Wampum

Another Piece Of The Puzzle?

Southern California’s Daily Bulletin.com reports on what may be another piece of the autism puzzle falling into place:

The latest state Department of Developmental Services numbers on autism in children suggest the disease is, thankfully, stabilizing and possibly decreasing in California after years of explosive growth.

Yet there’s an alarming fact in the numbers. The upsurge and recent stabilization correspond very nearly to the rise and fall of levels of mercury exposure as a result of childhood vaccinations.

Though scientific studies have failed to find a link between autism and the mercury-based preservative widely used in vaccines until 1999, it is suspected of contributing to autism and other brain disorders in children.

These latest figures would appear to support that case.

Regardless of whether or not one thinks that mercury in vaccines caused autism in a generation of American children, we should all hope that it did. If mercury is the culprit, then the removal of mercury from infant vaccines beginning in the early 2000’s should result in a reduction in the incidence of new cases of autism. From most any point of view, that would be a very good thing.

Posted by Dwight Meredith at July 25, 2005 08:05 PM