Response to Rubella Vaccine in Somali and Black Children Suggests MMR Vaccine and Autism Connection
Watch this video:
Now read this article.
Somali Americans develop twice the antibody response to rubella from the current vaccine compared to Caucasians in a new Mayo Clinic study on individualized aspects of immune response. A non-Somali, African-American cohort ranked next in immune response, still significantly higher than Caucasians…
Now… read this article.
“This study validates the concerns of the Somali community in Minneapolis,” comments epidemiologist Michael Rosanoff, Autism Speaks associate director for public health research. “There may be factors that put Somali-American children at higher risk of autism and autism with intellectual disability,” he says. “Or these findings may reflect better autism awareness and detection within this tight-knit community. We need to explore these possibilities, and that takes further research.”
Yes. It does take further research.
Or DOES IT???
Let’s review.
- Somali Americans and Black Americans have greatly increased immune response to the Rubella vaccine, as compared to the immune response of Whites and Hispanics.
- Children in the Somali immigrant community have significantly higher rates of autism, as compared to the rates of autism for non-Somali children.
- The Autism Speaks article shows lower rates of autism in Non-Somali Black Children in Minneapolis; this is hypothesized to be due to lower awareness and lack of access to care among those in the Black Community. This article and this article support that hypothesis.
- As the vaccinology scientist in the video above explained, differences in the immune response are not only related to how well the vaccine works, they are also related to the frequency and severity of side-effects from the vaccine. (Many of us refer to “side effects” as “adverse reactions.” Adverse reactions may include autism.)
- The 2004 study conducted by the Vaccine Safety Research Group at The CDC found that Black children who received the MMR vaccine prior to 36 months of age had greatly increased rates of autism, as compared to their non-black peers. (That information was eliminated from the published report. You can read more about that here.)
- The MMR vaccine contains three live virus vaccines: Measles, Mumps, and Rubella.
- A growing body of research indicates that at least for many, autism may be the result of an autoimmune response (here and here for a sampling), with higher rates of autoimmune disease among family members, most especially in the mother. This strongly suggests that children who regress in early childhood and are later diagnosed with autism may do so because their immune systems do not respond in the same way TO SOMETHING, as do children who do not develop regressive autism.
What do you suppose that SOMETHING might be?
Could it be…. vaccines? If you believe what the vaccinology scientist has to say, it certainly could be.
A bit of history you might find interesting… When the MMR vaccine was first introduced, it was believed that a single administration would provide protection for life. There continued to be measles outbreaks every year, and it was discovered that approximately 10% of the population showed no sign of antibody response even though they had been vaccinated. So, instead of trying to figure out who those children were, The CDC and ACIP decided to add another MMR to the schedule for ALL children. The result is that 90% of children were OVER-VACCINATED. Guess when that happened? 1989. The huge jump in autism started around 1990.
It should be noted that the study at Mayo was ONLY looking at the Rubella vaccine. As the doctor discussed, further research will no doubt lead us to a better understanding of the differences in response to different vaccines and how things like race, gender, family medical history, and other factors such as genetic SNPs including MTHFR mutations and Cytochrome P450 mutations influence an individual’s response to a particular vaccine, a particular component of a vaccine, or to the simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines.
Until that research is done, it is unconscionable for politicians like Richard Pan to bow to pharmaceutical company pressure by pushing for mandates that would require ALL parents to vaccinate ALL children exactly according to the CDC’s Schedule. The 2015 CDC Schedule for children includes giving up to 13 vaccines at a single well-baby visit.
As noted above and in this post, the elimination of data from the 2004 MMR study has a direct bearing on whether or not parents should be forced to vaccinate their children. Dr. William Thompson was an author of that study and he says things were not reported that should have been. Those things directly affect our children – all of them, regardless of race and regardless of gender.
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Our children deserve better. We deserve better. Our future as a nation depends on it.
