[NVIC Oct 2006] Covering Up MMR/Autism Link

  
  
 National Vaccine Information Center Newsletter
  
 e-NEWS
 October 5, 2006, 2006
  
 MMR
  

"These data are a direct refutation of the reports of persistence of
measles virus in the tissues of autistic children," he [Brian Ward, M.D.]
said. "We are hopeful that this paper will simply put a quiet end to the
debate surrounding this topic," the researcher added." - Reuters Health
 
 Barbara Loe Fisher Commentary:
 
 It is understandable why a member of the Canadian Infectious Disease
Society, who is an ardent promoter of forced vaccination with multiple
vaccines, would want to do whatever he could to exonerate MMR vaccine from
any association with autism. But does he really think his pathetic attempt
to discredit the meticulous work of virologists and microbiologists in
other laboratories will "simply put a quiet end to the debate" about MMR
and autism? I don't think so.

How tiresome it is becoming to see yet another M.D./Ph.D. vaccinologist (or
a group of them) issue a proclamation declaring that THEY have studied the
reported link between vaccines and autism and found absolutely no
association and, therefore, no more research should conducted and the
debate should "end." This kind of posturing only furthers public suspicion
that they are covering up to protect the vaccine market and the mass
casualties of their one-size-fits-all mass vaccination policies.

Calls for a moratorium on further scientific investigation into the causes
and cures for any disease or disorder is reason to suspect that those who
are calling for it are afraid of the truth.
 
 
 New Data Refute Measles Virus Persistence in Children With Autism
 
 Reuters Health
Medscape
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October 2, 2006
 
 
 By Megan Rauscher
 
 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Oct 02 - Molecular studies by a Canadian team
show no evidence for the persistence of measles virus following MMR
immunization in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of children with
autism spectrum disorder.

Dr. Brian J. Ward and colleagues from Montreal's McGill University report
their findings in a paper in the October issue of Pediatrics. In it, they
note that despite mounting epidemiologic evidence against an association
between MMR vaccination and autism, several molecular investigations have
been used to implicate MMR vaccination in the development of autism
spectrum disorder in at least a subset of affected children.

For example, in 2000, using nested RT-PCR, Kawashima et al reported the
presence in PBMCs of one or more vaccine-strain measles virus gene in three
of nine children with autism compared with none of eight healthy children.

In another study, in 2002, Uhlmann et al using real-time PCR reported the
presence of measles virus fusion and hemagglutinin genes in biopsies from
62 of 68 autistic children compared with 4 of 39 biopsies from control
children.

Dr. Ward's team attempted but failed to replicate the results reported by
Kawashima and Uhlmann by applying their primer pairs to PBMCs isolated from
children with autism spectrum disorder and developmentally normal controls.

"In our hands, the primer-pairs published by Drs Kawashima and Uhlmann
yielded many PCR 'positive' results that turned out to be false-positive on
closer examination," Dr. Ward told Reuters Health.

"These data are a direct refutation of the reports of persistence of
measles virus in the tissues of autistic children," he said.

"We are hopeful that this paper will simply put a quiet end to the debate
surrounding this topic," the researcher added.
 
 
 PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 4 October 2006, pp. 1664- 1675
(doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1262)
 
 No Evidence of Persisting Measles Virus in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear
Cells From Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
 
 ABSTRACT
<http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=sxav8ybab.0.ahyu7ybab.oblmlwbab.8914&ts=S0208&p=htt
p%3A%2F%2Fpediatrics.aappublications.org%2Fcgi%2Fcontent%2Fabstract%2F118%2F
4%2F1664%3Fmaxtoshow%3D%26HITS%3D10%26hits%3D10%26RESULTFORMAT%3D%26fulltext
%3DBrian%2BJ.%2BWard%26andorexactfulltext%3Dand%26searchid%3D1%26FIRSTINDEX%
3D0%26sortspec%3Drelevance%26resourcetype%3DHWCIT>Click here for the URL:
 
 OBJECTIVES. Despite epidemiologic evidence to the contrary, claims of an
association between measles- mumps-rubella vaccination and the development
of autism have persisted. Such claims are based primarily on the
identification of measles virus nucleic acids in tissues and body fluids by
polymerase chain reaction. We sought to determine whether measles virus
nucleic acids persist in children with autism spectrum disorder compared
with control children.

PATIENTS AND METHODS. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from
54 children with autism spectrum disorder and 34 developmentally normal
children, and up to 4 real-time polymerase chain reaction assays and 2
nested polymerase chain reaction assays were performed. These assays
targeted the nucleoprotein, fusion, and hemagglutinin genes of measles
virus using previously published primer pairs with detection by SYBR green
I. Our own real-time assay targeted the fusion gene using novel primers and
an internal fluorescent probe. Positive reactions were evaluated
rigorously, and amplicons were sequenced. Finally, anti-measles antibody
titers were measured by enzyme immunoassay.

RESULTS. The real-time assays based on previously published primers gave
rise to a large number of positive reactions in both autism spectrum
disorder and control samples. Almost all of the positive reactions in these
assays were eliminated by evaluation of melting curves and amplicon band
size. The amplicons for the remaining positive reactions were cloned and
sequenced. No sample from either autism spectrum disorder or control groups
was found to contain nucleic acids from any measles virus gene. In the
nested polymerase chain reaction and in-house assays, none of the samples
yielded positive results. Furthermore, there was no difference in
anti-measles antibody titers between the autism and control groups.

INTERPRETATION. There is no evidence of measles virus persistence in the
peripheral blood mononuclear cells of children with autism spectrum disorder.