CARTHAGE, Mo. - It started with him fidgeting, then continually lining up toys and other objects.

At times, he had emotional outbursts far beyond what would be normal for the circumstances. He developed allergies, eczema and asthma.

Then, after a flu shot late in 2002, all of those problems accelerated.

"It all hit warp speed, just like in 'Star Wars,'" said Lujene Clark. "Everything just became so dramatic, including his behavior."

Alan Clark, a 30-year emergency room physician, and Lujene Clark, a former nurse, didn't recognize the symptoms in their 8-year-old son, Devon.

They were shocked when the formerly active, bright-eyed child was diagnosed with a form of autism, and when they learned what they believe is the cause.

Now the Carthage couple are on what can only be described as a crusade - to Washington, D.C., and to Jefferson City, Des Moines, Sacramento and other state capitals - to ensure that vaccines are administered without thimerosal, a preservative that contains mercury. Until a government recommendation in 1999, most childhood vaccinations contained thimerosal.

Though voluntarily taken out of childhood immunizations, the preservative remains in much of the flu vaccine currently being administered to children as well as adults.



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which sets vaccine requirements for the United States, rejects any link between the preservative and autism or other disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Asperger syndrome.

Devon was diagnosed with AD/HD in 2001, when he was in the first grade. A year later, after a flu shot, his condition worsened.

"He would ask the meaning of things he had known for ages," Lujene Clark said. "At first, I thought he was playing with us. Then, he couldn't seem to understand simple instructions, like to sit down and put on a seat belt.

"He started having sensory issues. If we would go into a Wal-Mart or a large store with a lot of lights and sounds, he would just go into emotional meltdown. And he went from eating anything set in from of him to only eating a few things, because certain tastes and textures bothered him. We were watching him deteriorate, and we didn't know why."

Devon also suddenly developed allergies and asthma, his mother said.

"Thimerosal attacks the immune system," she said. "We took him to an allergist. Out of 53 antigens, he reacted to 51."

Her voice chokes and tears well as Clark describes how her only child had changed.

"He'd always had the brightest, sparkliest eyes," she said. "But then after he got his flu shot, they were flat and lifeless - what I call the 'Stepford look.' He wouldn't look you in the face or make eye contact. It was like there was nobody home."

'You need to show me'

Devon had attended kindergarten and first grade at Mark Twain Elementary School. When his condition deteriorated, the Clarks moved him to St. Ann's Catholic School, in hopes the smaller class sizes would help. They did for a while, Alan Clark said, but at year's end, and after the flu shot, school officials said Devon would have to be evaluated by a psychologist before the start of the next school year.

The diagnosis of Asperger syndrome was made by a neuropsychologist in September 2003. The syndrome often is described as high-functioning autism, a condition that interferes with the development of the brain in areas of communication, thought processing and social contact.

For Lujene Clark, the diagnosis triggered the first of many overnight Internet research sessions. She said she was unfamiliar with the syndrome and shocked to learn it was linked to autism.

"It shocked me, because Devon had met or exceeded all his developmental milestones," she said. "The symptoms fit, and the diagnosis fit, but it was inconsistent with a child that had talked early and walked on his first birthday."

In her research, she found a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in which hair samples from babies' first haircuts were being sought from children suffering from autism and related conditions, including AD/HD.

"We knew something had to have happened to move him further down the autism spectrum," Lujene Clark said. "It dawned on me that if they were checking hair samples, it had to be either pharmaceutical drugs or metals. I knew Devon hadn't had that kind of drugs, and I knew it couldn't be metals in our water because I know Carthage has good water. I would see the tests when I was on the council."

Clark, who was accustomed to research after four years on the Carthage City Council, said she then typed into the Google search site "heavy metal toxicity and autism" and found page after page of references that linked heavy metals to developmental problems. At first, she said, she thought lead was the culprit.

