One of the things that always makes me uncomfortable when I write about a subject like vaccination and autism is that so many people have such strong feelings on the subject. It’s not that I don’t like writing about controversial topics, I just feel uncomfortable when the sides are so far apart that they practically can’t have a rational conversation.

I think I fear being asked to “take sides.” The truth is that, on this issue, I don’t feel as if I even know enough to take one side or the other. And that takes me to a much more serious concern: I have real doubts about whether the medical establishment knows enough to take its position against children delaying or avoiding vaccination.

The response of the various official authorities—the Centers for Disease Control, physician groups—with regard to vaccination and autism just doesn’t feel right. If you go to the CDC web site and start looking around at what is being said about the relationship between vaccination and autism, you find vacillation and doubletalk. This goes to Michael’s comment on yesterday’s post. For example, on the subject of a possible connection between the combined mumps-measles-rhubella vaccine and autism, the CDC says that an Institute of Medicine “Immunization Safety Review Committee concluded that a review of the available scientific evidence does not support the suggestion that the infant immune system is inherently incapable of handling the number of antigens that children are exposed to during routine immunizations.”

Gee, if undeveloped infant immune systems aren’t "inherently incapable," does that mean they are capable? The way I read that is there isn’t enough evidence to know for sure if the infant immune system can or can’t handle the combined vaccine. You’d think that with millions of infants being immunized, and autism incidence soaring to epidemic levels, that the government and physician agencies might be pushing hard for some intensive investigation, on the order of our “war on cancer.”

That’s the part that bothers me most. Rather than expressing concern, or even curiosity, the establishment moves into defense mode, and now seems to be pushing into aggressive defense mode via physicians showing the door to parents who are legitimately concerned about vaccinating their children. It’s almost as if the authorities fear making discoveries that could upset their long-standing assumptions with regard to immunization.

As a result, the situation feels a little like that between government agencies intimidating raw milk farmers and consumers. If too many people do something the establishment doesn’t like, even if they have evidence it will improve their health or reduce risks of illness, the establishment turns up the pressure hoses against them.

Thus, I suspect Lynn McGaha and Suzanne are right to be concerned that the authorities will use intimidation to force sympathetic physicians to toe the line, and make it increasingly difficult for parents to hold off or reject vaccination.