The thing about the swine flu vaccine is that it is just as overblown as the disease itself.
1. The Swine Flu vaccine is made using the same proven methods that we've been using for decades to create flu (and other) vaccines.
2. One of the flu strains used to produce the normal seasonal flu vaccine is a different strain of H1N1. Had Swine Flu surfaced a few months earlier, it likely would have been the H1N1 strain put into the seasonal flu vaccine, and nobody would be any the wiser.
3. Regarding the theory that vaccinations like the seasonal and swine flu are responsible for autism, what a load of phooey. All current knowledge on that matter is that Autism is a pervasive genetic condition, passed on (usually) from the maternal side of the family, and it is not caused by vaccination exposure.
Overall, the vaccine is very safe, and is preferable than the disease, even if swine flu is statistically a very mild influenza.
Interesting that you bring this subject up. I've actually read a lot of the literature involved in the whole vaccination scare. These are the conclusions I came to:
1. The whole mess started with an article that leaked to the press and the press misinterpreted it. The original article was a case study that involved 11 boys and 1 girl who had autism. These 12 children also had some kind of gastrointestinal syndrome, and when their intestines were examined, it was found that there were fragments of DNA that had similarity to viral measles DNA. And surprise! They had recieved the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine as children (like most children do). There were no controls to compare the data to. It was hardly a proof of a link between autism and vaccines, simply a "huh, what a strange coincidence. I imagine this might be worth looking into!"
2. Sometime later, a couple of parents with an autistic child started looking around for someone to blame. Turns out, their child had a form of autism that was related to a very rare genetic disease involving mitochondria, and that the mercury compounds in the vaccine interacted with the mutant mitochondria to cause encephalitis, and permanent brain damage. It helps that they gave their child 5 vaccines at once! Knowing that the autism-vaccine scare was underway, they took advantage of it to get a wad of cash out of the vaccine company. A better approach here would be to advocate genetic testing for rare conditions that might interact with vaccines, rather than sue the company that made the vaccine for causing the autism. If I remember correctly, most vaccines come with a warning about the small percentage chance of causing rare side effects.
From what I've heard, there used to be dozens of companies that make vaccines, but the number has decreased to 3 worldwide since this lawsuit. These companies produce vaccines non-profit. It actually costs more to make the dose than they sell it for, and receive government money in order to produce sufficient quantities for the public and sell each dose for a fraction of the money it costs to produce it. As soon as making vaccines became a liability, most pharmaceutical companies dropped it like a hot potato.
3. A series of full blown studies have been launched since then to investigate the link between autism and vaccines. The entire population of Denmark born during a certain time period was investigated, and cross-referenced with the incidence of autism spectrum disorders and whether or not the children were vaccinated. They found no correlation between vaccination and autism. A similar study was launched in Britain. Again, no correlation. But you won't see the media saying "oops, my bad" anytime soon.
4. In regards to the mercury compounds in the vaccines. In 2002, they reduced the amount of mercury in the vaccines significantly. Since 2002, the incidence of autism in the public has not changed. If the mercury compounds were responsible, you'd expect a significant decline in autism rates.
5. I have heard that measles is on the rise again since parents have been refusing to vaccinate their children. Did you know that 10% of the children who get measles develop encephalitis, that could lead to permanent brain damage?
So the scare involving vaccines is kinda overblown, and a lot of misinformation is circulating. The best approach would be to educate people about the risks involved, and have children get genetic testing for rare diseases. Normal people without random conditions won't get autism from a vaccine.
And another thing. Certain types of autism are linked to maternal genetics. However, autism is not one single genetic disease, and part of the problem with it is that it has been linked to a lot of different genes. Autism is more like a symptom than a disease in of itself, and a bit of an umbrella term for a certain constellation of behaviors. And in the case of encephalitis induced autism, it's possible to develop autism via infection or inflammation.
Whoo, long post again.
