"The fact is that sooner or later, Andrew Wakefield will be exonerated, his
theory will be accepted and a vaccine-autism connection will be proven. As
the New Year comes around, Wakefield's research is being duplicated in
prestigious centers in the United States. In addition, viral culture
results are expected soon from the National Institutes of Health
laboratories. "

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/329/7477/1293#90879

view and read all responses at above

A Black Spot ...on a Good Journal
1 January 2005
    
F. Edward Yazbak,
Pediatrician, Director
TL Autism Research, Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540 USA
Send response to journal:
Re: A Black Spot ...on a Good Journal



 Abi Berger, the physician, is obviously welcome to become informed and
educated on medical matters on Television. As a citizen of a free society,
she also has every right to become a TV critic and award Four Stars to a
show she has so judged [Dispatches. MMR: What They Didn't Tell You -BMJ,
November 27].

Unfortunately, when she signed her piece as Associate Editor of the BMJ,
she compromised a respectable and good Journal.

Dr. Berger's commentary has already been carefully criticized by readers
and parents alike. I kept hoping that she or the Editor would apologize for
its contents but I note with concern that her only "retraction" was not
even that.

The problem with the Berger piece is that it concludes that accusations of
a TV investigative reporter concerning a researcher are the Gospel Truth.
By doing so, the Associate Editor and indirectly the Journal she represents
also intimate that the research itself is non-valid.

This is obviously not true and is certainly not supported by the available
scientific evidence.

The fact is that sooner or later, Andrew Wakefield will be exonerated, his
theory will be accepted and a vaccine-autism connection will be proven. As
the New Year comes around, Wakefield's research is being duplicated in
prestigious centers in the United States. In addition, viral culture
results are expected soon from the National Institutes of Health
laboratories.

I am a pediatrician trained in infectious diseases and I have witnessed
first hand what regressive autism is all about. I have also researched its
incidence and its autoimmune causes. I have no doubt that the Wakefield
hypothesis will stand.

My oldest grandson was totally normal from birth until he had his first
well-documented regression after his initial MMR vaccination. He improved
for a while and then had a second and more severe regression at age 4 after
his MMR booster. This sequence of events known as Challenge-
Dechallenge-Rechallenge (CDR) was documented by private physicians, close
relatives in the medical profession and photographs. U.S. Courts and a
special committee of the Institute of Medicine have acknowledged that CDR
proves causation.

In addition, my grandson has typical findings of Wakefield Autistic
Enterocolitis, and the specific urinary polypeptides pattern described by
Shattock. Although he was never exposed to measles, he has documented
evidence of measles virus genomic RNA in his gut wall in addition to
elevated serum titers of measles virus antibodies.

There are now hundreds of other children with similar histories and
findings, not just twelve anymore. The genetically predisposed children in
this subgroup seem to lack the ability to detoxify the mercury in the
vaccines they received in the first year of life and have usually succumbed
after receiving the combination of the three live viruses in the MMR, often
simultaneously administered with several other vaccines.

I have always been and remain pro-judicious vaccination.

I have read all the epidemiological studies denying an MMR-autism
connection and found substantial errors in every one of them.

I believe that a vaccine-autism connection exists and I am scientifically-
not emotionally- convinced that MMR vaccination can trigger an autistic
regression in certain children.

To date, I have not seen a single unbiased reliable clinical study to
convince me otherwise.

To prove me wrong, Dr. Berger or any one else only need to show me:

ONE normal child who has evidence of both MMR antibody and Myelin Basic
Protein auto-antibodies in his serum or his CSF

Or

ONE child who regressed after MMR vaccination and who does not have one of
the following: The gut findings described by Wakefield, a suggestive
pattern of urinary polypeptides, elevated serum measles virus antibody, MMR
antibody or Myelin Basic Protein auto-antibodies

The prevalence of autistic disorders in the United States is now 1 in 166,
according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the
American Academy of Pediatrics.

As the New Year dawns and resolutions are made, I sincerely hope that
people of good will are able to join together and support solid unbiased
clinical studies aimed at unraveling the mystery of regressive autism.

Whatever its causes, this epidemic must be stopped.

The distinguished Editorial Board of the BMJ should lead the way and
support such research.

Competing interests: Personal conflict outlined
 
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