October 6, 2011 2:10 PM

Asperger's syndrome in spotlight as South Park spoofs vaccine fears

By
Ryan Jaslow
Topics
Kids and family ,
Celebrity

(Credit: AP Photo)

(CBS) South Park isn't known for pulling punches, and last night's season 15 premiere was no exception.

Pictures: 10 deadly myths about childhood vaccines

The target of this week's episode? The controversy surrounding the purported link between vaccines and developmental disorders like autism and Asperger's syndrome.

Picking up where Michele Bachmann's controversial remarks left off, the episode starts with the South Park boys discussing how girls at their school are being required to get HPV vaccinations. Bachmann had made headlines by slamming fellow Republican hopeful Rick Perry for mandating these vaccinations for Texas schoolgirls, CBS News reported.

Fourth -grader Kyle, one of the main characters in the quartet, breaks down the controversy for his friends, explaining that some people believe vaccines can cause autism or Asperger's. That hubbub picks up when another character, Stan, visits the school's guidance counselor in a sullen mood, which the counselor mistakes for symptoms of a developmental disorder. The counselor then calls the school nurses and and asks, "Did we vaccinate Stan Marsh for the flu last year? I think he's got Asperger's."

People with Asperger's display symptoms including repetitive rituals, odd speech, and socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior.

Stan's story gets national attention as the first confirmed case of Asperger's caused by a vaccine and the President even signs a bill, "Stan's Bill," to ban mandatory vaccinations. The oft-controversial quartet member, Eric Cartman, then joins the brouhaha by shoving hamburgers down his pants, claiming the vaccine caused him to develop Asperger's as well.

What's the truth about vaccine safety?

The controversy first started from a since-debunked 1998 study suggesting a link, but this past August, the Institute of Medicine issued a report that said there was no evidence of a link between autism and vaccines.

"I am hopeful that it will allay some people's concerns," report co-author Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton, professor of pediatrics and law from Vanderbilt University, told the Associated Press at the time.

However when Bachmann reignited the controversy following a debate where she suggested the vaccine caused one girl to develop an intellectual disability, experts feared damage had been done.

"There are people out there who, because of this kind of misinformation, aren't going to get their daughter immunized," Dr. Kenneth Alexander, a pediatric infectious disease expert at the University of Chicago Medical Center, told Reuters at the time."As a result, there will be more people who die from cervical cancer."

By mocking the controversy with hyperbole, it's evident where the South Park creators stand on this issue. But will the episode change the views of worried parents?

Approximately 1 in 110 children have an autism spectrum disorder.

The National Institutes of Health has more on Asperger's.

10 deadly myths about childhood vaccines

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by bronwen7 October 8, 2011 11:03 AM EDT
I am overjoyed to see this extremely important issue taken up in the popular media like South Beach, and its mockery of vaccine defenders will do a lot to change the discourse. My daughter reacted to the hep-B vaccine given to her her first day of life (without my knowledge or permission) with four days and nights of endless, inconsolable screaming. It was vaccine-induced encephalitis, and now she has autism. It is vitally important that all parents realize the discourse even now is largely controlled by Big Pharma and the news outlets in which it is a big shareholder. Even Merck (see the Merck Manual) and vaccine package inserts admit that vaccines can cause encephalitis when there is an allergic reaction to the ingredients in the vaccine, and the resulting brain damage can be autism or another type of brain damage. Or it can result in chronic inflammation of various organs as the immune system grapples with this incomprehensible threat, resulting in asthma, diabetes, or food allergies. The scientific evidence supporting this phenomenon is easily accessed by anyone interested, and it directly contradicts the pharmaganda about vaccines being safe except for the one in a million exception. It is looking increasingly like one in six is visibly damaged (including learning disorders and ADHD, which occurred in one in many thousands before vaccines), and it may be that many more are damaged, but it takes longer for the damage to be visible, and it may be more subtle.
Reply to this comment
by autismnewsbe October 9, 2011 10:10 AM EDT
Bronwen, did you see the same cartoon as the rest of us? How did South Park mock "vaccine defenders?"
by T-smom October 8, 2011 9:54 AM EDT
The problem is the immunization policies are not protecting the subset of kids that prone to adverse reaction and the gov't is not ackowledging this at risk group. We feel our kids are getting thrown under the bus for the good of the herd. It's just not right. Why should any child take a bullet for the herd?

We need a way to screen those children that are at risk for adverse reaction either that or change the vaccine schedule. Look at the extremes we go to protect children with peanut allergies even though they are in the minority.