"I kept reading and realized they were talking about mercury, but I knew there was no way we would let Devon be exposed to that - we don't even keep a mercury thermometer in our house," she said. "Then I realized he had been exposed to it, and we held him down while it was injected into him."

She said her husband disputed her discovery after she woke him up at 3 a.m. to tell him what she had found.

"He said there was no way mercury could be in his vaccines, because everyone knows it's toxic," she said. "When I pulled up the references, he was just as horrified as I."

She said they both, at first, set out to prove there could be no connection between Devon's condition and the childhood vaccines and a flu inoculation he was given because of his asthma.

"The EPA (federal Environmental Protection Agency) tells you not to eat too much tuna because of the mercury," Lujene Clark said. "What we found out is that Devon's flu shot was the equivalent of 10 cans of tuna."

"We went on almost a 24-7 analysis, trying to figure it out," said Alan Clark.

"I kept doing the research, and then in November we went to a conference in Dallas where there were leading researchers who had written papers confirming the link," Lujene Clark said. "I asked to see their raw data because I know numbers can be manipulated. I said, 'I'm from Missouri and you need to show me,' and they did."

On the road

In addition to seeing the research, Clark said, she and her husband heard success stories from doctors and parents who reported that children's symptoms had improved after treatments including chelation to remove heavy metals from their systems. Chelation treatments can be done chemically or using saunas, to remove heavy metals via urine or sweating.

They also met Lyn Redwood, of Atlanta, Ga., founder of SafeMinds. She formed the group to lobby for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines after her son, Will, developed autism.

Lujene Clark said Redwood began researching a connection between autism and vaccines in 1999, when the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Public Health Service released a joint statement calling for the removal of the compound, which is 49.6 percent mercury, from vaccines.

Clark said Redwood also shared information she had researched, including some obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, showing that discussion of removing mercury from vaccines had started as early as seven years ago, under the FDA Modernization Act of 1997.

Redwood said SafeMinds was formed after she testified in July 2000 before the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, urging that thimerosal be removed from infant vaccines.

She said that after her son developed autism, tests determined that his mercury level was 5 parts per million.

"EPA considers 5.9 parts per million toxic," she said. "We presented our information to the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, and Centers for Disease Control."

Though an Institute of Medicine study released last May discounted any link between thimerosal and autism-spectrum diseases, a study by the state institute in October 2001 said that although data was inadequate, a link was "biologically plausible."

Redwood said SafeMinds questions the data used in the second study that discounted any connection. A representative of the organization was to testify Thursday in Washington in an attempt to get access to the raw data.

Redwood said her son, now in the fifth grade, has improved after a variety of treatments, including vitamins, minerals and chelation.

Since that conference in November in Dallas, the Clarks have continued to research. They have attended more conferences, and have met and corresponded with researchers, physicians and parents of autistic children.

Lujene Clark listed the destinations: Atlanta, to meet with the Redwoods and review their research; Tampa, Fla., to attend an EPA symposium on mercury; New Orleans, where both took DAN (Defeat Autism Now) training; Chicago, for an autism conference; Maryland, to meet with researchers; and South Carolina, for an American Academy of Environmental Medicine symposium on mercury.

She also ticked off, without a note in front of her, the research she said shows the link between mercury and autism, and the scientists who did the studies. She said the Clarks have met with researchers from institutions such as Columbia University, Northeastern University, Johns Hopkins, Baylor Medical College, the University of Washington and the University of Kentucky.

"We're in contact with about a dozen regularly, in addition to other parents," she said.

The Clarks have launched their own Web site - www.NoMercury.org - that has received more than 16,000 visits in the past eight months. The site includes copies of government documents and transcripts of congressional hearings.

"That's the great thing about government," Lujene Clark said. "They love to have meetings, and they love to take notes. Lots of times, they'll bring in a transcriptionist and take it down word for word."

