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With the recent talk of vaccinations highlighted during the Republican Presidential debates, it definitely highlights the concerns that linger among us parents about having our children vaccinated. I must preface this post (before getting to my point by discussing a recent article in the neurological literature) by stating that I am a neurologist with 5 children and all were fully vaccinated. That said, I must admit that the vaccinations were spaced apart further than that which was recommended by the pediatrician.
The only reason my wife and I were adamant about altering the dosing regimen was that we routinely witnessed an alteration in our childrens’ mental status after they received a barrage of shots. I would like to say that flu-like symptoms or low-grade fevers precipitated the changes. However, there were no signs or symptoms of any physical reaction to the vaccines. What did change on occasion was their personalities, sleep habits and at times cognition. It was scary to witness, but we were relieved when it resolved. As we began to split up the vaccination shots for our younger children, these neurological sided effects abated.
The reason why I discuss my own experience is that the medical system ardently insists that autism is not related to vaccinations. However, a recent medical journal I read does raise the awareness about the possible neurological sequela that can occur after one of these shots. A July 1 article in Science Translational Medicine discussed the link between Pandemrix, a vaccine used during the H1N1 flu pandemic, and 1,300 reported new cases of narcolepsy which occurred after receiving the shot. The article described how antibodies that formed as a result of the vaccine crossed the blood-brain barrier and attacked the sleep regulation portion of the brain. As a result, these people were left with narcolepsy. The process is called molecular mimicry. It has already been documented as the cause of different neurological diseases that result from the body’s immunological response to certain cancers, infections or exposures.
If a vaccine can cause narcolepsy, it definitely calls into question whether vaccines could also initiate other neurological problems such as autism. Though the question remains, the overall benefit of vaccines to society as a whole does outweigh the risks. My only recommendation to the medical establishment is to reconsider both the dose of the vaccine and the timing they are given, to reduce any of these possible side effects.