I believe UC Davis scientists discovered that children with autism tended to have high maternal IgG anti bodies. Experiemnts with baby monkeys exosed to IgG resulted in more autstic behavior. So why not use that as a test prior to vaccinating. Perhaps provoking the immune system of these high IgG kids by vaccinating is a bad idea.

FWIW, I'm not saying don't vaccinate but be cautious. Immune systems vary. Cookie cutter approaches do not work. One size does not fit all.
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by Alice_Robertson October 7, 2011 9:26 PM EDT
I like it when informative conversation opens up like this. I can see the humor in the hyberpole.....but, also, the insensitivity towards parents who know....absolutely know their child changed after the shot. For any parent or doctor to believe millions of mothers are playing pretend, or living out false victimhood is really denialism. I wish I could deny the gravestone on my two year old cousin's grave because the MMR fried his brains and killed him. He was taken off life support, and his mother became a heroin addict. But....like Wakefield (who really was not the starting point...the article is taking an easy and misleading swipe there. A Shot in the Dark and Dr. Mendelsohn were shouting out red flags before that). Maybe the doctors who deny the MMR shot has potential of harming a child should read the court transcripts about Hannah Poling. Her neurologist father proved in court the shot caused her autism. Good luck to parents finding help amidst a blind media, scoffing writers at Southpark (who, obviously, are fortunate not to deal with the heartbreak of a child injured by doctors who are mere parrots of BigPharma) and doctors with carte Blanche because a waiver signed by a trusting parent protects them. Oh I forgot...the shot is safe.....keep telling us.....maybe doctors should order this episode on DVD and use it as proof before to sign away our rights.....unsuspecting patients may find vindication there:) Where is Southpark's hyperbole on that? Oh that's right they missed that opportunity to offend the supposed intellect of doctors...or their writers just aren't thinkers.....yeah.......I'm thinkin' some people just want us to drink the same water that made them blind.
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by autismnewsbe October 9, 2011 1:01 PM EDT
"Her neurologist father proved in court the shot caused her autism."

The case never went to court, and the connection to autism was never proven. Alice, where do you get your information?
by noflushot October 7, 2011 6:32 PM EDT
Vaccine injuries do happen. Last year I received a settlement from the vaccine court for damage done to me by the flu shot. While most people will not be injured, others are damaged by vaccines. Compare it to smoking, not everyone who smoked developed lung cancer. But after much defending of smoking by the cigarette industry, scientists finally admitted a link between smoking and lung cancer. Why is it so hard to believe a subgroup may develop damage from vaccination.
Reply to this comment
by autismnewsbe October 9, 2011 1:02 PM EDT
Why is it so hard to believe that correlation is not the same thing as causation?
by Mindanoiha October 7, 2011 11:14 AM EDT
Many parents are aware of the close networks between the pharmaceutical industry, politicians, health authorities, doctors and the media.

Never before have parents been so aware of the practice of the widespread manipulation of statistics, especially concerning those regarding vaccine safety.

It is understandable that the number of people who are informed and who criticize vaccines is increasing.
Reply to this comment
by Mindanoiha October 7, 2011 11:12 AM EDT
The author of the article asks: "But will the episode change the views of worried parents?"
The word "worried" should be substituted by the word "informed".

Never before have parents had such extensive opportunity to independently access vaccine information from several sources.
Never before have so many realised that nobody, including the medical establishment has the monopoly of truth.

Many have noted that a great deal of serious research in medical journals, including peer reviewed studies, is unreliable, biased and strongly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry.

Many parents, especially those who have vaccine injured children have studied vaccines for hundreds of hours, even for years, and know far more than the average doctor. Many ask questions and are unimpressed and frustrated because doctors lack the competence to provide adequate answers.

Many know that there is no reason why vaccination should be done "for the common good" because vaccine induced herd immunity is a myth.

Many know that infectious diseases declined before introduction of mass vaccination programs. Many know that infectious diseases have been known to increase due to mass vaccination programs.

Many know that the vaccinated risk acquiring the disease from the vaccine which is supposed to protect them.

Many know that the vaccinated can and often do infect the unvaccinated by secondary transmission /shedding.

Many know that the decline of infectious diseases is largely a result of improved living conditions, clean water, good nutrition and therefore stronger immunity.

Many know that even vaccine manufacturers do not know the complete list of ingredients because unexpected discoveries are made a long time after vaccines have been on the market. Examples are SV40 in the polio vaccine which has been suspected of causing thousands of cancer cases and will possibly do so in generations to come; pig DNA in rotavirus vaccine; recombinant (gene manipulated)HPV DNA in Gardasil, the consequences of which may be horrific.

