From the Baltimore Sun, USA Today, ABC News, Associated Press:

Officials with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scrambled to reassure the public that childhood vaccines are safe after news spread that another agency had acknowledged a link between a child’s autism and the shots she received as a toddler.

“Our message to parents is that immunization is life-saving,” Dr. Julie Gerberding, the CDC’s director, said at a hastily convened conference call with reporters. “There’s nothing changed. … This is proven to save lives and is an essential component of protection for children across America and around the world.”

The parents of Hannah Poling, now 9, took their case public (above), sharing news that federal health officials have conceded that a series of vaccines she got when she was 19 months old worsened an underlying condition and ultimately led to her diagnosis of autism.

That concession - believed to be the first of its kind - makes her eligible for money from a federal vaccine-injury fund.

Many experts say Hannah’s case is unique and that her rare condition led to a rare consequence. They say her case should not be extrapolated to the thousands of other autistic children whose parents say they believe they were harmed by the vaccines.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 7th, 2008 at 10:11 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, autism, vaccine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post