Jon Poling, a Georgia neurologist, isn’t surprised his family was awarded compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund because his daughter Hannah, now 9, developed autism-like symptoms after her childhood vaccinations. That’s because he knew the case was a good one. But while the experience may cause most parents to reject childhood vaccines, Poling still supports their use. “I don’t think the case should scare people,” Poling, 37, tells WebMD.

Although the case has rekindled the debate over vaccines and autism, the federal government hasn’t stated that childhood vaccines cause autism. Instead, federal officials conclude the vaccines, which were given his daughter in 2000, aggravated a pre-existing condition that then manifested as autism-like symptoms. The condition was a disorder of the mitochondria, the “power sources” of the cell, Poling tells WebMD.
But “I want to make it clear I am not anti-vaccine,” he says. (You can also watch an interview on ABC News right here).

“Vaccines are one of the most important, if not the most important advance, in medicine in at least the past 100 years. But I don’t think that vaccines should enjoy a sacred cow status, where if you attack them you are out of mainline medicine. Every treatment has a risk and a benefit. To say there are no risks to any treatment is not true. Sometimes people are injured by a vaccine, but they are safe for the majority of people. I could say that with a clean conscience. But I couldn’t say that vaccines are absolutely safe, that they are not linked to brain injury and they are not linked to autism.”

Poling, nonetheless, is hopeful the decision will trigger government action. “I hope it will force government agencies to look further into what susceptibility factors are out there for children to develop brain injury after vaccination, to look into the susceptibility factors of people at risk.”

Nearly 5,000 families are seeking compensation for autism or other developmental disabilities they blame on vaccines and a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal. It once was commonly used to prevent bacterial contamination but since 2001 has been used only in certain flu shots. Some cases contend that the cumulative effect of many shots given at once may have caused injuries.

The cases are before a special “vaccine court” that awards cash from a fund Congress set up to pay people injured by vaccines and to protect manufacturers from damages as a way to help ensure an adequate vaccine supply. The burden of proof is lighter than in a traditional court, and is based on a preponderance of evidence. Since the fund started in 1988, it has paid roughly 950 claims, but none for autism.

For the record, Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasized that the concession should not be interpreted to mean that vaccines cause autism. “The government has made absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are the cause of autism, as this would be a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today,” Gerberding said during a Thursday news conference, according to ABC News. “I think we need to set the record straight on that.”

Source: WebMD