Vaccination and autism

This sharing on vaccination and autism was contributed by my friend John Yeo and it appeared as part of a special report in a 1995 issue of The Good Life, which focused on bacteria and viruses, infectious diseases, immunity, vaccination and other related issues.

by John Yeo

One night recently, I stayed up till past 1 am, digging out all the photographs of my daughter, Vanessa. I then laid them out in chronological order, and took a good look. What I saw was crystal clear…

Vanessa had that mischievous sparkle in her eyes from birth right up till Christmas Day 1991, when she was just past three years old.

The next photograph was taken three months later, in March 1992. In that picture, she had that blank look as if she was very far away, deep in her own world.

Link between vaccination and autism

What happened between December 1991 and March 1992? What prompted me to examine my daughter’s old photographs in the first place?

Vanessa is autistic. She has a mental disorder which makes her behave as if she lives in a world of her own. So for the past few years, I have been trying to understand this condition and, as much as possible, to reverse it.

I uncovered a new clue about autism recently when I read A Shot in the Dark, by Harris Coulter and Barbara Fisher.

Despite its title, this was no spy thriller. It’s a book about the possible adverse effects of vaccination and the authors draw a link between the DPT vaccination (for Diptheria, Pertussis and Tetanus) and childhood mental disability -- between vaccination and autism.

After reading about vaccination and autism, I was convinced that Vanessa became autistic from her DPT shot.

But I wanted more evidence. That’s why I studied her photographs and compared them with her medical records. It was too much to have been a coincidence. The doctor had shot her on 25 Feb 1992. After that, Vanessa lost her sparkle.

Of course, my wife and I didn’t notice any difference at that time. I remember that when Vanessa was 3... the kindergarten teachers told us that she was keeping to herself all the time and not relating to her peers and teachers. But we dismissed her behaviour as just an “adjustment phase”.

In our minds – the mind of biased parents – we could only see the Vanessa who had always displayed a kind of mischievous intelligence since birth. Looking at her photographs again, I see a different picture.

But back then, it took another few months of no improvement before we thought that may be the kindergarten teachers were right. We began to notice that Vanessa wasn’t speaking much although she had learnt to speak at 2.

Off to the experts we went, to a pediatrist known for diagnosing autism. The sentence was passed. Vanessa has “autistic tendencies”. This was later confirmed by a clinical psychologist.

So we acquired a new group of friends, the parents of similar children with autistic tendencies. Almost every parent we know is puzzled. Their children all have been perfectly normal since birth. Then, at around 2 or 3, they suddenly stopped talking and become withdrawn. Some are even terrified at being touched by anybody, including their parents.

Vaccination and autism -- No early symptoms?

Most clinical psychologists say that the symptoms of autism do not appear before age 2. By this, they mean that the autism was always there, but it cannot be diagnosed because the symptoms do not appear earlier.

With due respects to the clinical psychologists and other “experts”, I think I know my child better than any of them. In Vanessa’s case, there never was any autism before the age of 2. She always had that lively sparkle. She never had autism until that final “booster” shot of DPT when she was past 3 years old.

(Most children have their DPT shots at two, four and six months, plus a booster at 18 months. In the US, children get a second booster before going to school.)

The culprit, according to A Shot in the Dark, appears to be the “P” in the DPT vaccine. Pertussis is more commonly known as whooping cough or “100 day cough”. It was a dreaded killer disease which claimed hundred of thousands of lives. (Note: More recent medical evidence suggest that the culprit is mercury used as a preservative in vaccines.)

Vaccines were developed early this century and their use became widespread by the 1940s. But from the start, the vaccine was known to produce adverse effects.

In recognition of these adverse effects, the US government enacted the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in the late 1980s. By December 1992, US$82 million in damages has been paid out to 129 cases for injury and death.

Yes death! Vaccines can kill!

Other effects include severe skin reactions, higher fever, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, runny nose, ear infections, high pitch screaming, persistent crying as if in pain, epilepsy, loss of muscle control, inflammation of the brain, blood disorders, diabetes and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Not every child will suffer from these effects, of course. In fact, Vanessa did not even run a fever or had runny nose at that time. I remember saying how lucky we were. Now, I learn that because there was no immediate reaction, the illness sank deeper and manifested itself as long term problems...

Click here to read Part II of John's sharing about vaccination and autism.