The 2008 Pittsburgh Autism Expo is scheduled to be held on October 24 and 25, 2008 at the Pittsburgh Airport Crowne Plaza Hotel. David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm, is schedule to present the keynote address.

David Kirby has been a professional journalist for 17 years, and has written for The New York Times for more than a decade. David Kirby’s first book “Evidence of Harm, Mercury in Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic debuted at number 27 on The New York Times bestseller list. The book has sparked a national debate and Kirby has appeared on such varied media venues as Meet the Press, The Today Show, Imus in the Morning, Montel Williams and Air America.

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April 2, 2008 has been declared World Autism Awareness Day by the United Nations.  In honor of World Autism Awareness Day, CNN has scheduled several autism specials to be aired on 4/2.  You will need to check your local listings for channel and time information.

9:00 am Eastern - “We Have Autism”

6:00 pm Eastern - Larry King Live will focus on the autism/vaccine debate

9:00 pm Eastern - Anderson Cooper 360 will focus on Life as an Adult with Autism

In addition to the above shows, CNN.com also has a special site dedicated to autism spectrum disorders.

In light of the recent publicity surrounding the concession made by the government in an autism/vaccine case, the American Academy of Pediatrics has released a statement on autism and vaccine safety.  Highlights from the statement include information on autism, mitochondrial disease, and general vaccine and vaccine safety information. 

From the AAP statement:

The AAP understands that parents may have concerns about vaccinating their children. Vaccines are one of the most successful medical advances of all time. Vaccine safety is an issue of great importance to the AAP and to pediatricians, who support ongoing research and increased funding in this area. In addition, the AAP supports further research into the causes of autism.

Despite the recent court ruling and other reports claiming a lack of evidence linking vaccines to autism, the debate will likely continue for some time.

Source:  Facts for Parents about Autism and Vaccine Safety

Madison, N.J., February 19, 2008 — Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) announced today that The Honorable Stuart R. Berger of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in Baltimore, Maryland, has granted Wyeth’s motion for summary judgment in the case of Blackwell, et al. v. Sigma Aldrich, Inc., et al — an alleged vaccine injury case claiming that Jamarr Blackwell’s exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines caused him to become autistic. 

Previously, the Court had granted Wyeth’s motion to preclude all five of plaintiffs’ expert witnesses from offering testimony at trial following extensive briefing and a 10-day evidentiary hearing held by the Court last August.

In his December 21, 2007 Memorandum and Order pertaining to Wyeth’s evidentiary motion, Judge Berger found that “it is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community that thimerosal in vaccines does not cause or contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism,” also noting that “it is generally accepted in the relevant scientific community that autism is genetic in origin except in rare instances of prenatal exposures to certain substances at defined periods during pregnancy.”

“This is a significant victory for good science generally,” says Daniel J. Thomasch, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, who served as lead counsel for Wyeth in this matter.  “The Court appropriately found that plaintiff’s  attempt to link autism to childhood vaccines is contrary to generally accepted science.”

About Wyeth
Wyeth is one of the world’s largest research-driven pharmaceutical and health care products companies.  It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and non-prescription medicines that improve the quality of life for people worldwide.  The Company’s major divisions include Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare and Fort Dodge Animal Health.

Source:  Wyeth Press Release

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is looking for parents who are willing to discuss the vaccine/autism issue.  The following letter was sent out, and subsequently published by many autism websites.

Hello,

As part of our ongoing response to media stories regarding autism and vaccines, the AAP communications department is compiling a list of parents who support the AAP and are available for interviews. We are looking for two types of parents who could serve as spokespersons:

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders who support immunization and who do not believe there is any link between their child’s vaccines and his or her autism.

Parents of children who suffered a vaccine-preventable illness. This could be a parent who declined immunization, whose child became ill before a vaccine was available, or whose child was ineligible for immunization.

We are asking for your help identifying parents who would be good spokespersons. They do not need to be expert public speakers. They just need to be open with their story and interested in speaking out on the issue. We will contact candidates in advance to conduct pre-interviews, to offer guidance on talking to reporters and to obtain a signed waiver giving us permission to release their name.

If a parent were placed on our list, we would offer their name and contact information to select media. We hope to build a list of parents from a wide range of geographical areas.

As the Jenny McCarthy and “Eli Stone” stories illustrate, this issue is likely to recur in the national and local media. The AAP is committed to doing all we can to counter such erroneous reports with factual information supported by scientific evidence and AAP recommendations.

The anti-vaccine groups often have emotional family stories on their side. The ability to offer a reporter an interview with a similarly compelling parent who is sympathetic to the AAP’s goals is a powerful tool for our media relations program.

Please contact me if you have any questions or to suggest a parent to interview.

Thank you,

Susan Stevens Martin
Director, Division of Media Relations
American Academy of Pediatrics
Phone: 847-434-7131
Email: ssmartin [AT] aap [DOT] org

A new study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, confirms previous studies’ claims that there is no verifiable link between the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism.  An excerpt from the Reuters India article on the topic:

“This study really supports the view these are safe vaccines,” said David Brown, a researcher at Britain’s Health Protection Agency who worked on the study. “The evidence is now so solid there really isn’t a need for further studies here.”

The vaccine/autism debate is one of the most controversial topics in the autism community, often-times causing a divide.  There are those who are certain that vaccines can cause autism and there are those who are equally certain that it doesn’t. 

Read the entire story at Reuters India.
 

Babies Excrete Vaccine-mercury Quicker Than Originally Thought, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (2008-02-04) — New research in Pediatrics offers another reason to rethink blaming the spike in autism diagnoses on thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative routinely used in several childhood vaccines until the late ’90s. Infants’ bodies expel the thimerosal mercury much faster than originally thought — thereby leaving little chance for a progressive building up of the toxic metal. … > read full article