Mumps in Arkansas

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism.

Jamal Goss reports at KTHV-TV in Little Rock:

The number of suspected mumps cases in Arkansas is growing. As of September 2, there were four confirmed and at least 48 suspected cases. Even though those cases are in northwest Arkansas schools, the concern is still spreading throughout Little Rock.

That outbreak has students without the disease staying at home. Arkansas's Department of Health warns parents to take advantage of a vaccine that can protect their child. That still makes some parents nervous.
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Kristen Walbrup, a mother of three, is unsure if she will allow her youngest daughter to receive the vaccination after her oldest girl was rushed to the pediatrician after having received the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

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Walbrup said, "I have met parents even sitting in the pediatrician's office who have children who have autism and they believe that it's a result of the MMR vaccine."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2013 did a study showing that vaccines do not cause autism spectrum disorder. The study examined the number of antigens (substances in vaccines which cause the body's immune system to fight diseases) from vaccines during the first two years of life. The results of the studies showed that children with autism and those without received the same amount antigens. There have been nine studies since 2003 that have shown no links between the MMR vaccine and autism in children.

Mumps Outbreak

From the LA Times, an item sure to come up in the debate on the MMR vaccine:

A mumps outbreak on the East Coast — the largest in the United States in four years — may be spreading to Los Angeles County.

Nine cases of mumps have been reported so far this year, two more than were seen in all of 2009, according to county health officer Jonathan Fielding.

There is also a rise in whooping cough cases, which killed two infants in L.A. County this year, and an increase in measles cases to four so far in 2010, up from one last year.

"I'm always concerned when we see an increase in what has become a rare disease," said Fielding, who added that the infant deaths were particularly disturbing.

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Health officials have been concerned about a drop in childhood vaccinations based on allegations, since discredited, that vaccines cause autism. The Times in 2009 reported that a rising number of California parents were choosing to send their children to kindergarten without routine vaccinations, putting hundreds of elementary schools in the state at risk for outbreaks of childhood diseases eradicated in the U.S. years ago.