The Age of Autism: Rep. wants Amish study
United Press International - July 19, 2005
Jul 19, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A U.S. Congressman who is a medical doctor said Tuesday he will seek funding to study the autism rate among the largely unvaccinated Amish.
"I want to get somebody to do a study on that community," Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Fla., told United Press International. "I would like to get funding and have somebody go into the Amish community and do a survey."
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday, however, that an Amish study would not yield useful information.
Weldon's comments came in response to a UPI investigation that found an apparently low level of autism among the Amish. Some parents of children with autism believe that a mercury-based preservative in vaccines called thimerosal caused the disorder, so looking at the autism rate among a group of unvaccinated children would test that theory.
Weldon made his remarks following a news briefing by federal health officials and doctors, at which they reiterated the safety and importance of childhood immunizations. They noted that thimerosal had been phased out of childhood vaccinations beginning in 1999.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC director, said scientific studies do not show a link between thimerosal and autism.
Asked by UPI whether the government had studied the autism rate in a never-vaccinated population, she replied that it is difficult to find such groups because the U.S. vaccination rate is so high. Also, she said, "It's very, very difficult to get an effective numerator and denominator and to get a reliable diagnosis."
She also said, however, that parents have been pushing for faster research and "I think those kind of studies could be done and should be done." She suggested that the Amish are not the right group.
"You have to adjust for the strong genetic component that also distinguishes, for example, people in Amish communities who may elect not to be immunized. To draw any conclusions from them would be difficult," Gerberding said.
Weldon responded that the isolated gene pool in the Amish community would not invalidate a study because autism is not solely a genetic disorder.
"That's operating under the assumption that it's all genetic," he said of Gerberding's comments. Weldon, a critic of the CDC's handling of autism research, said a strong outside factor is evidently at work because the number of autism cases has exploded in the past decade.
Weldon attended the news conference at the Health and Human Services building in Washington as a spectator. Afterwards, reporters spent more time interviewing him than they did the health officials, in part because there was little time for questions and in part because the officials offered no new information.
Reporters suggested that the briefing was called to overshadow a rally at the Capitol Wednesday at which parents will back Weldon's bill to remove thimerosal from all medical products; on Tuesday, Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
An ABC television reporter asked the first question at the HHS briefing: "I'm wondering why we're all here today. I'm not hearing any new information."
"We're here to talk on an issue that we do receive questions on," a spokesman said, but did not directly deny that the briefing had been timed to head off the parents' group.
http://www.psycport.com/showArticle....0International
Okay, I cut the article down as much as I could to provide a "synopsis" instead of posting the whole article, which is really interesting. I must say that I found very telling their acknowledgement that the "briefing" didn't have a thing to do with any news they had for us all. I feel like asking the reporter's question every time they say, yet again, "we haven't proven a link". Fine and dandy. Come wake me up when you have something to say that isn't expressed in double speak.
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