Don't vaccinate? You could be putting everyone at risk

Young military man receives vaccination for the flu

While the flu epidemic in the 2014 - 15 season spreads across the country, there are those individuals who are against vaccines of any kind, worried that they either do not work or cause death or disabilities.  But what happens when the flu strikes areas and individuals who have immune systems compromised by other conditions and how do some media reports influence how people behave in the era of modern medicine and its treatments?

The flu epidemic was reported by CNN to have continued its march across the country, taking with it the lives of 21 children, six in the past week.

Virginia adopts 'historic insurance reform' for autism

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Carol Forsloff - The Virginia Autism Project joined families and communities in Virginia along with legislators who had advanced House Bill 2467 and Senate Bill 1062.  The law becomes effective January 1, 2012.As explained in a recent press release, the new Virginia law requires insurance companies " to provide evidence-based, medically necessary autism therapies for children ages 2 thru 6."  There is a $35,000 annual cap on moneys expended.  The bill was sponsored by a group of Democrats and Republicans, passing with overwhelming support after 11 years of getting such a bill passed.

"HB 2467 and SB 1062 are the culmination of over 11 years of legislative work, and countless hours of effort put forth by the parents and advocates in support of Autism," said Delegate Greason, one of the bill's sponsors.  "This legislation delicately balances the needs of our families with the struggles that employers throughout the Commonwealth are faced with.  It is the right thing to do, and I am proud to be a small part of the process."

"Virginia communities are celebrating this historic legislation to provide young children medical treatments for Autism!  We owe tremendous thanks to Governor McDonnell and the many legislative patrons and leaders of Virginia, past and present, that have made this day possible.  This is a great step forward to improve comprehensive services for children with autism in Virginia," said Pat DiBari, president of the Virginia Autism Project.

Other organizations such as Autism Speaks have continued to advance information and pressure on state legislatures for insurance to be used in the treatment and early diagnosis of autism.

The National Autism Association is another nationwide organization with the purpose of supporting research, information and legislation to help in the diagnosis and treatment of the condition known as autism.  The organization presents this definition and set of characteristics:

Autism is a bio-neurological developmental disability that generally appears before the age of 3.

:: Autism impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction, communication skills, and cognitive function. Individuals with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities.

:: Individuals with autism often suffer from numerous physical ailments which may include: allergies, asthma, epilepsy, digestive disorders, persistent viral infections, feeding disorders, sensory integration dysfunction, sleeping disorders, and more.

:: Autism is diagnosed four times more often in boys than girls. Its prevalence is not affected by race, region, or socio-economic status. Since autism was first diagnosed in the U.S. the occurrence has climbed to an alarming one in 150 people across the country.

Scientists find further evidence of genetic links in autism

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 GHN EDITOR - Research has found that
family members of autistic individuals have abnormal eye movements and
other similar characteristics which substantiates the neurological and
sensory elements of the impairment as family traits.

“Autism is a highly
heritable neurodevelopmental disorder with considerable genetic and
phenotypic heterogeneity,” the authors write as background information
in the article. “Its core behavioral features include social and
communication impairments, behavioral inflexibility and executive
dysfunction.”

These
sensorimotor features, like abnormal eye movements, are shown in some
patients with autism.  Deficits are seen in rapid eye movements that
shift between objects in the field of vision and smooth eye movements,
the kind where a person fixes vision on a slowly moving object.

Matthew W.
Mosconi, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Chicago
did research conducted eye movement testing and other assessments of non
57 first-degree relatives of individuals with autism then compared the
results with 40 individuals who did not have relatives with autism.  The
groups were controlled as to age, sex and IQ.

These researchers found
that in comparison with the control group, family members of
individuals with autuism perform more slowly and less accurately on eye
movement tasks.

The present
findings document that first-degree relatives of individuals with autism
demonstrate a unique pattern of oculomotor impairments similar to that
previously reported in independent samples of individuals with autism,
suggesting that these alterations within sensorimotor and cognitive
brain circuitry may be familial traits,” the authors write.

“Family members
also demonstrated executive dysfunction on neuropsychological tests,
communication abnormalities and increased rates of obsessive and
compulsive behaviors, but these were independent from one another and
from oculomotor impairments,” they continue.

The
abnormalities were associated with several brain pathways that include
elements of the brain that control specific functions such as language,
motor skills and control and regulation of behavior.

Scientists tell
us these potentially familial deficits could be “useful for studies of
neurophysiological and genetic mechanisms in autism.”

They conclude,
“Further work is needed by way of replication of our findings,
quantitative evaluation of the familiality of these traits in family
trios and efforts to demonstrate association of oculomotor and other
phenotypes with genetic mechanisms,”