From the Los Angeles Times:

California parents of young children are increasingly reluctant to vaccinate against the H1N1 influenza, citing fear of autism and distrust of authority.

This new generation of vaccine skeptics has been forged by the stubbornly persistent belief — discredited by a welter of studies — in a link between vaccines and autism. And it is further fueled by a combustible mix of distrust of drug manufacturers, media outlets and the federal government.

And although many pediatricians are readying stern lectures in support of vaccinating children, several in Southern California contacted by The Times acknowledged they have doubts about recommending a vaccine that is still in testing for all of their young patients.

See also: Racial and ethnic minorities join vaccine skeptics — Los Angeles Times

Earlier posts here.

From ABC News, CBS News (with video), and USA Today:

As the U.S. scrambles to release a vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu virus, autism concerns are being raised by parent activists who worry that the new vaccine could be rushed to market without enough proof that it’s safe.

They say they’re concerned that the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal could be an ingredient in some of the doses of the flu vaccine.

Concern over thimerosol has been raised for years, despite research that has found it to be harmless. “We have yet to find any evidence that thimerosol has hurt anyone,” said Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah.

The vaccine is being recommended for 159 million Americans, most notably children and pregnant women.

See also:

Pregnant women hit hard by swine flu – Katharine Mieszkowski in Salon

Only about 15 percent of pregnant women get vaccinated for seasonal flu, although the CDC recommends that they all should. Thanks to those unfounded fears about vaccines causing autism that just will not die, some women are concerned that the flu vaccine will harm the developing fetus.

From the Education Week’s On Special Education Blog, the Arizona Daily Star’s Puzzle Pieces Blog, and Newsweek’s The Human Condition Blog:

Dr. Eric London resigned this week from his post on the scientific affairs committee at Autism Speaks, citing ethical differences over the advocacy organization’s stance on the autism and vaccine debate. London was a co-founder of the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR), which merged with Autism Speaks in 2006.

In a public resignation letter, London said he was stepping away from the New York-based organization because it continues to push for research into an autism-vaccine link, which “he can no longer ethically support.”

London said Autism Speaks’s arguments that “there might be rare cases of ‘biologically-plausible’ vaccine involvement…are misleading and disingenuous” and adversely impact autism research and public health.

Alison Tepper Singer resigned from her post as executive vice president for communications and outreach for Autism Speaks earlier this year for similar reasons and started her own advocacy group, the Autism Science Foundation (ASF). London serves on the scientific advisory board at ASF.

From Time:

Former Playboy model and MTV star Jenny McCarthy promotes her latest autism book in a Q&A with Time magazine’s science editor. She makes “the usual charges against the usual suspects, including nutrition, environmental toxins and, as always, vaccines.”

The book’s title? “Healing and Preventing Autism”.

A quote:

I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their f___ing fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s s___. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism.

Earlier post here.

See also: Jenny McCarthy says toxins, genetics may cause autism — ABC Good Morning America

From the New York Times:

A surge in autism diagnoses among Somali immigrants in Minneapolis has prompted public health officials to investigate whether the cases are a statistical fluke or an actual outbreak.

However, even if the Minnesota Department of Health epidemiological survey confirms that a cluster exists in that population, it may still not be able to answer why. There are many theories, and all have weaknesses. Among them: living conditions in Somalia or in refugee camps in Kenya, traditional medicines, intermarriage of close family members, genetic predisposition, vitamin D deficiencies due to a lack of sunlight, and vaccines.

Many Somali parents are baffled and frightened; some believe they are cursed.

Earlier post here.

(New York Times photo)

Jon Poling, a neurology professor whose daughter has autism, writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that autism research should be refocused to explore environmental triggers.

An excerpt:

We should be investing our research dollars into discovering environmental factors that we can change, not more poorly targeted genetic studies that offer no hope of early intervention. Pesticides, mercury, aluminum, several drugs, dietary factors, infectious agents and yes — vaccines — are all in the research agenda.

Poling’s daughter Hannah was a successful petitioner in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Earlier posts here and here.

See also:

Ga. Senate tables autism bill – WTVM 9 [Columbus, GA]/Associated Press

From the Des Moines Register, a letter from ARC of the United States executive director Peter V. Berns about reports that 21 men with intellectual disabilities were warehoused in deplorable conditions while employed by a meat-processing company:

As the treatment of people with intellectual disabilities has progressed, it is astonishing that state agencies in Iowa and Texas — from human and social services to labor and fiscal agents — provided no oversight on the care and employment of these individuals.

A swift investigation along with the filing of charges against those responsible is one step toward addressing the rights of these individuals and restoring some of their dignity by ensuring their inclusion within the community.

In the New York Times, a letter from David S. Perlin about the court ruling that found autism is not caused by childhood vaccines:

I am outraged as a scientist and infectious diseases specialist that a vocal group of media personalities and politicians, latching onto a badly flawed vaccine-link hypothesis, could have so wrongly influenced society.

… We need to learn that engaging in amateurish science makes for bad public policy.

Perlin is is director and a professor at the Public Health Research Institute-New Jersey Medical School