I am writing concerning Dr. Jeffcoat’s April JADA editorial, "A Perfect Storm: Lessons From the Vaccine Controversy." The "Wakefield affair" certainly precipitated a great deal of controversy and a significant amount of research dedicated to discrediting Dr. Wakefield’s findings.
It appears from the editorial that Dr. Jeffcoat is unequivocally supportive of the conclusion that there is absolutely no evidence that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, or MMR, or any other vaccine or combination of vaccinations, is related to autism.
Many parents, grandparents and health care providers who have intimate knowledge of autism would take serious exception to the conclusion that she has drawn from the research that has been presented to the public and scientific community. Since autism affects the rich and poor, the uneducated as well as the educated, there are hundreds of parents in medicine, dentistry, medical research and other allied professions who will disagree with her interpretation of the findings.
The reality is that reassurances given by federal and state authorities, and by editorial writers in various learned journals, are just not sufficient to put to rest the concerns of many personally affected by autism.
There is also substantial evidence that autism is not such a "mysterious condition." The fact that so many children are perfectly normal and "regress" at around the age of 2 years, losing language and personal interaction skills, has led many to the conclusion that autism is an acquired "disease." Also, the fact that autism continues to grow at a rate estimated at between 17 and 22 percent worldwide, despite the fact that the vast majority of individuals affected by autism do not procreate, leads many to believe that its basis is not solely genetic.
It is also important to understand that thimerosal is not, and never was, present in the MMR vaccine. The thimerosal controversy is a separate but related contentious discussion. Just as the controversy concerning the safety of the MMR will not simply go away, the controversy concerning the safety of vaccines containing thimerosal will persist until the safety of thimerosal is established. Many in the autism community find it credible that the presence of thimerosal, which is almost 50 percent ethyl mercury by weight and is administered parenterally, may have something to do with the autism epidemic.
I am not saying that either vaccines containing thimerosal or the MMR are definitely related to autism. What I am saying is that the controversy, which Dr. Jeffcoat implies has no basis in fact, is legitimate and in dire need of resolution. Only then will the vaccination program in this country and around the world have its credibility restored.
To editorialize in such a well-respected journal as JADA that there is really no reasonable basis for controversy militates against the research required to finally resolve the problem.
As Dr. Jeffcoat’s editorial states, it is important for an author to disclose any potential conflict of interest that may introduce bias into his or her research. My bias is having worked professionally with both children with autism and their parents for 28 years as a pediatric dentist, as well as following the research on both sides of the autism controversy very closely. I assume that JADA will hear from many other dentists who are also members of the autism community who will voice similar concerns about the position taken in the April JADA editorial.