The Clarks have lobbied in Jefferson City, Des Moines, Sacramento and Washington, D.C., on behalf of legislation that would either ban thimerosal from vaccines or require that a thimerosal-free version be available. Though both have worked on behalf of the legislation, Lujene Clark often goes by herself, if you don't count the nine file boxes of research papers she takes along.

She also has been featured on CBS News, worked with United Press International in an investigation of the issue, and was interviewed Friday by a Fox News affiliate in Kansas City.

Bill fails to reach vote

Missouri, this spring, would have been the first state in the United States to adopt legislation banning thimerosal from vaccines . The measure passed the Missouri House 152-4 and received the unanimous endorsement of a Senate committee. It failed to reach a Senate vote after it fell victim to a filibuster on the last day of the session.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Roy Holand, R-Springfield, said the measure will be introduced again next session.

Holand, who is term-limited, said several physicians in the House have offered to be sponsors, and that state Sen. Norma Champion, of Springfield, will handle the bill in the Senate.

Holand, an orthopedic surgeon, said he sponsored the bill in an attempt to "resolve conflicting polices and information regarding the effect of mercury as a preservative in immunizations."

"It's been used for 50 years, but there's been an explosion of kids with autism and related diagnoses in the last 15 years, at the same time they have substantially increased the required number of childhood immunizations," he said.

As a result, by the time a child is 2, he could have received 15 to 20 injections containing mercury, Holand said.

"When you add them all up, we believe there can be toxic levels of mercury," he said.

He said the Clarks have been valuable allies for the legislation.

"They've become crusaders not only in Missouri, but across the U.S. They're making a difference for children, and they're making a difference in state and national health-care policy," he said.

Holand predicted that mercury-banning bills will be introduced next session in 15 or 20 other states.

Lujene Clark said she is hopeful Missouri's bill will pass next session, but she is disappointed that her home state was not the first to pass the legislation.

That happened May 14 in Iowa, and parents of autistic children there credit the Clarks for the bill's passage.

Lujene Clark testified on behalf of the legislation, Alan Clark appeared on radio shows with researchers and other parents, and Lujene Clark returned to Des Moines when the bill encountered last-minute opposition, said Dana Halverson, of Northwood, Iowa.

"We couldn't have done it without her," Halverson said. "She brought her research and flew up at a moment's notice. We have a lot of knowledgeable parents, but Lujene - we named her 'the queen of research.' We're in awe of all the information she's compiled. She and Alan make such an incredible team, with his background as a physician and her political knowledge."

Clark also lobbied for thimerosal-banning legislation in California. It was signed into law Sept. 29 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A national ban - H.R. 4169 - has been introduced by U.S. Reps. Dave Weldon, a Florida Republican who is a physician, and Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York.

Another vocal supporter is U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who attributes his own grandson's autism to a series of vaccines the child received.

Clark said 48 other congressmen have signed on, so far, as co-sponsors.

"But not one is from Missouri, even though we met personally with Roy Blunt and asked for his support," she said.

Blunt, R-Mo., did not return a call to the Globe seeking comment.

Seeing improvements

A year ago, Devon was taking six or seven medications a day as treatment for Asperger syndrome and asthma.

Today, his treatment includes a daily chelation treatment in an infrared sauna, a twice-weekly B-12 injection, and vitamins and minerals.

He uses his asthma inhaler only occasionally, compared with several times a day previously, Lujene Clark said.

He was found to be deficient in human growth hormone and received treatment for a time from Dr. Karen Porte, in Joplin.

"We think the sauna has unplugged the pathways, and he's producing his own hormones," Alan Clark said. "But we also know of children who aren't using a sauna that are doing great with the hormone."

Lujene Clark said the couple will spend between $35,000 and $50,000 this year on Devon's treatment. Insurance does not cover much, since the regimen is considered alternative medicine.

The Clarks also point to vastly improved scores on their son's work at school, Mark Twain Elementary, where he is in fourth grade.

Previously, "he'd be lucky to get 8 or 10" on a 49-point scale, "and he got a 49 on Wednesday and Thursday," said Lujene Clark.

