From Chicago Tribune, New York Times editorial, and New York Times

Federal officials report measles cases in the U.S. have reached their highest levels in more than a decade, and public health officials are blaming parents who choose not to vaccinate their children because of autism fears. Measles outbreaks have also soared in Britain, Switzerland, Israel, Austria, and Italy, sickening thousands and causing at least two deaths.

From January through July, 131 measles cases were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 15 states and the District of Columbia, and 15 people were hospitalized. Of those old enough to be eligible for vaccines, two-thirds had not been vaccinated. Autism and anti-vaccines advocates are unapologetic about the return of measles.

Physicians say they must increasingly spend time counseling parents who believe vaccines cause autism. Multiple studies have refuted the connection between vaccines and autism.

Measles is the first disease to reappear when vaccination rates decline because it is highly contagious. In the decade before the measles vaccination program began, each year nearly 4 million people in the United States were infected, 48,000 were hospitalized, 1,000 were chronically disabled and nearly 500 died.

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

School authorities in Minneapolis report that Somali children are being placed in autism-related programs at about twice the average rate for children in the district.

As of July, 3.6 percent of Somali students were enrolled in such programs. While Somali children made up just under 6 percent of the school population, they comprised 17 percent of those in the early childhood autism programs, and 25 percent of the class for severely autistic preschoolers.

Parents in the Somali community are worried, and health department officials are concerned that they may stop vaccinating their children over unproven fears that the shots might trigger autism. Experts say people with autism face stigma within the Somali community.

From ABC News:

Appearing on “Good Morning America,” X-Files actress Amanda Peet advised the public not to listen to celebrities when it comes to vaccines.

“It seems that the media is often giving celebrities and actors more authority on this issue than they are giving the experts,” Peet said. “I know it’s a paradox, but that’s part of why I wanted to become a spokesperson, to say to people, ‘Please don’t listen to me. Don’t listen to actors. Go to the experts.’”

Peet also apologized again during her appearance for comments she made in the July issue of the parenting magazine Cookie in which she stated, “Frankly, I feel that parents who don’t vaccinate their children are parasites.”

Peet’s advice is intended to counter the position of former Playboy model and author Jenny McCarthy, who says the current vaccine schedule places children at a higher risk of developing autism.

With video

(Photo: Screen capture from ABC GMA website.)

From the Associated Press/USA Today:

Members of Congress attacked the dental industry in a hearing this week, blaming mercury in dental fillings for autism and and a wide range of other problems. A spokesman for the American Dental Association faced deeply personal diatribes from Reps. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Diane E. Watson, D-California, amid demands that dentists do more to keep dental fillings out of wastewater.

The FDA last month for the first time posted an advisory on its website warning that silver dental fillings and the mercury they contain may pose a safety concern for pregnant women and young children. Mercury makes up as much as 54 percent of silver fillings.

(more…)

From The Washington Post:

Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher whose daughter Rachel has autism, grapples with her condition against the backdrop of the escalating controversy surrounding vaccines and autism. Hotez is president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute and chair of George Washington University’s department of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine.

The notion that a vaccine expert would deliberately cover up the cause of a growing public health problem cuts Peter Hotez to the quick. That narrative suggests that someone like him — with firsthand knowledge of the devastation autism can cause a family — would stand by idly as medical science knowingly allowed thousands of Rachels to be put through the suffering that she and her family have endured

While the experts continue to examine the links between autism, mitochondrial disorders and vaccinations, Hotez expresses increasing frustration with the tendency of society to “point fingers and find blame” instead of urging Congress to help families with simple things such as respite care.

(Washington Post photo)

From CNN, medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen says many doctors are making changes in vaccination schedules in response to parent concerns. She lists some specific alterations in the vaccine schedules that parents have requested, and shares physician responses. Some suggest that parents look back at their family history and ask physicians whether they think their kids are at a heightened risk.

Related stories:

• Measles outbreak rekindles debate about vaccinations
• Measles cases increase among unvaccinated children

In Time magazine, an interview with a woman whose son was not inoculated against measles, caught the virus in Europe, and subsequently infected 12 other children.

The woman, identified only as “Jane” for fear of retaliation, said she “selectively” vaccinates her children because she worries about the ingredients in the vaccines.

She adds about the outbreak, “I feel horrible for those children and their parents, but I want to protect all children from harm. And so by making sure there is more research done, we can help all children.”

… because the U.S. is a relatively healthy first-world country with a well-functioning health care system, [she said] she feels safe in making the choice to vaccinate selectively. “Looking at the diseases mumps, measles and rubella in a country like the U.S. … it doesn’t tend to be a problem,” Jane said. “… because I live in a country where the norm is vaccine, I can delay my vaccines.”

Related posts include:

• Public health risks seen as parents reject vaccines
• Former head of NIH raises new questions about autism, vaccines
• Op-ed: Vaccine’s benefits outweigh dangers