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Mar 6, 2008 6:30 pm US/Eastern
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Health: Vaccines And Autism
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
The controversy between autism and vaccines has reached new heights with a ruling from a special vaccine court and late Thursday the Centers for Disease Control restated it's position that vaccines are safe and children need to get them.
Eight-year-old Tim Wagner was diagnosed with autism when he was two. His parents think the childhood vaccines he received played a role.
"Every time that he got a vaccine my son got ill," said his mother, Lynn Wagner.
The Wagner's are among thousands of families with autistic children who are trying to get money from a federal vaccine-injury fund. They claim the preservative thimerosal that was commonly used in childhood vaccines before 2001 causes the neurological disorder.
"The most obvious was lack of speech. When he was one he said his first word and he got a few more words and then it's like he hit a wall," said Lynn.
Nine-year-old Hanna Poling is the Georgia girl at the center of the vaccine court ruling. It said a pre-existing, a mitochondrial disorder, was made worse by the vaccines, ultimately causing her autism-like symptoms.
"I'm very pleased by the government's decision. It has been eight difficult and heart breaking years since our daughter's injury," said Hanna's father Jon Poling.
Medical and legal experts say the Poling case is an exception and won't become a precedent. The science still favors vaccines.
"There is not data in the scientific literature establishing a cause and effect relationship between vaccines and autism," said Dr. Agustin Legido, Chief of the Neurology section at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children.
Most recommended childhood vaccines do not contain thimerosal, only a couple of them have trace amounts. Check with your doctor if you have any concerns.
Related Links:
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Vaccine Safety InformationMore Safety InformationCDC Information
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