viduals rather than the average person.                                                                                                                                                               

Third, the population distribution for mercury sensitivity, like that for nearly all toxins, is log normal; thus, statistically, a small percentage of the exposed population, if large enough, will be impaired at the lowest doses. The fact that some small percentage will be impaired at a very low dose is not just theoretical. It has been found true for certain strains of mice and rats, and it was also true for the form of mercury poisoning called acrodynia, which impaired approximately 1 in 500 children early in this century even at low doses. Clarkson describes acrodynia as being independent of dose and arising more from age and individual sensitivity.

And finally, the risk assessment for vaccines does not take into consideration that infants may receive mercury from maternal sources, including maternal dental fillings and Rhogam shots which Rh negative women receive multiple times during pregnancy, each of which contains 30 micrograms of ethylmercury.

Thimerosal is not a necessary component of vaccines, and every child can be fully immunized today with a non-thimerosal alternative. Immense harm has been caused by thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Do not risk permanent neurological damage to another child by allowing the continued use of thimerosal-containing vaccines. Official policy should err on the side of safety. Rather than waiting for formal studies to determine whether thimerosal should be taken out, the FDA should require that
thimerosal be banned entirely from childhood vaccines immediately.

April 24, 2000
US Rep. Dan Burton responds to Rep. Henry Waxman
essay in The Los Angleles Times

Is it Harmful to Publicly Discuss the Possible Autism-Vaccine Link?
On April 6, the Government Reform Committee conducted a hearing entitled: "Autism - Present Challenges, Future Needs - Why the Increased Rates?"   We heard a variety of perspectives about autism's possible causes and treatments from numerous witnesses, including those requested by the committee's ranking minority member Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA).

Mr. Waxman apparently believes that having a dialogue about the possible links between autism and vaccines is dangerous. He suggests that the Committee ignore the near-epidemic rise in autism, and hide the discussion from the public eye so that parents will continue to vaccinate their children without awareness of the growing concern about adverse events. This conversation is already taking place at the National Institutes of Health, the Center for Disease Control, as well as among parents and physicians.

Autism used to strike about 1 in 10,000 children. However, the rates have escalated dramatically in recent years. According to the Department of Education, during the 1997-1998 school year many states had 5 or more children per 1,000 with autism. California's rates are even higher at 7 children per 1,000.  As a Congressman and a parent, I was disturbed to learn of the lack of long-term research in vaccines. A recent report from the Institute of Medicine stated that "few vaccines for any disease have been actively monitored for adverse effects over long periods of time."

How can we ignore the pleas of parents who have watched their children become imprisoned by autism shortly after receiving their routine immunizations? We heard from hundreds of families whose stories mirrored what I saw happen with my own grandson--healthy, outgoing, talkative children until receiving their first Mumps Measles Rubella (MMR) vaccine between 13 and 18 months of age, usually delivered with 6 other vaccines. Some of the adverse reactions these children experienced included: sleeping for long periods of time the first day, running a fever, prolonged screaming when waking, head banging, and loss of speech and social skills. Soon after experiencing these reactions, these children were eventually diagnosed with autism - all within a few days to a few weeks of receiving the vaccine.

Moreover, these children with acquired autism also seem to have immune system dysfunctions. Many of these children develop chronic diarrhea, suffering from 10 to 12 times a day with acidic diarrhea. Instead of treating it as a medical condition, doctors have passed this chronic condition off as "something autistic kids get," leaving these children to suffer in silence with the pain.

After visiting two major medical centers in the Chicago area and not receiving any assistance for her autistic son's chronic diarrhea, Liz Burt took her son to London to be evaluated at the Royal Free Hospital. Through x-ray, they learned her son had a bowel obstruction the size of a small melon. The obstruction was cleared, and a biopsy of lesions in his bowel found the measles virus. Matthew is home now and on medication for chronic irritable bowel disorder and sleeping through the night for the first time in three years.

Let me be very clear: I am not suggesting that we stop vaccinating our children. I support the appropriate delivery of safe vaccines to healthy children after parents have been fully informed. However, I do support a comprehensive, long-term, medical study on the possible links between autism and vaccines so that parents are sure that the vaccines being given to their children are safe. Presently, children in this country receive up to 24 vaccines shots before they start school. Every parent should insist that they read the package insert of vaccines before they are given. The manufacturer lists the known adverse effects and the ingredients, and some of the present ingredients may shock them--aluminum, MSG, formaldehyde, and mercury. In fact, in the first six months of life, the amount of mercury that is injected into children through vaccines exceeds the federal safety guidelines. The Food and Drug Administration knows that mercury can cause neuro-developmental delays, yet has licensed these mercury-containing vaccines anyway. Why? Why are we injecting known toxic substances into our children at any level?

Instead of hiding our heads in the sand to protect the status quo, it is time to admit that the United States Government has failed the American public by not funding adequate studies to determine the long-term effects of vaccines on our children and future generations. We have yet to conduct adequate scientific research to rule out a connection between vaccines and autism, or to determine whether low-birth weight or pre-term babies should receive the same dose of vaccine and use the same shot schedule. We have not funded studies or research to indicate whether it is okay to vaccinate a child who has repeated ear infections and rounds of antibiotics, or to determine what children are likely to be adversely affected by vaccines.

It is time to start treating autism like a disease, and to be more aggressive in treating the medical conditions from which these children suffer. It is time for the Department of Health and Human Services to be aggressive in funding independent research on autism, the long-term effects of vaccines and their ingredients, and the links between vaccines and acquired autism.

No one in Congress wants to see epidemics of infectious diseases return. We must, however, be careful that we do not trade infectious diseases for chronic diseases for which there is presently no cure.U.S. Representative Dan Burton (R-Indiana - 6th District) is the Chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and has served on the Committee on International Relations since 1985.

Index of vaccine articles     Spring 2000 issue of The Civil Abolitionist

Spring 2000  issue of "C-paper"         

"Study confirms autism increase" San Jose Mercury News Apr 26, 2000