Dear Sir:
In the recent article titled "A Population-Based Study of Measles,
Mumps, and Rubella Vaccination and Autism" by Kreesten Meldgaard
Madsen, MD, et al. the conclusion is that there is no link between the
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. This study was an
epidemiology study and was not a clinical science study. Dr. Andrew
Wakefield has done many clinical studies that show children with
autism having measles in the gut and Dr. John O'Leary has done
sophisticated PCR blood tests that indicate the blood strain is not
from the wild measles virus but from the vaccine strain. Their work
can be found on the Visceral Foundation web site
(http://www.visceral.org.uk/).
Also, Dr. Vijendra Singh has done extensive clinical science
indicating that a high percentage of autistic children he tested have
elevated measles antibody titers. The latest work he has done is in
the Journal of Biomedical Science, 2002, 9: 359-364 and titled
"Abnormal Measles-Mumps-Rubella Antibodies and CNS Autoimmunity in
Children with Autism." This work and others by Dr. Vijendra Singh can
be found on our Autism Autoimmunity Project web site
(http://www.autismautoimmunityproject.org/).
There is an epidemic of autism in the US and overseas in such
countries as the United Kingdom. The US Department of Education has
used the same diagnostic criterion since 1992/1993 on school age
children ages 6-21 and it has increased nationwide from 1992/1993 to
2000/2001 by 544%. There needs to be more independent clinical studies
funded regarding the MMR vaccine and autism and epidemology studies
like the one by Kreesten Meldgaard Madsen, MD will not prove that
there is no link to autism and the MMR vaccine. As an accountant I
know that figures don't lie, but figures can be used incorrectly to
come to pre-conceived conclusions. Clinical science will answer this
question, not epidemiology studies.
I'm curious as to what part pharmaceutical companies had in funding
this study by Kreesten Melgaard Madsen. A question that deserves to be
answered.
Raymond Gallup, Founder
Autism Autoimmunity Project
45 Iroquois Avenue
Lake Hiawatha, NJ 07034
Tel 973 299-9162