Vaccines and Mitochondrial Disease

The Vaccine Research Center at Boston University Medical Center through the Department of Pediatrics and Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease has started a pilot study to better understand the safety and efficacy of vaccines in patients who have mitochondrial disorders.

This study could prove to be very important. Recently, a high profile vaccine case was in the news. Hannah Poling’s case was one of the first where the federal government admitted that her autism was more than likely caused by vaccinations she received as a toddler. The spin on the case, however, was that the government and the doctors determined that due to an unknown mitochondrial dysfunction that Hannah had, the stress from multiple vaccinations at the same time “overrode” her system, more or less, and “triggered” the autistic tendencies from a neurological standpoint.

Ever since that case, anti-vaccine advocates have pointed to it indicating that vaccines CAN cause autism. Most doctors and the CDC take a step back from there and state that this was an isolated case and that most children do not have mitochondrial dysfunctions that could result in the same situation.

Nonetheless, due to this case, and the stress that vaccinations can cause the body as it attempts to fight off the disease-invaders, the relationship between mitochondrial disease (or even just dysfunction) and vaccinations (especially in children) is an area that needs more study and research. To that end, this study appears to start to address some of those issues. If you, or someone you know, has a child with mitochondrial disease, encourage them to contact the Vaccine Research Center at Boston University Medical Center. The only way to determine whether autism, or any other neurological or biological problem, is more likely to result with vaccinations in mito children, is research such as this.

The actual time and effort that anyone has to put into this study is minimal, at best. The information on the study states:

We want to look at the vaccine histories and medical records of patients with mitochondrial disorders to better understand the relationship between infections, vaccines and mitochondrial disease. If you would like to participate in this study, we will talk with you over the telephone and ask you some questions about your child’s visits to the doctor and vaccine records. Then, if you agree to participate, we will send you a form to sign asking for permission to look at your child’s medical record and vaccine history.

Contact information for the study is:

Marissa Black
Boston University Medical Center
The Vaccine Research Center
Department of Pediatrics; Section of Pediatric Infectious Disease
Boston, MA 02118
617-414-7423
marissab (‘at’) bu (‘dot’) edu

You can also get more information here at Mitoaction.org .