Father of Three Autistic Boys Speaks Out--in Favor of Vaccines

Please take the time to read this post from Rob's blog Lost & Tired. He is the father of three boys, all of whom fall somewhere on the spectrum.

Biography of a Measles Outbreak

Wondering how a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak can spread? Wired offers a clear-eyed view from the Arizona measles outbreak. As parents facing the choice about whether to immunize our children, we owe it to them to understand the truth about the presence of vaccine-preventable diseases in our country and communities, how they get here, and how they spread. You can read the story of the Arizona measles outbreak here, but below you'll find an excerpt from the play-by-play of how that outbreak unfolded. If any non-vaccinating parent has told you that these diseases are effectively gone in the United States, and that immunization is unnecessary, take a look at how measles spread in Arizona. Please also take special note of two facts: one, that the outbreak was started by an adult who had traveled to another country and returned to the United States and two, that many of the victims were children who had intentionally been left unvaccinated as well as infants who had not had a chance to be vaccinated:


In February 2008, a 37-year-old Swiss woman who had never been vaccinated against measles arrived in Tucson after a visit to Mexico. She developed breathing problems and a rash and went to a local hospital’s emergency room. They suspected she had a viral illness and admitted her.

Here’s what you have to know, to understand what happened next. Measles is extremely contagious; up to 90 percent of unvaccinated people who are exposed to it will get it. And if someone nearby has it, youwill get exposed — because coughed-out measles virus can travel across a room, and hangs in the air for hours. The best protection against spreading measles in a hospital is putting someone in a negative-pressure isolation room, which is engineered so no air can leak out into the rest of the hospital. It took two days to get the Swiss tourist into isolation, because measles is rare enough in the US that it was not the hospital personnel’s first thought.

Meanwhile:

A 50-year-old woman who had spent an hour in the ER at the same time as the Swiss woman caught the disease from her. Patient 2 got taken care of, went home, and started feeling feverish nine days later. She had difficulty breathing and thought at first she was having an asthma attack, so she went back to the hospital and was admitted for two days. That she had measles would not be discovered until six days after that.

While she was  in the hospital, Patient 2 unknowingly infected a 41-year-old health care worker who took care of her — and who was scheduled to get a measles-vaccine booster shot that very day, because the hospital was also caring for the tourist. Patient 2 also passed measles to an unvaccinated 11-month-old boy who was in the same ER while she was waiting to get checked for asthma, and to two unvaccinated siblings — 3 and 5 years old — who were visiting their mother on the same hospital floor after Patient 2 was admitted.

Patient 3, the health-care worker, passed measles to a 47-year-old woman in her emergency department — who later  ended up in an intensive care unit with measles pneumonia — and later to a 41-year-old man in his home. Patient 4, the toddler, gave the virus to an unvaccinated 1-year-old while they were both in the same pediatrician’s office. Five other people were infected somewhere in their everyday lives: a 2-year-old boy who had never been vaccinated and who also ended up in an ICU with seizures brought on by high fever; a 9-month-old and an 8-month-old, also unvaccinated; and two adults, 35 and 37, who might have gotten one dose as children, but had no documentation of receiving a second dose.

Those 14 are just the confirmed cases. In addition to them, there were 363 suspected ones, and today’s paper makes clear authorities believe there were more illnesses than they know. And for every known case, there were dozens or hundreds of exposed people who had to be checked: 145 passengers on the tourist’s flight from Mexico, 1,795 patients in the ER that treated Patient 2, 25 people who attended church with Patient 7, 10 kids in the same day care center as Patient 8.

I'm Mad, Part One: Mercury/Thimerosal

New and expecting parents are bombarded with information about all the bad things they'll need to keep their children away from: BPA in bottles, parabens in lotions and bath supplies, phthalates and PVC in toys and teethers. It can be overwhelming. And yet the science linking these three chemicals to negative health effects is thus far nearly conclusive (I will link to CDC studies on these chemicals at the end of the article). Luckily, phasing them out of your life is a risk-free and mostly hassle-free endeavor. Most if not all baby bottles today are free from BPA; in some states, including Minnesota, phthalates are not allowed in children's products. Parabens are easily identifiable in personal products (look for methylparaben, butylparane, propylparaben) and can be avoided. There is no trade-off. You are not putting your child at risk by choosing a BPA-free bottle.

