Opinion Editorial: Thimerosal in Vaccine’s Does Not Cause Autism

DESERET NEWS
Jay Evenson
Health Reporter
801-237-2180
even@desnews.com

Opinion Editorial: Thimerosal in Vaccine’s Does Not Cause Autism
Autism is a heart wrenching and life long disease that brings about many challenges to the family. Because children with autism lack the ability to function normally in society, the parents undertake an entirely new role involving health care, socialization, and education. So the debate revolves around the decision to vaccinate children with the controversial vaccination accused of causing autism.
In order to resolve the controversial issue, there have been numerous studies done on the correlation of autism and the MMR vaccine which contains thimerosal. Although it’s been years since researchers have proved there is no correlation between autism and vaccines, parents still fear that there is a direct relation between autism and the vaccines containing thimerosal. The rampant fear among parents might be manifested by the state of Utah’s mere 74 percent of immunized children, which falls behind the national average. This social issue hits close to home as local parents hesitate to vaccinate their children based upon the fear of developing autism.
A recent study in 2004 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that there is no link between autism and MMR vaccine or vaccines that contain thimerosal as a preservative, thus providing factual evidence to calm fears of many parents. The study found that the percentage of children with autism that received the MMR vaccine was the same as the children that didn’t have autism and received the vaccine.
The benefits of giving children vaccines far out weigh the possibility of developing serious diseases. Children live longer and are healthier because of vaccines that they received in their childhood years. Before the Childhood Immunization Program in the United States, 13 to 20,000 kids developed paralytic polio every year. Prior to the development of the measles vaccination, almost everyone in the country got measles when they were a child, leading to the death of 450 children every year. Before rubella, epidemics occurred and sometimes up to 20,000 children were born with congenital rubella syndrome with 2,000 deaths and more than 1,000 miscarriages. This evidence provides hope for those concerned about vaccinations.
Along with the recent positive statistics, technology has also evolved allowing vaccines to progress. They no longer need to carry thimerosal which has been argued to cause autism. Thimerosal keeps bacteria from contaminating a vaccine and its presence is essential for larger concentrations. Because of these findings, it has caused vaccines to be packaged as single doses, which in turn causes it to be more expensive; however, it is worth the cost if it keeps parents from worrying and helping them make the smarter decision to immunize their children.
While parents face a difficult decision whether or not to vaccinate their child, evidence supported by statistics has proven to be safe and effective. It remains critical that policy makers implement a national policy supporting the vaccination of children. Its far safer for the general public to receive vaccines than to run the risk of contracting serious diseases.