No evidence linking preservative to autism
There is no evidence that a controversial mercury-based vaccine
preservative causes autism, concludes a scientific review that
says it is time to lay to rest vaccine suspicions and to find
the real culprit.
May 19’s conclusion by the Institute of Medicine was
a blow to parents of autistic children who blame vaccination
for the brain disorder and are pushing for more research.
Critics said the final proof may come if autism diagnoses should
drop now that the once-common preservative thimerosal has been
virtually eliminated in routine childhood vaccines.
The Institute of Medicine's panel of prominent scientists pointed
to five large studies, here and abroad, that tracked thousands
of children since 2001 and found no association between autism
and thimerosal.
While high doses of mercury can cause neurological damage,
there's no evidence that this type of damage causes the symptoms
specific to autism and no laboratory or animal research that
would prove how the much-smaller amounts in thimerosal could
do so, either, the institute concluded.
On the other hand, genetics plays a role in autism, and several
studies show clear signs of prenatal onset of the disorder,
including brain differences at birth, the report notes.