So after crossing those things off the list, new and expecting parents often turn to vaccines. And many of them make the same mistake I made as a new parent. They turn to Google, the place where eminent scientific mind Jenny McCarthy says she got her "degree."The first sites we find are not Every Child By Two and the Centers for Disease Control, the Gates Foundation and Partners in Health. Instead, we find sites like the so-called National Vaccine Information Center, which masquerades as an impartial watchdog agency (hence the "org" in its web address), and Vaccines.net, which claims that vaccines cause all sorts of diseases and allergies. For the neophyte, it is nearly impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff here, and the effort to do so can be absolutely terrifying.

You will hear lots of terrible things about vaccines. Nearly all of them are lies. The word "lie" is inflammatory, but I use it here deliberately. It is a word, and a characterization, you will not see on public health websites, from the CDC, from Every Child by Two, or any of the sites of organizations whose job it is to study the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Even though they know this is true. 

But we're parents who have been on both sides of this debate. We've been scared, too. But after looking at the science and putting things in perspective--something the anti-vax community will not do, perhaps because they are incapable, perhaps because their science literacy is so low--we got mad. 

I'm mad about lots of things. We all are. In an effort to save some new parents the same heartache, worry, anxiety that we suffered as we tried to figure out the vaccine thing--and to keep parents from delaying their children's immunizations out of fear, as a few of us did before we understood our mistake, putting our kids' lives at risk in the process--we are initiating a series of "I'm Mad" posts. These posts will address some of the most volatile but common claims anti-vaxxers make when trying to scare new parents out of immunizing their children. Today we start with the thimerosal question.

Claim: Thimerosal in vaccines causes/caused autism. If it doesn't, it's still toxic. 

I worried about thimerosal for a while. People told me it was straight-up mercury being injected into my child's body. Mercury is poison, right? It's what is causing all this autism, because although thimerosal has been used a preservative in vaccines for decades, without the attendant rise in autism, our kids just get so many more immunizations now, right? 

Well--except that thimerosal hasn't been in vaccines since 2000/2001 and autism rates continue to skyrocket. I shouldn't have to point out, but I will, that this is the exact opposite effect of what we'd see if thimerosal caused autism, as anti-vaxxers long claimed. I later learned that the preservative had been taken out of vaccines by the government and public health authorities not because of any toxicity concerns but because parents believed the Wakefield study and they feared vaccination rates would fall if this gesture was not made. Thimerosal does not cause autism (Immunizations and Autism: A Review of the Literature in the Canadian Journal of Neuroscience). 

Mercury poisoning? That sounds scary. Except that your typical tuna sandwich contains much more mercury than a single vaccine. Actually, the mercury in tuna is scarier, because it is methyl mercury, a serious neurotoxin, while the mercury in vaccines is ethyl mercury, which is, even at high doses, far less toxic than methyl mercury (but in the doses we're talking about in vaccines are literally traces anyway). Bottom line: mercury poisoning is an impossibility when it comes to vaccines, even if you were to get the whole course of childhood vaccines (back when they contained thimerosal) in a single week.

But here's the main point that goes overlooked. Right now, vaccines are nearly the lowest-risk medicine we have available to us. The reports of adverse effects--which include fever and soreness at the injection site--are so low compared to the number of doses administered, that they are considered one of the safest, if not the single safest, medicine in the world. And their benefits are this: they keep your child alive. It is as simple as that.

Too few of us parents have seen measles. I know of no one who has seen polio, except for people who have lived in Afghanistan and India, where polio is still endemic. Endemic. This means it is "regularly" found in a population. Know anyone who travels to India? Might there be any children at your local school who have Indian relatives? I know there are at least eight in my child's preschool alone. I hasten to add that their parents didn't think twice about immunizing them, because of their travels and because they, too, had seen these diseases take lives when they were growing up. Is there a reason why your husband or wife might be required to get a polio shot if he/she hasn't gotten one if she/he is deployed to Afghanistan? This stuff is a plane ride away. And it is not theoretical.

Haven't seen what Tetanus looks like? Here is a photo of a child with tetanus. Here is a photo of a child who suffered polio. Measles looks like this. Is it worth forgoing vaccines against diseases like this, and many others, that are absolutely extant in our world and either in this country (or in my case, my state) or a plane ride away, carried home by an unwitting traveler much like the toddler who brought measles back to Minnesota from Kenya this winter, because of fear of a toxicity that simply doesn't exist? It's something to consider. For me, it became an easy answer when considered this way. 

