A. Burger, 
Alma Maciulis, Wayne W. Daniels and Anthony R. Torres 

The Center for Persons with Disabilities and the Department of Biology, 
Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322. 

Address all correspondence to Reed P. Warren, Ph.D., UMC 6895, Utah 
State University, Logan, Utah, 84322, USA, Telephone: (801) 797-1924, 
FAX: (801) 797-2044, E-mail: [email protected] 


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Summary 
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We reported that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) including  the null allele of the C4B gene and the extended haplotype B44-C30-DR4  is associated with autism. We report now that the third hypervariable  region (HVR-3) of certain DRb1 alleles have very strong association with  autism. The HVR-3 of DRb1*0401 or the shared HVR-3 alleles DRb1*0404  and DRb1*0101, was expressed on extended haplotypes in 23 of 50 (46%)  autistic subjects as compared to only 6 of 79 (7.5%) normal subjects.  Another HVR-3 sequence, the DRb1*0701 allele, was carried on extended  haplotypes in 16 (32.0%) of the autistic subjects as compared to 8  (10.1%) of the normal subject 
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26.) Vaccine Induced Demyelination 
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Source:healing-arts.org 

Myelination is an essential part of human brain development. Nerves can only conduct pulses of  energy efficiently if covered by myelin. Like insulation on an electric wire, the fatty coating of myelin  keeps the pulses confined and maintains the integrity of the electrical signal so that it has a high  signal-to-noise ratio. When the insulation on a wire is damaged or destroyed, the flow of electrical  current may be interrupted and a short-circuit occurs.  Oligodendrocyte cells give white matter its color by manufacturing myelin. If myelin falls into  disrepair, nerve axons cease to function, even though they themselves aren't damaged. Protecting  oligodendrocytes after brain or spinal cord injury might keep nerve cells intact. 

At birth, relatively few pathways have myelin insulation. Myelination in the human brain continues  from before birth until at least 20 years of age. Up until the age of 10 or so, vast areas of the cortex  are not yet myelinated. Up to the age of 20, large areas of the frontal lobes are not yet myelinated.

1 myelination begins in the developmentally oldest parts of the brain, like the brain stem, moving to the  areas of the nervous system that have developed more recently, like the prefrontal lobe and cortex.  Myelin spreads throughout the nervous system in stages, which vary slightly in each individual.  Impairment of myelination can alter neural communication without necessarily causing severe CNS  (central nervous system) damage. 

The prefrontal portions of the cerebrum have a profound influence on human behavior.

2 If an  individual is injected with vaccines,most of which have adjuvants like mercury and aluminum  compounds, as well as foreign proteins (some from other species in which the vaccines were grown)  and biological organisms, unprotected nerves may be impacted. The argument for a role of vaccines  in the development of autistic disorders hinges on these biological effects upon nerves, damaging  them in a way that influences behavior and learning patterns. 

The argument for adjuvants evoking an auto-immune response does not hinge on any inherent  neuro-toxicity of these compounds, but on the initiation of an allergic response. 

The model by which adjuvants initiate an immune response is that of Experimental Allergic  Encephalomyelitis (EAE). To date, EAE is recognized as the best available animal model of several  degenerative human diseases, like multiple sclerosis and post-vaccinal encephalopathies. EAE3 is  generally thought to be an autoimmune response to myelin basic protein (MBP). Oddly, MBP can  also suppress EAE, and many observations suggest that an independent immune response to  so-called "adjuvant" material is also necessary to EAE induction. Of course, this is why adjuvants are  used in vaccines, to dramatically increase the likelihood of an immune response to the administered  biological material. 

Thus, EAE may be a result of a pair of interactive immune responses, one against MBP, and one  against the adjuvant. If so, the adjuvant should, like MBP, suppress EAE. Root-Bernstein, et al.  (1986) presented data from experiments on strain 13 guinea pigs demonstrating EAE suppression by  muramyl dipeptide, an active component of complete Freund's adjuvant. In the past, adjuvants have  only been classified as immunopotentiators, not immunosuppressants. Apparently, adjuvants are  both. This study strengthens the argument that adjuvants may be crucial to initiating an auto-immune  response leading to post-vaccine neurological symptoms.

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DATA-MÉDICOS/DERMAGIC-EXPRESS No 4-(114)  15/05/2.002 DR. JOSÉ LAPENTA R. 
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