Over the course of many years, people from all walks of life have brought the theory that vaccines and autism are immediately related to the table. The majority of people would agree that “autism, once rare, is now more prevalent than childhood cancer, diabetes, and down syndrome” (Geier & Geier, 2006). This conclusion seems to be highly unreasonable considering the leaps modern medicine has taken by vaccinating children at a young age so they are no longer as susceptible to life-threatening illnesses such as measles and mumps, that effortlessly took many lives less than a hundred years ago. However, like many others, research scientists Bernard Rimland and Woody McGinnis (2002) believe that “vaccinations may be one of the triggers for autism,” a mental condition often characterized by difficulties in areas like communication, relationships with others, and language. Geier and Geier (2006) further agree that these trends were first accounted for in America during the 1990s and “cannot be explained by immigration changed diagnostic criteria, or improved identification,” which has led to further research to pinpoint a cause elsewhere.
Mercury’s Possible Relationship with Autism
Seeing as the number of autistic children has increased worldwide at a somewhat steady rate, one could conjecture that this elevation could be an effect of the “worldwide increase of mercury exposure through fish and industrial sources” (Mutter, Naumann, Schneider, Walach, & Haley, 2005). Supplementary evidence connecting the two elements has been observed through the obtention of hair. Further conclusions have been made, according to the Holmes study, that show elevated levels of mercury, lead, and uranium in older children with autism compared to 40 controls (Mutter et al., 2005). However, Mutter et al., (2005) further demonstrated that other toxic metals such as “aluminium, arsenic, cadmium, or beryllium” indicated no unusual inflated trends or differences. This highlights mercury as a possible underlying cause of autism.
Thimerosal’s Plausible Association with Autism
Geier and Geier (2006) have found that studies have been somewhat successful in proving that certain, precise concentrations of thimerosal are “capable of inducing neuronal death, neurodegeneration, membrane damage, and DNA damage within hours of exposure.” Additionally, vaccination schedules of children who suddenly regressed support the theory that “autistic histories are often positive for high thimerosal doses” received by means of vaccines (Rimland & McGinnis, 2002). Furthermore, Rimland and McGinnis (2002) postulate that the presence of thimerosal, specifically by means of vaccines, has the ability to trigger a multitude of issues such as “direct neurotoxic, immunodepressive, and autoimmune injury,” which can consequently cause forms of early-onset or regressive autism. Many indisputable facts are displayed via tables, equations, and timelines in the compilation of research by Geier and Geier (2006), as shown in Appendix A, that measure the correlation between thimerosal and ASD. Conclusively, a sizable “government-sponsored thimerosal study is not comforting” to say the least (Rimland & McGinnis, 2002).
The Rising Number of Autistic Children in the US
Though it has not been completely validated as outright truth or proven absolutely false, some conclude that “autism may very well be nature’s way of demonstrating a subgroup of CVID children vulnerable to vaccine injury” (Rimland & McGinnis, 2002). To further prove their case, Tomljenovic and Shaw (2011) argue that a case study with detailed investigation of “vaccination records and Al body burden measurements (i.e., hair, urine, blood) in autistic children would be one step toward this goal.” With these other constituents and factors in mind, many would concur with the proposition that further research should be undertaken regarding the roles of vaccines containing mercury, aluminum, and thimerosal in children with autism due to highly telling trends (Geier & Geier, 2006). Despite this overwhelming evidence, “published science and clinical experience are converging rapidly” to form a concise and accurate image for autism and the case of its relation to vaccines (Rimland & McGinnis, 2002).
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