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Comment by tokenadult | Hacker News Reader

Your comment is untrue. As the author of the submitted article notes about a related proposed explanation for autism incidence, "First, in the broadest sense, the epidemiology doesn’t jibe." And that has always been the problem with the lawyer-profit-motivated hypothesis about vaccines and autism: it never matched the epidemiological evidence.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism/index.html

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10997

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/cc-mmr.htm

http://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2012/08/04/andrew-wakefiel...

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/jenny-mccarthy...

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/dr-google-and-...

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/an-antivaccine...

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I'm merely arguing that vaccines could possibly bring out or affect the severity of the symptoms of autism. None of the studies seem to study the severeness of autisms... just the rates, which would be unaffected if autism is already determined by a different factor (apparently age of the father may be one).

It's so scary to see how many people refuse to open their minds to possibilities outside their preconceived notions. The responses in this thread are a prime example.

> I'm merely arguing that vaccines could possibly bring out the symptoms of autism.

That possibility has been studied very extensively, and the science is in -- there is no link.

> It's so scary to see how many people refuse to open their minds to possibilities outside their preconceived notions.

Yes, true, but it's not too late for you to do just that -- read the science, and stop posting uninformed opinions.

It's so scary to see how many people refuse to open their minds to possibilities outside their preconceived notions.

Here is a good video about skepticism and minds, closed and open. Highly recommended!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T69TOuqaqXI

"You should have an open mind, but not so open all your brains run out."

In fact, the "hygiene hypothesis" is almost the diametric opposite; vaccines, by challenging our immune systems, would reduce the risk of autism. Not that it does that either, studies have repeatedly found no correlation between vaccination and autism.

Question: What of the chemical load that a vaccine or schedule of vaccines might carry? What if immune dysregulation has a tipping point? The tipping point could be a variety of things, including a vaccine. A second question: What if we need the full blown disease, along with the fever to properly train our immune systems? Mr. Manoff's article may have been well-written and fascinating and short on citations but it will raise important questions that need to be asked and answered without fear that everybody will skip their vaccines and we will all die of polio. I am certainly NOT directing this last sentence at you Mr. Swift. I am generally noting with a view to the entire discussion above that sometimes the scientific guild, like all of us, has allowed fear of what might happen to shape their answers to important questions.

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