Print This Page Email This Page See Most Sent

Dec. 10

— By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of Congress who doubt the safety of vaccines launched a renewed effort on Tuesday to find a link between diseases such as autism and childhood shots, worrying experts in the field.

Indiana Republican Rep. Dan Burton presided over an often emotional hearing into the alleged vaccine-autism link and railed against a decision in Congress earlier this month that made it harder to sue vaccine makers.

But one member of his own committee attacked Burton's campaign as well-meaning but misguided and said science, not politics, should decide whether vaccines are safe.

Doctors say vaccines may have been the biggest advance in health of the last century, saving millions of lives. But their success has opened the door to questions about safety.

"I am for vaccines, but they need to be tested properly," Burton told House Committee on Government Reform hearing.

Burton, whose grandson is autistic, has held such hearings for years. Many reports have shown no link, including several university-based studies and a 2001 independent Institute of Medicine report saying there was no evidence to show the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine causes autism.

Children are usually diagnosed with autism around age 2, just after they finish their series of vaccines, which has led many people to associate the vaccines with the condition.

And there is no denying that autism has become more common in recent years, with an estimated 1 in 250 U.S. children affected to some degree by the condition, whose symptoms range from mild behavioral issues to a near-complete inability to speak or otherwise communicate.

No one knows what causes autism, but experts note there is a strong genetic component and say the causes are sure to be complex.

FOCUS ON MERCURY

The latest focus is on thimerosol, a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines for decades.

It is no longer used in childhood vaccines -- not because it was shown to be harmful but because U.S. government officials and vaccine makers were aware that people believed that mercury may be linked to autism.

In the past month two studies published in the most respected medical journals -- the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine -- have shown no link between vaccines and autism. They found evidence that children who got vaccines containing thimerosol do not have unsafe levels of mercury in the blood.

Dr. David Baskin, a professor of neurological surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told the committee he had doubts about the studies and said he believed the thimerosol in vaccines could cause brain damage.

But California Democrat Henry Waxman, ranking minority member of the committee, noted that Baskin's opinion, and those of other scientists, had been considered by the Institute of Medicine in determining there was no proof of a link.

"This committee, unfortunately, has played a role in sowing confusion," Waxman said, referring to "sensational allegations" and "discredited scientific views."

"Mr. Chairman, I think you have been well-intentioned in your efforts and genuine in your convictions, but often your theories have been just wrong," Waxman added.

But Burton, who thumped his desk and often shouted as he spoke, vowed to continue to press health officials to prove that vaccines do not cause autism or to admit that they do.

"I know you people at HHS (the Health and Human Services Department) and CDC don't like me and I don't give a damn."

Florida Republican Dave Weldon, a medical doctor, acknowledged that health officials fear people will stop vaccinating their children if the safety of immunizations is questioned. But he praised Burton's doggedness.

"We are trying to investigate a sacred cow," Weldon said.

"I don't think parents are that stupid. I think parents will continue to vaccinate their kids."

Copyright 2002 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.