And Devon, now age 9, will tell you he's feeling better.

"More like me," is how he describes it. He'll also tell you how he felt about Asperger syndrome.

"I was mad, and I didn't like it," he said.

http://www.joplinglobe.com/story.php?story_id=138205

Yeah, but...

One example doesn't a study make, and the data gathering ability of untrained amateur's is notoriously biased. People with emotional issues about a subject can't be trusted to produce reliable results, period.

The appearance of lots of activity isn't an indicator of anything but lots of activity. The flawed perception that "significant interest" somehow proves significance is another well known phenomenon.

I get several unsolicited invitations to "conferences" at MIT every year, none of which are genuine research conferences sponsored by a reputable institution. MIT hires out its halls to anyone; they pimp their name by selling the right to imply an association where none exists.

The same thing goes on all across the country. Anymore, a conference isn't any better an indicator of significance than significant activity is.

The only scientific studies I'm aware of have failed to show a link between thimerosal and autism. Thimerosal has been used safely for years; problems are mainly allergic reactions in sensitive individuals brought about by contact with specific tissues, especially the eyes.

It has largely been removed from contact lens solutions for that reason. The allergic reactions reported typically consisted of one or more sensitizing exposures, followed by a noticeable allergic response upon subsequent exposures. This is typical of most allergic responses.

There are two things that pop news stories such as this fail to address. One is that a person that experiences an allergic response doesn't "catch" the allergy from exposure; they were susceptible to sensitization before the first exposure. People not susceptible don't respond. The catch is that you usually don't know until the second exposure that you're susceptible. No one wants to take a chance with eyes, so thimerosal was yanked.

But I haven't seen any evidence of more general problems, and I know of at least two different studies prompted by the FDA into the safety of its use in vaccines. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of the continued use, the advantages far outweighing the disadvantages.


"The EPA (federal Environmental Protection Agency) tells you not to eat too much tuna because of the mercury," Lujene Clark said. "What we found out is that Devon's flu shot was the equivalent of 10 cans of tuna."
This reminds me so strongly of some of the comments we heard on various news shows when the mass hysteria over silicone breast implants first took off.

Over and over again, solemn guests with lots of letters after their names equated silicone with silicon, saying things like, "You wouldn't want to put sand in your body, would you?"

The problem is one of intellect, I guess, because there isn't any way that they could have missed the information that silicone is a largely inert chemical compound, still FDA approved for hundreds of applications in long term tissue contact. There's nothing "sandy" about it.

The same difficulty seems to be at work here, because even the popular press usually acknowledges that toxicity depends on the form of the compound containing a toxic substance. There isn't any truth to the statement that "…we found out ...that Devon's flu shot was the equivalent of 10 cans of tuna."

The mercury compounds typically found in tuna are totally different from thimerosal. Part of the efficacy of thimerosal is the way that the mercury is locked up in the compound so that it doesn't contribute to a person's systemic dose.

I'm afraid that news stories like these are doing more harm than good, even to the people they're supposed to help, the people who's efforts the stories describe. They're seeking closure, in a way, and this is not going to get it for them. These things are usually just a form of denial, from what we can’t really be sure.

We should let these people alone, to deal with their grief in privacy, and not propagate and prolong their public exposure.

* * * *

And please, folks: "internet research sessions" are NOT research.

At it’s absolute best, it's a way to gather some materials from a source that inherently biases the selection. The research starts after the computer goes off line, or it's really just an interesting hobby.

Beyond all the hyperbole that can be used to discount the claims made by those quoted in the article, and the ongoing research quoted in the article, most telling to me is this sentence in the article:
...the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Public Health Service released a joint statement calling for the removal of [Thimerisol], which is 49.6 percent mercury, from vaccines.

While it may be true that there are lots of inconclusive studies, and incomplete research...IMHO, any vaccine compound that contains 49.6 percent mercury, can not be good for you.

