Originally published August 4 2005
U.S. health officials claim no link exists between vaccines and autism
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
As a growing number of activists begin to voice their belief that thimerasol (which contains mercury and was used in the past in vaccines) causes autism in children, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and representatives of the National Institutes of Health, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Food and Drug Administration claimed at a news conference that vaccines used in children are safe.
Federal health officials affirmed the safety of vaccines on Tuesday in an unusual news conference called to counter a growing movement alleging that vaccines can cause autism.
Autism activists planned a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to press their contention that the government has covered up evidence linking autism to a mercury-based product once used in vaccines.
Several reports, including a review of all the studies from the independent Institute of Medicine, have found no evidence that vaccines cause autism.
But some groups of parents allege a cover-up, and some have resisted vaccinating their children -- leading to outbreaks of disease such as measles and whooping cough in Britain, Netherlands and elsewhere.
They believe there is evidence that at least some children are sensitive to mercury, including the mercury in thimerosal.
The CDC officials, as well as representatives of the National Institutes of Health, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Food and Drug Administration, made it clear they believed some of the groups were relying on incomplete information.
Gerberding mentioned one report that as many as one in 166 U.S. children have autism, and said more studies were needed to get a "better and more reliable handle" on how many cases there are.
Said Dr. Eileen Ouellette, president-elect of American Academy of Pediatrics: "We want to discover the causes of autism as well as how to prevent it and treat it, but the evidence does not point to vaccines as one of those causes."
Even as health officials hoped the debate had finally been laid to rest, it gained new life with a book by former journalist David Kirby alleging a potential link, and a television interview last week in which Robert Kennedy Jr., nephew of slain president John F. Kennedy, alleged a conspiracy.
Kirby, who plans to speak at the rally on Wednesday, said he was surprised the CDC held a news conference with no new study to announce.
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