Autism Study

Last year Brent and I were on an airplane with the person in charge of vaccines with the State of Minnesota Health Department. When we shared with her that our son was on the autism spectrum, she looked resigned and seemed to brace herself. When we said we did not believe that shots had anything to do with this, she let out a sigh of relief and said, "I am so glad to hear you say that." Then she shared with us that measles was on the rise in Minnesota and two children had recently died because they were not vaccinated.

Measles is on the rise, not just in Minnesota, but around the world. I read today that there was a 70 percent increase in England and Wales from 2007 to 2008. That's not 10 years. That's not 5 years. That's one year. There was a 70 percent rise in one year.

On Tuesday the doctor who published the report in 1998 linking the measles shot to autism was formal censured in that country and the journal that published the paper retracted it. His methods were sloppy and he was being paid by lawyers for families who believed there was a connection. Here's the BBC story.

I mean absolutely no disrespect to the families who believe their child changed after the shot. We are all dealing with the spectrum the best we can. More research needs to be done, but the majority of studies done on the MMR vaccine and autism have not found a link. As I have said before, given the choice between losing my second child to autism and letting my him die from measles, I chose the shot.