Science-Based Medicine offers a look at the claims of toxicity of vaccines that you are likely to hear as you explore the vaccine question. We owe it to ourselves to read the post in its entirety before making any decisions about whether or not to get on board with some of the more inflammatory claims we still hear from people who don't vaccinate their children and don't want you to vaccinate either. 

You can also get the word from these organizations. Below are links to their statements on the safety/toxicity of thimerosal. Again, this is really a moot point, as no childhood vaccines, save the multi-dose vial version of the flu shot, contain any thimerosal. But it's a point worth making, as it demonstrates the ways anti-vax proponents will manipulate and misinterpret the science to new parents, hoping that most of them won't bother to look into their claims.

World Health Organization's Statement on Thimerosal

 Centers for Disease Control Statement on Thimerosal

FDA on Thimerosal

Journal of Pediatrics publishes study on mercury in vaccines

Mom to Mom: Pam's Story

Pam's son Zachary

I received all of my vaccinations on time as a child growing up. My mother was a medical technologist and had taken blood from a patient infected with measles. She had seen these diseases first hand. I began to look more deeply into vaccines when I was pregnant with my first child, during the fall/winter of 2009. I knew the H1N1 flu vaccine was recommended, especially for pregnant women, and I was considering whether I should get the H1N1 vaccine as well as the regular flu vaccine. The first thing I did was talk to family and friends who were pregnant or had been pregnant to find out what they had done. I spoke to people who were pro-vaccine as well as people who were anti-vaccine. My own doctor's strong recommendation as well as hearing about pregnant women who had died from H1N1 led me to get both flu vaccines while pregnant. After my decision to vaccinate myself, I began further research about vaccines for my baby. I found that a lot of what I heard and read from the anti-vaccine side had a strong basis in fear and "what if" thinking. What if vaccines cause autism? What if vaccines are causing the rise in allergies among children? While these possibilities triggered what I would call the "fear mind," my rational mind was able to look at the research available online, much of which I found through Ashley's blog (Science for Sale). I saw that the research overwhelmingly supported the safety of vaccines. I could also see that the pro-vaccine argument was research-based, history proven, and logical. In addition to online research, I questioned pediatricians whenever I had the opportunity. I spoke with 5 different pediatricians who all recommended vaccinating without reserve. They said they vaccinated their own children and grandchildren. They spoke of the dangers of not vaccinating. We decided to vaccinate our son Zachary, and he has received all his vaccinations on time starting from the day he was born. He has been extremely healthy and the only reaction to the vaccines has been a couple hours of being tired and cranky. I do still get nervous when I bring him to get vaccinated. I wish the doctors gave more information about what he is being vaccinated for and the ingredients in the vaccine and the safety of those ingredients. Regarding those details, I had to find out the information on my own. I understand doctors and nurses are busy and weary of the vaccine debate, but I think it would help parents who are nervous about vaccines to have more access to information. 

Regarding my interaction with the anti-vaccine community, I have had a hard time with this because I have three cousins who I was very close with growing up who are not vaccinated. Their father is a chiropractor and for whatever reason did not trust that vaccines were safe. They are now all having babies of their own, and the vaccine issue has surfaced in discussion and emails. The discussion can get contentious, and I don't want to create a bad relationship with family members, so I try to relay the pro-vaccine argument as clearly and objectively as possible. Although I have not expressed my personal fears to my cousins for fear of ruining our relationship completely, I do fear for my son who is almost 11 months and has not received all his vaccinations yet. I want my children to be able to play with and know their cousins, but as a mother I know I have to protect my child in the best way I can. I would feel responsible if he contracted a vaccine-preventable illness from people who I knew were not vaccinated. I know that I'm taking a risk when my son is around these family members and its an issue that I still struggle with. 


If you are a parent who chooses to vaccinate and would like to share your story, please send us your story. We are also always looking for cute pictures of your vaccinated baby or child for our "Cute Vaccinated Kid of the Week"!

Change the Name!

