Vaccination benefits outweigh any potential risks

Vaccination benefits outweigh any potential risks

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A mother recently posted a message in a mailing list here, urging
parents to be aware of mercury contained in some vaccines, which
allegedly causes a condition with symptoms similar to autism.

She said her two-and-a-half-year-old son was one of the
victims, suffering heavy metal poisoning from the vaccination.

The mother also recommended the Indonesian translation of a
book about what parents should know about children's
vaccinations, written by Stephanie Cave, MD and Deborah Mitchell.

At the end of last month, the Indonesian Autism Foundation
held a seminar called "Is vaccination safe?".

Well, is it?

The debate over vaccination safety has been going on for a
while, with some scientific studies claiming a link between
childhood vaccinations and autism.

One study pointed at the mercury content in thimerosal, the
preservative found in some vaccines, especially the
measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The MMR, the study suggested, had caused a particular form of
autism, new variant autism, in which children deteriorate over
time and suffer bowel disorders.

Last February, however, scientists from the Royal Free
Hospital in England found there is no evidence of such a link.

"There is a huge amount of good evidence that there's no
relation between MMR and autism," Prof. Brent Taylor, who led the
research, told BBC News Online.

Autism, the latest study shows, was just as likely among
children who did not receive MMR, or to have surfaced in children
before they were vaccinated.

Taylor said that by not having the MMR jab, children were
being put at risk of measles, mumps and rubella.

Leading British medical publication The Lancet also issued a
rare retraction earlier this year for an article it published
citing a link between vaccinations and the onset of autism.

However, many parents and campaign groups still believe that
dozens of children have been affected through vaccination.

Parents here, apparently, are no exception.

According to pediatrician Hardiono Pusponegoro, who chairs the
national board of the Indonesian Pediatrician Association (IDAI),
many mothers were afraid of getting their children vaccinated.

"Whereas we doctors, along with the Ministry of Health, have
issued a joint statement that vaccinations are safe," Hardiono
told The Jakarta Post.

He regretted the influence from a book, which he did not name
but said was written by a parent who is not a doctor but whose
child is autistic, that has been translated and sold here.

"The writer is very anti vaccine. Parents here read that book
and things are messed up," said Hardiono.

He acknowledged there was an increasing number of autism cases
here. Unfortunately, no one knows what causes the disorder, with
symptoms ranging from a lack of social skills to a profound and
crippling inability to relate to others.

What is known is that there is genetic factor involved, which
is allegedly triggered by environmental factors, such as viral
infection and allergy.

As autism is usually diagnosed during the toddler years when
children receive many shots, some believe that the vaccine, or
the thimerosal it contains, is another trigger factor for autism.

Thimerosal, a type of mercury called ethyl mercury, is used to
prevent contamination in vaccine so the latter remains sterile.
It is no longer used in childhood vaccines in the United States,
but it remains in the influenza vaccine and other vaccines in
other countries.

Hardiono said that in Indonesia, thimerosal can still be
found, including in diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) and
hepatitis vaccines, both of which are mandated for children by
the government.

"There is a limit of the ethyl mercury level that is allowed
in children's bodies, as mercury can damage the brain. But even
if the two vaccines are combined, the mercury limit does not
exceed the limit. It is tolerable and not dangerous," he said.

The new vaccines available are free from thimerosal or contain
a minute amount.

As for the report of heavy metal contamination, Hardiono said
that the mercury content in fish from the Jakarta Bay, as
recently reported by the media, is much higher.

"The mercury in the fish is much higher than all the mercury
in the vaccines combined. The type of the mercury is also
different, it is methyl mercury, the one that caused the Minamata
tragedy," Hardiono said, referring to the mercury poisoning that
occurred in residents living near a factory in Japan.

If parents are still worried, Hardiono suggested that they
only have their children immunized with the DPT and hepatitis
vaccines.

"Especially DPT, we can't bargain with that as the risk is
death," he said.

"But the bottom line is, we shouldn't be worried about
vaccination. If we forsake vaccinations, this country will be
ruined."