Thanks to Andi for posting this article, and Stabile for another view point.

Oh, and just for the record...

I would MUCH rather hear about information like this, when its identified as a potential problem (and be able to research and make my own decision) then not hear about it at all.

Beyond all the hyperbole that can be used to discount the claims made by those quoted in the article, and the ongoing research quoted in the article, most telling to me is this sentence in the article:


While it may be true that there are lots of inconclusive studies, and incomplete research...IMHO, any vaccine compound that contains 49.6 percent mercury, can not be good for you.

Thanks to Andi for posting this article, and Stabile for another view point.

BIG, I agree with you completely on this one. My family are vaccination objectors and have been for a long time, we've all signed refusal to vaccinate forms...

I think the vaccine doesn't contain 49% mercury, just the additive to the vaccine.

Nevertheless I don't see why we need to be injecting ANY mercury into ourselves...

You might think we had a different opinion, but we don't. Our boy Bryan had a relatively common kind of reaction to his first immunization shots.

In the middle of the night, he let out a piercing cry and stopped breathing. We were out of the house with his 5 y.o. brother Chris and on the way to the hospital in under a minute. Kay was giving him artificial respiration the whole time, and we got there in under five minutes total from when he cried out.

Talk about hyperfocusing…

As we pulled up to the hospital, I realized Bry had started breathing again. I told Kay she could stop, and everything turned out OK. Bry was in the hospital for a day, but he seemed unaffected by the experience.

When we saw our pediatrician a few days later, we were ready for a fight, but she stopped us cold by stating right up front, "Well, no more shots for him."

So we've had an interest in this issue for more than twenty years. Personally, we think that the less mercury compounds we put in the environment, the better. But you can't forget that every bit of it originated there in the first place.

Here's what popped up first when I Googled 'American Academy of Pediatrics United States Public Health Service vaccine':

AAP - Study Fails to Show a Connection Between Thimerosal and Autism (http://www.aap.org/profed/thimaut-may03.htm)

with the sub-reference:

Thimerosal In Vaccines - Joint Statement Of The American Academy Of Family Physicians (Aafp), The American Academy Of Pediatrics (Aap), The Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices (Acip), And The United States Public Health Service (Phs) (http://www.aap.org/policy/jointthim.html)

Son-of-a-gun! Could that be the joint statement being quoted as a source validating the idea that thimerosol is bad stuff? Lets see what we’ve got:

The first hit is a press release, a statement of repudiation by the AAP of claims that misuse public data to create the impression that there is a known problem with thimerosol:

"The American Academy of Pediatrics provides the following information for clinicians who may be aware of recent press surrounding an article that claims to show a correlation between thimerosal and autism. This paper uses data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) inappropriately and contains numerous conceptual and scientific flaws, omissions of fact, inaccuracies, and misstatements."

They cite examples of how the data was purposely misinterpreted, and then, down a ways, this:

"…in fact, all routinely recommended infant vaccines currently sold in the United States are free of thimerosal as a preservative and have been for more than 2 years."

Interesting. So why the public ruckus, the call for bills banning thimerosal and like that? Who knows, if there isn't any need.

The joint statement starts like this:

"This statement has been prepared… in response to 1) the progress being made in achieving the national goal declared in July 1999 to remove thimerosal from vaccines, and 2) the results of studies to better assess any potential relationship between exposure to mercury in thimerosal containing vaccines and health effects."

Oops, not the joint statement after all. The original was published in 1999; it's the first reference in this one, published in 2000, intended to supercede the original.

The background statement goes on:

"Thimerosal… has been used as an additive to… vaccines since the 1930s because it is effective in killing bacteria and in preventing bacterial contamination… While there was no evidence of any harm caused by low levels of thimerosal in vaccines and the risk was only theoretical, this goal was established as a precautionary measure."

There are details of research by the CDC that has failed to find any connection with "extrapyradimal disease, autism, childhood psychosis, stammering, sleep, eating, misery disorders, mixed emotional conditions, infantile cerebral palsy, epilepsy, migraines, and unspecified renal conditions."