Here is the transcript of the video, just in case it happens to disappear…
0:00The most outstanding and to some degree unexpected0:04difference that we found is that African-Americans have0:08much higher antibody responses to this viral vaccine, rubella,0:13than we have seen in any other population.0:16Why would that be? Well that’s the subject of the next set of studies,0:21but it’s really a foundational finding0:24in this respect: We sort of have a population level approach0:29to medicine. We do it with drugs, we do it with vaccines. We assume everybody is0:34alike and that they all respond the same. This is the basis of personalized or0:39individualized medicine.0:41Our group has been among the first to show0:44that what we know for how people respond to drugs0:47turns out to also be true in how people respond to biologics like vaccines.0:52So you and I may respond very differently0:56as a cohort, say of Caucasians, but my colleague who is African-American1:01and the population of African-Americans turn out to have a1:05much better response1:07to that vaccine. Hispanics have a lower response.1:10Well this is really important in terms of how we deliver vaccines, how we design1:15vaccines.1:16Perhaps the safety of vaccines and this is new information in the biologic field1:22and I think is going to change how we practice medicine.1:25The vaccine in essence is working differently.1:28The question is, “Why?” It’s the same vaccine1:32in human beings administered the same way1:36and yet it stimulates a very different set of1:40gene expression and protein secretion, that protein being1:45antibody that protects us when we see the virus.1:48A lot of people haven’t heard of rubella. They think it’s a disease that doesn’t1:52exist anymore1:53and and that would be naive to think that, certainly in California along some1:57of the border states.1:59We do still see rubella cases. In Japan2:02and in Europe we’re seeing outbreaks of rubella and measles,2:06they’re vaccines that are given together, primarily because if people rejecting2:11the vaccine2:12out of unfounded fears about the safety of the vaccine,2:16but the interesting thought occurs to me maybe we only have to give2:20African-Americans2:22half the size of the dose that we give to Caucasians.2:26That’s an example of individualizing our approach2:30to somebody. Eventually what will happen is it won’t be something as2:34complicated as race, it will be genetically based.2:38So we will look at somebody’s genes that are important to developing immunity2:43and based on which ones they carry, say,2:46“You don’t need the vaccine. You’re not at any risk.”Or “You need twice the dose of2:50the average person, or half the dose.”2:52Or, “You’re at risk for this kind of side effect.”2:55And that changes how we practice medicine. It’s it’s an exciting new era2:59in that regard.3:01So we may be able to save cost,3:04we may be able to reduce the amount of side effects.3:08If you only need half as much vaccine3:11to reach the same level of protection, we’re adding cost and potential risk by3:16giving you double what you actually need.3:18We could extend the vaccine supply twice as far.3:22Take African countries for example with this kind of knowledge, and with the3:27cost to vaccines…3:28What might it mean, that for the same cost we could immunize3:32twice as many people? That would just be one practical example3:37of an outcome that would be important at least at a population level.3:41Fundamentally what it begins to do3:44is build a scientific case and database3:47for this idea. If we see these kinds of3:51dramatic differences with this vaccine, will we see it with another vaccine?3:57The answer is yes. We’ve seen that with other vaccines.4:00And does that inform our approach to new vaccine development? For example,4:06African-Americans, Hispanics, maybe other4:10more traditional minority groups could be at greater risk of certain diseases.4:16Let’s take HIV for example, or hepatitis B, or4:20an even number of diseases. Might knowing this about genetics and how they respond4:25to a vaccine4:27inform how we go about developing the new vaccine4:31for groups most at risk of that disease?4:34The other thing that we we didn’t find in this study, but we have found in other4:38studies is the effect of gender or sex.4:41Traditionally, for every vaccine that’s been studied4:44women always respond better than men –4:47always without exception. Why is that?4:51How do we take advantage of that information4:54in building new vaccines and delivering the vaccines we currently have?4:59It’s worth pointing out that in years, decades past5:03Hispanics, African-americans and other minority groups5:07tended to get excluded from research5:10and therefore the benefits of medical research.5:14That’s changed. And we certainly understand the5:17the value of that. This study5:20demonstrates the important differences that one can find5:24and informs how we approach the medical care of those groups.
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