There's something unintimidating about watching your child receive the rotovirus vaccine. It's a drop in the mouth, something that, while not exactly palatable, doesn't prick. I'm sure from a child's point-of-view, this is a preferable way to receive an immunization. I've often told my friends that all immunizations should be administered this way. It seems to be human nature to react to a large needle dripping with medicine with suspicion, especially if that needle is heading for our baby's tender thigh. The truth, of course, is that we should be eagerly awaiting this immunization so we can sit back and relax for the first time since the baby was born and feel somewhat sure he or she is at least minimally protected from pretty awful diseases. And many of us parents do feel that way, but I think it takes some practice. As humans we are very susceptible to the way things are presented to us. In George Lakoff's book Don't Think of an Elephant, the concept of "framing" information played on this human tendency. I think it might be time for those of us who vaccinate to consider re-framing the "vaccine" question by taking a small but potentially powerful step. It's time to stop letting anti-vax activists dictate the debate. Here is one way to do it.

Stop using the word vaccine.

Some, like me and a couple other of the Moms Who Vax, consider the word almost ruined. The word immunization, on the other hand, feels unassaulted and it doesn't raise the blood temperature in the same way vaccine seems to do. Yes, we call ourselves Moms Who Vax--but Moms Who Immunize just didn't have the same ring to it. But choosing the words we use to talk about this issue can have an effect. It's a small idea, perhaps too small, but I believe that instead of trying to reclaim the term "vaccine" we should plant our flag on "immunization." So, with a few exceptions, you will see vaccines referred to as immunizations on this blog, and if you are a parent who immunizes, I ask that you consider referring to vaccines the same way. And if you're interested in learning more about Lakoff's theories on framing, please check out this article on his ideas.

View from the Exam Room: Baby's First Immunizations

Today my younger sister took her two-month-old daughter to get her first vaccinations. She asked me to be present. After we talked to the doctor about the baby's bowel movements, her tendency to spit up, her impressive head and neck strength, we got the vaccination question. At that point, my sister got tongue-tied, and she turned to me.

"Obviously you don't turn away unvaccinated children," I jumped in, "but I think what my sister is concerned about is exposure to infected unvaccinated children in your waiting room. We can't control the general population--who knows who is vaccinated and who isn't when we go to the mall. But several infants have been infected in waiting rooms and emergency rooms by unvaccinated children waiting for treatment." The doctor nodded and seemed grateful to hear from a couple of so-called "pro-vax" moms for once.

"You're right," she said. "We don't turn away unvaccinated children. We try to convince the parents to vaccinate, of course, and give them the facts." She continued. "We had a case of measles here on Friday." It was like the air was sucked out of the room. The doctor was pregnant herself. I mentioned that I thought that must have been a bit scary for her. "Luckily, I was on the other side of the clinic at the time," she said. "But we have very clear protocols for handling that."
"Do other parents have the right to be notified?" my sister asked.
"Yes, we notify anyone who might have been in the waiting room that day, and if we suspect the child has measles, we put him in a specific room in the clinic."

I looked at my sister. This didn't see like enough. And I agreed. "It's really refreshing to hear from this point of view," the doctor added. "Parents who are concerned about unvaccinated children." She told us that since the Twin Cities measles outbreak, some parents who had, to this point, left their children unvaccinated had relented and brought their kids in for vaccines. I found this a hugely positive step.

Then it was time for the vaccines. The physician's assistant had set down a piece of paper and said: "Here are the vaccines for this visit. She then said: "You'll be getting shots for these eight diseases," and went down the list. I cringed. As soon as she left, I turned to my sister. "This will actually consist of two injections." Her eyes had grown wide, because it sounded like this baby was going to get eight shots. Going down the laundry list of diseases a combo vaccine prevents has become rote, but health providers really need to give careful consideration to the way they present these vaccinations. "These PAs need to be trained in how to talk about vaccines in ways that don't mislead or scare parents," I said to my sister. "Geez!"

In the end, my baby niece got three injections (dTaP--Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis--protecting her against three of the most devastating diseases known to man; Pneumonococcal, which prevents a disease that can lead to meningitis; and her Hep B vaccine, since she hadn't gotten it at birth).

When my sister laid her baby on the exam table, she said, "Oh, look at her looking at me, all trusting and loving." I said: "She's trusting you to do what's best for her because you love her. And you are."

Yes, it's hard to look at...but this is what a vaccine-preventable illness looks like

Too many mothers tell us that because they haven't seen measles or pertussis or polio in their lifetime, that the diseases are under control enough to let their children go without vaccination. This poor, innocent soul is living proof that pertussis is still here. This child was too young to be vaccinated and was infected by an unvaccinated child.

This child is recovering.

This photo contains something you must consider when you decide whether or not to vaccinate. It's scary. It's hard to look at. But it's truth.