The studies found that "an inconclusive correlation (i.e., one that is inadequate to support or refute a causal link) was observed between exposure to thimerosal containing vaccines… (and) language delays, speech delays, attention deficit disorder, unspecified developmental delays and tics."

And the final paragraph says:

"The AAFP, AAP, ACIP, and the PHS recommend continuation of the current policy of moving rapidly to vaccines which are free of thimerosal as a preservative. Until an adequate supply of each vaccine is available, use of vaccines which contain thimerosal as a preservative is acceptable."

So in the real world, the AAP and the USPHS joint policy statement actually says use of vaccines containing thimerosal is acceptable.

There's more interesting stuff out there. Nothing substantial supports the claims of that poor couple from Missouri. Look for yourselves, if you doubt it.

We believe everyone should have access to any news, as long as it's really news, and be left to draw their own conclusions. People trusted trust in return.

We also believe that this item crosses the line into incitement with an open disregard for the facts. It would be interesting to know why they're on their crusade, and I wish we could reach out to them, or help them the way that these forums have given us comfort.

But not this way. It’s too easy for someone to believe it just because we’ve presented it as a news item. Having a forum implies a responsibility, right?

That's why we spoke out about it. Sorry if it seemed like an attack.

Two words: power lines.

This reminds me of the whole "living near power lines causes cancer" bit back in the early 90's, i.e. mostly rubbish.

However, personally, I'd rather not have any mercury compounds injected into my body, thank you. :-)

You hit that one spot on; we couldn't agree more. And we'll skip the cozy home under the high tension lines, too.

Living near one of those mega-volt transmission towers would drive anyone crazy. When I was an engineering student, I worked summers for the local power company, and the corona effects and a kind of mind-numbing hum are impossible to ignore even on dry days.

Every other animal but us humans avoids them like the plague if they can; fence in cattle near them, and they don't do nearly as well as their buddies a few hundred feet away. Successful lawsuits have all claimed that it's an obnoxious intrusion.

The idea that power lines directly cause cancer or other disease really is exactly the same phenomenon as the thimerosal thing. It's like staring into a TV screen tuned off channel. After a while, everybody starts seeing patterns in the snow.

It's a reflection of the way our brains work. Neural nets identify patterns, and we have a way to adjust the sensitivity up or down, depending on how strong the most prominent pattern is. That's why a hangnail you ignored with ease all day suddenly throbs so badly when you turn out the lights and try to sleep.

Reading that story, Kay and I get a sense of how hard that couple must be trying to understand what happened to their son, and how obvious it is that whatever they're looking at is just noise.

I wish we had a way to tell them that we do the same thing all the time. Everybody does. We've learned to recognize the pattern in that, so now it's a tool, just a handy way to see that we need to change the channel and look for something different.

We wouldn't have given Bry the non-thimerosal vaccines, either, unless there was some kind of life-threatening situation, simply because we knew that we didn't have enough information. All we have is a valid connection between administering the vaccine and his terrible experience; for us and the doctor, that's plenty.

I've never seen any discussion of whether events like the one he experienced might be related to things like autism. But given what we know about how the brain and mind develop, any experience that causes a child to express pain like Bryan did is likely to have some effect on how s/he is putting together his/her internal picture of the world.

Our central model of brain function and the mind predicts that specific failures in the process of developing our internal model of reality would give rise to something that looks very much like autism or Asperger's syndrome. A strongly negative experience at the right time could easily cause an aversion response that would interfere with development in exactly the way our theory predicts.

But that's just theory. It's an encouraging sign when churning the model 'invents' real things like autism and AD/HD, but it's a long way from being hard news, I'm afraid.

The way it predicts AD/HD gives an insight that really helps in dealing with the effects, so we talk about that. The autism and Asperger's syndrome models aren't as helpful, or we would mention them more prominently. But if anyone thinks it might help them understand these things, we would be happy to share the details. Just ask.

