Autistic woman's heart-wrenching Facebook post wins the "anti-vaxxing" argument

[LeftishBrit]

43. Also, Wakefield was not concerned with mercury

There are two totally different theories: (1) Wakefield's theory that the measles component of the MMR vaccine is a risk factor for autism, and therefore, illogically, that a single measles vaccine (such as the one that he was trying to patent!) would be safer; and (2) the theory put forward by some American vaccine critics that the mercury preservative is the risk factor. These are not the same theory, or even particularly compatible theories: the MMR vaccine never contained any mercury. But, especially since Wakefield moved to America, there has been a lot of cross-fertilization between the two theories.

There is evidence against both theories. The MMR was shown not to cause autism, when it was withdrawn and then reintroduced in Japan, without any effect on autism rates. And the mercury theory was contradicted by the fact that mercury was removed from almost all vaccines that did contain it (flu vaccines do sometimes contain it; but, at least in the UK, children who get the flu vaccine usually get a nasal spray which does not have any mercury preservative); and yet autism rates did not go down.

Moreover, while autism is more frequently diagnosed than in the past, this seems to be mainly due to greater awareness of autism, combined with some changes in diagnostic criteria. 30 or 40 years ago, people with higher functioning autism or Asperger syndrome tended to be diagnosed as 'emotionally disturbed', 'maladjusted', 'language delayed' or often just 'a bit odd'; and people with severe autism tended to be regarded as simply 'mentally handicapped' or as 'childhood schizophrenics': a diagnosis almost never used now. A recent study in the UK indicated that, when people of all ages were assessed according to current diagnostic criteria, there was a similar incidence of autism in all age groups: about one per cent. The only difference was that the children often already had an autistic spectrum diagnosis, while adults often had other diagnoses or none.