There is no incentive for vaccine manufacturers to investigate for substances in vaccines which may present negative health effects.

Many know about the suffering of thousands who are vaccine injured and about their fights to be believed and for compensation.

Many realise that there is widespread corruption regarding promotion of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals.
Reply to this comment
by autismnewsbe October 9, 2011 10:13 AM EDT
Never before have parents had the opportunity to be mislead by anti-vaccine propaganda and junk science.
by RachelD108 October 7, 2011 12:07 AM EDT
I am a young woman with Asperger's syndrome. I was not offended by the recent South Park episode on Asperger's syndrome. I actually really enjoyed it. How would I ever be able to cope with Aspeger's if I could not laugh at myself once in a while?!!!
Reply to this comment
by amdachel October 6, 2011 11:44 PM EDT
CBS didn't tell viewers that like any medical product, vaccines can have side effects. Parents need to know that if a child is damaged by a vaccination, they can't sue either the doctor or the vaccine maker. They have been protected by federal law. Instead, parents have to go to a special, "Vaccine Court" where they're up against government lawyers defending a government program using government money. Few parents ever get their day in "court." Despite this, the U.S. government has paid out over $2 billion for serious vaccine damage, including death, since 1986. We are now learning that the Court has recognized autism as part of the damage.

Recently HDNet TV exposed the fact that while health officials continue to tell us studies show no link, the federal government has paid out millions of dollars for compensation for vaccine injuries that included autism. Seeing these children who were born healthy and were suddenly and dramatically affected by their vaccinations should give us all pause.

http://www.ebcala.org/news/video

Anne Dachel, Media editor: Age of Autism http://www.ageofautism.com/
Reply to this comment
by autismnewsbe October 9, 2011 10:14 AM EDT
"Parents need to know that if a child is damaged by a vaccination, they can't sue either the doctor or the vaccine maker.

This is not true. Vaccine makers can still be held liable in civil court. Ms. Dachel is spreading anti-vaccine propaganda on the internet.
by amdachel October 6, 2011 11:43 PM EDT
I'm amazed that CBS would report on a demeaning cartoon episode as backup to their claim that there's no link between vaccines and autism. What about the years of stories raising serious concerns about vaccine safety done by Sharyl Attkisson?

CBS seemed to make up their own science in this piece telling us that one in very 110 children are "born with an autism spectrum disorder" each year. No one has ever shown us children born with autism. Tens of thousands of parents report that their children were born healthy and were developing normally until they received certain routine vaccinations. Suddenly they got sick with things like seizures, bowel disease, and sleep disorders. Many stopped talking and lost learned skills, ending up with an autism diagnosis. Doctors say autism has no known cause. The only thing they're sure of is that their ever-expanding vaccine schedule isn't to blame and they have lots of pharma-funded studies to prove it.

One percent of children now have autism, including almost two percent of boys. No official knows why and they have no idea how you can prevent your child too from ending up on the autism spectrum. These facts should wake everyone up.

Anne Dachel, Media editor: Age of Autism http://www.ageofautism.com/
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by Mr_Augie October 7, 2011 6:49 PM EDT
All of the ten myths slide show is either half-truths or outright lies. Unfortunately, the producer is just repeating what s/he has been told wihtout the least bit of research. But this is all understandable . . . pharma companies and vaccine makers are their biggest sponsor I would guess at CBS and the other big networks.
by autismnewsbe October 8, 2011 10:28 PM EDT
"What about the years of stories raising serious concerns about vaccine safety done by Sharyl Attkisson?"

Sharyl Attkisson reported that some vaccines lead to "homologous recombilnation tiniker". This would be a significant finding were it not for the fact that tiniker isn't a real word. I wonder what CBS News's medical reporter was trying to say?

Anne, can you help out here?
by Maggy9 October 6, 2011 8:08 PM EDT
Jason says, "The controversy first started from a since-debunked 1998 study suggesting a link, but this past August, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report that said there was no evidence of a link between autism and vaccines."

Read the book, "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in vaccines and the autsim epedmic." Winner of the prestigious investigative reporter of the year award for books. Read the e-mail exchanges where the CDC tells the IOM to write exactly what they, the funder of these reports, tells them to write. Read how every member of the IOM is connected to the vaccine industry. Read about all the evidence they ignored for their report. This book contains about 40 pages discussing the corruption of the IOM.
Reply to this comment
by autismnewsbe October 9, 2011 10:16 AM EDT
David Kirby was paid $50,000 to write "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in vaccines and the autsim epedmic (sic)." He came to the conclusion he was paid for.
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