Autism Prevalence Now At 1 in 91 Children, 1 in 58 Boys

This news may not effect all of our readers... but it is just another in a long list of things for us to be concerned about when deciding to immunize our children.

SafeMinds Calls For A Ban on Thimerosal from Seasonal and H1N1 Flu Vaccines In Pregnant Women and Young Children


Monday, October 5, 2009, Reston, VA - Today the Maternal & Child Health Bureau of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), US Department of Health and Human Services released a study evaluating the number of children in the U.S. who currently have a Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis, The Prevalence of Parent-Reported Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder among Children in the United States, 2007. The Study evaluated data from a national Survey of Children's Health andfound that 1 in 91 children between the ages of 3 and 17 currently carry an ASD diagnosis -1 in 58 boys.

Even more alarming, for the subset of children between ages 6 and 14 immunized during the 1990's the prevalence is actually 1 in 71 children with an autism diagnosis. This age group represents children in the U.S. with the highest exposure to thimerosal, the mercury preservative routinely used until CDC, AAP and industry recommended its removal "as soon as possible" from all childhood vaccines. Despite this recommendation, mercury, one of the most neurotoxic substances on the planet, is still used in most seasonal and H1N1 vaccines.

SafeMinds continues to call for a ban on mercury-containing seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccines, for pregnant women and young children. Theresa Wrangham, President of SafeMinds stated, "We are especially alarmed by these findings because the seasonal influenza and H1N1 vaccines contain mercury well in excess of EPA safe exposure guidelines. Pregnant women and young children should not be given mercury-containing medicines risking such significant side effects. The precautionary principal demands the removal of thimerosal from all vaccines pursuant to the now decade-old recommendation. How long must we wait to get a known neurotoxin out of all vaccines?"

All flu vaccines are categorized by the FDA as Class C drugs, meaning either studies in animals have revealed adverse effects on the fetus and there are no controlled studies in women, or studies in women and animals are not available. In addition, a 2005 study funded by the NIH found that ethyl-mercury used in vaccines crosses into the brain of infant primates, resulting in appreciable levels of mercury being trapped in the brain.

Concern over vaccine safety and the use of thimerosal is well established. In fact the Institute of Medicine, HHS' National Vaccine Advisory Committee, Congress, Health & Human Service's National Vaccine Advisory Committee, the American Academy of Pediatrics former President Dr. Lou Cooper, and former Director of the National Institutes of Health Dr. Bernadine Healy all agree that current research is inadequate to demonstrate vaccine safety, as required by law, especially in terms of risk for neurological damage, including autism, in a genetically susceptible subset of the population. Most have made statements in support of a study evaluating health outcomes in vaccinated compared with unvaccinated subjects.

SafeMinds is a charitable non-profit and leader in funding and advancing the science regarding mercury exposure as it relates to autism. Our expertise extends beyond mercury-related exposures to broader vaccine safety issues, due to many Board Members holding government agency committee positions such as the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, various CDC Vaccine Committees, the Department of Defense Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Program and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee's Vaccine Safety Working Group.