Letter from Ray Gallup to NY Times re: "A Mysterious Upsurge in Autism"
Dear Editor:
Regarding your editorial of Sunday, October 20, 2002, "A Mysterious Upsurge in Autism", to most parents of children with autism in the USA and the UK there is no mystery. We know that autism is an epidemic. Educators, parents and independent researchers know it. The US Department of Education has figures that use the same diagnostic criterion since 1992/1993 to the present and the total increase is 544% nationwide (see
http://autismautoimmunityproject.org/shame.html). In one school district in England, one in 69 children have autism.We could find answers now to prevent this epidemic and help those children afflicted with this terrible disease if the National Institutes of Health (NIH) would get serious about finding answers by funding immunology research. They ignore this important research because of the implications with vaccines. Independent research has found that there is a high percentage of children with autism having elevated measles antibody titers and measles in the gut. Other children are being treated for high mercury levels due to the high levels of thimerosal in the vaccines.
Pertussis can cause encephalitis in experimental animals and the measles virus can cause encephalitis as well. If pertussis and measles can do that then consider what happens when pertussis is combined with diphtheria and tetanus to form the DPT vaccine; and measles is combined with mumps and rubella to form the MMR vaccine. The MMR vaccine is a live virus vaccine. Vaccines contain thimerosal (mercury), aluminum, formaldehyde and antifreeze among other dangerous toxins. As a friend of mine who is an a pediatrician (whose specialty is infectious diseases) says, "Too many vaccines at too early an age."
The last sentence of your editorial is most disturbing, "It could take years of study to unravel the widening mystery of autism." It shouldn't take years when we are facing an epidemic and we are serious about doing something about this. There should be a push for immunology research into autism and to look at various immune therapies that could help these children. I know of some independent researchers who would make a big difference like Dr. Vijendra K. Singh of Utah State University, Dr. Andrew Wakefield of the International Autism Research Center of Florida, Dr. James Oleske/Dr. Harumi Jyonouchi of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ and Dr. Arthur Krigsman of the Lenox Hill Hospital/North Shore Hospital, NY. This is a can do proposition but we have to get off of the horse and buggy and get with the 21st century science. The NIH and CDC have to realize this is an epidemic and deal with it and start funding important immunological science and stop throwing millions of dollars at some mystery gene. They maybe finding things for the Human Genome Project but they certainly are not helping our children with autism and stopping this nightmare epidemic.
Raymond Gallup, Founder
Autism Autoimmunity Project
45 Iroquois Avenue
Lake Hiawatha, NJ 07034
Tel 973 299-9162
http://www.autismautoimmunityproject.org/
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