LETTER TO EDITOR: Who's the CDC really working for?

Last Friday afternoon an announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that didn’t even make it into the Vindicator was the recently released new numbers that autism affects 1 in 110 children. Two years ago the CDC told us autism occurred at a rate of 1 in 150 children based on data from 2002. Now, new data from 2006 tells us there has been a jaw dropping increase of 57% in just four years. What will they tell us next? 1 in 50 kids have it? 1 in 10 kids? 1 in 2 kids? How bad does it have to get before the autism epidemic gets the attention it deserves? The incompetents at the CDC don’t seem to know what the numbers really are and why the numbers seem to be growing- but the one thing they are certain about is that its not pediatric vaccines behind the rising numbers. They are finally starting to admit that increases like these have to mean an environmental cause(s) is at play and there has definitely been a true increase- not just better diagnosis as they have been trying to credit. But, whatever those unknown and mysterious factors are- they are absolutely certain vaccines aren’t one of them.

In other CDC news- former CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding (2002-2009) was just appointed by Merck to head up their 5 billion dollar a year global vaccine division. Officially, her new vaccine position doesn’t begin until January 25, 2010 since a one year wait is the minimum time allowable for former Federal officials to take such a job with companies they used to regulate. How delightfully ironic the person who headed up the CDC- who sat back and watched autism become an epidemic in this country and couldn’t tell us anything except “it’s not the vaccines” will now be working for a major vaccine manufacturer. Heck, maybe they had her on the payroll all along? You can’t even make this stuff up.

Andrea Keller

Canfield