Infectious Disease Blog

While studies have yet to prove if there is a link between childhood vaccinations and autism, the case of a Georgia girl seems to suggest otherwise.

Nine-year-old Hannah Poling was developing normally during her infancy, but when she received five shots against nine infectious diseases, things changed dramatically, according to the New York Times.

She came down with a fever and refused to walk. A year later, she was diagnosed with autism.

Hannah’s parents are fighting the government, saying the vaccines may be what spurred their daughter’s autism.

The U.S. government will pay for Hannah’s medical care and agrees that the vaccines may have hurt her. However, officials say there was no concession that vaccines and autism are linked, according to the New York Times.

“Let me be very clear that the government has made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism,” Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday. “That is a complete mischaracterization of the findings of the case and a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today.”

But how did Hannah get sick? According to the Chicago Tribune, one theory is that the vaccines stressed Hannah’s body and provoked a preexisting mitochondria disorder. The other idea is that thimerosal, an ingredient in the vaccine, caused the mitochondria disorder.

Dr. Emily Willingham, the blogger of A Life Less Ordinary, provided some insight on the Hannah Poling case. She commented on the anti- vaccine movement, but reminded people about the good vaccines have done for the world. Here’s just a tidbit of what she had to say:

“Hannah Poling is a single data point, and as has already been pointed out, an unusual and possibly unique case. My own plea is that we please stop wasting so much time, money, and energy on this long-since-dead avenue of investigation and turn to more promising possibilities. Autism has a multifactorial etiology probably traceable back down many many paths that lead to a similar suite of behavioral manifestations. Based on that alone, Hannah Poling cannot be its avatar.”

please see the mind institute at UCD Medical Center,Sacramento,Ca.