Did the Institute of Medicine really find evidence of no vaccine/autism link?

To vax or not to vax

I don’t really understand it, but a lot of passionate people out there seem to take great joy in any evidence — no matter how thin — that suggests there’s no link between vaccines and autism.

This crowd also likes to portray anyone who disagrees with them as clueless, “anti-vax” loons who stubbornly refuse to understand how safe vaccines really are.

So this crowd must have been delighted at this recent headline from MedPage Today: “Autism Not Caused by Vaccines, IOM Report Concludes.”

Take THAT, anti-vaxers!

But then…sudden despair…

Here’s the opening sentence of the MedPage report: “There’s convincing evidence that some vaccines can cause some adverse effects, including seizures, brain inflammation, and fainting, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine.”

Seizures? Brain inflammation? What the…? Has the IOM been infiltrated by a bunch of nutzo anti-vaxers?

Wishful thinking

Now before anyone starts shooting off rage-filled letters, I am not anti-vaccine. But I am against ineffective or unsafe vaccines — and the way they are marketed.

And sometimes that marketing comes in the form of editorial and PR. So while this IOM research has some good points, it’s also the oldest magicians’ trick in the book. They draw your attention to one thing so you won’t see the sleight-of-hand that’s going on right under your nose.

Let’s go back to that MedPage headline: “Autism Not Caused by Vaccines…”

Well…no. The IOM report “favored rejection of a causal link” between the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. The report DID NOT conclude that autism is “not caused by vaccines.”

To me, that reads like pure wishful thinking from the editors of MedPage. (Sorry about that, pro-vaxers.)

The MedPage headline also makes it sound like the IOM did an exhaustive review, comparing the wide range of vaccine use with cases of autism and other adverse effects.

Well…no.

The IOM researchers looked at a total of eight different vaccines. And as any parent knows, if they allow their pediatricians free rein, their kids will receive dozens of different vaccines in their first 20 years.

Meanwhile…there is the pesky little detail of adverse events the IOM researchers DID find linked to the vaccines. There were seizures, brain inflammation, and fainting (as already mentioned). Other risks included inflammation of joint membranes, pneumonia, hepatitis, meningitis, and encephalitis.

One vaccine that was not included in the study was the seasonal flu shot. But I would guess it’s very unlikely that we’ll see the IOM tackle that one. For one thing, the evidence so far suggests that the flu shot has little or no protective value.

But adverse events? Oh yeah…we’ve got links!

A few years ago, HSI Members Alert managing editor Michele Cagan searched the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and came up with these surprising numbers linked to the flu vaccine:

* 2,980 hospitalizations
* 405 prolonged hospitalizations
* 260 permanent disabilities
* 797 life-threatening events
* 203 deaths

And those numbers cover just one year — 2007.

So, pro-vaxers…give parents the benefit of the doubt. If they look at all these numbers and adverse events you can’t blame them if they hesitate before putting their children through the full gauntlet of drug injections.

But that doesn’t make them loons…just good parents.

Sources: 
“Adverse Effects of Vaccines — Evidence and Causality” Institute of Medicine, August 2011, hrsa.gov

“Autism Not Caused by Vaccines, IOM Report Concludes” Michael Smith, MedPage Today, 8/25/11, medpagetoday.com