It might still be just a pattern in the snow, but at least it has some connection to real patterns on other channels. (grin…)

Stabile - Your son's reaction sounds like a severe (anaphylactic) allergic reaction to the vaccine, not necessarily a reaction to mercury in the vaccine, but an allergic reaction to some component in the vaccine. Is this correct?

It is my understanding that vaccine companies no longer use mercury in vaccines for children --I think they stopped using it in the 90's. Granted mercury-containing vaccines that had already been manufactured were/are still used, but the supply of mercury-containing vaccines for children has gotta be on the decline by now. And yet, autism rates continue to rise. My belief is that the time of when autism becomes evident (18 months - 2 years) just happens to coincide with the time of when childhood vaccinations are administered. It's easy for parents to jump to the conclusion that vaccines caused autism in their children. However, just because the two things occur are the same does, does not mean that one causes the other. Correlation is NOT the same thing as causation.

I work at a school for kids with autism and other neurological disabilities. I don't know the exact number, but a large portion of our kids do not get vaccinated. About 2 - 3 years ago, we had two cases of whooping cough. And this whole anti-vaccine hyseteria extends to other health treatments. Parents are scared to use antibiotics, so we've had a few kids develop scarlet fever (at which point the kids were treated with antibiotics & recovered). We have one student who has NEVER been seen by a regular physician in the past 10+ years. When he gets sick and the school expresses concern about his health, the mother simply keeps him home for the next 2 - 3 weeks till his infection/illness has diminished.

Vaccinations are LIFE SAVING. Smallpox has been eradicated, thanks to mass vaccination against it. There are fewer than 500 reported cases of polio worldwide, thanks to mass vaccination against this disease. It scares me that many people are refusing vaccinations based on unproven fears that mercury causes autism. I suppose in the next 10 years we will have a better sense of whether mercury in vaccines actually causes autism ...by that time, the series of vaccines adminstered to children will all be mercury-free. In the meantime, parents who are concerned about vaccination their children, talk to your child's pediatrician. YOU CAN REQUEST MERCURY-FREE VACCINES --just ask for a non-thimerosal vaccine.

Hey, Gingagirl:

Yup, that's pretty much what it probably was. There were several doctors that tried to say it was an atypical seizure, but Kay's an RN, and she knows a seizure when she sees it. He didn't show any typical post-seizure anomalies on his EEG, either.

The thing is, I haven't ever seen any documented cases of such a reaction being related to thimerosal. It seems certain that it's due to an impurity; back then, twenty plus years ago, the alternative non-thimerosal vaccines were ultra-filtered, to the point of removing 100% of the bacteria bits and pieces, and the rest of the process was much better controlled as well.

Our pediatrician was straight about saying that the purity was what made the alternative vaccine safer.

As far as the timing thing, it's very likely a kind of coincidence, like you say. But it's probably like the coincidence that most people involved in car crashes were riding in automobiles at the time.

Children's minds are undergoing a critical formative process at the time these things happen, the failure of which (in our models) leads to something like autism. Every event in a child's life during this period is formative, and it would be difficult to say which of the things that gradually steer autistic kids in the wrong direction was the real culprit.

They all contribute, and I'm sure that a reaction like Bryan's could play a part. So maybe the parents that see a connection aren't all wrong. But they're not really close to understanding what happened, either.

By the way, it's great to see someone else point out the confusion between correlation, suggestion, and association. Correlations may suggest the existence of an association, but correlation is just a number.

Examination and interpretation of the circumstances may suggest a possible causative mechanism, but often there isn't enough information to form a plausible model.

A plausible model suggests a possible mechanism for an association, but it has to be tested and proven accurate before a claim can be made that an association exists. Even then, it's still just a model. Everything we know is, on some level. The mind-body problem doesn't go away just because we ignore it.

Sometimes that seems like too much to bother with, I guess.