Autism and Thimerosal: A New Study That Disproves the Link

For those of you following my Autism posts, you know that I have been rather critical of the theory supporting thimerosal as a cause of autism (since I found the brain development theory to be more accurate and supported by actual research).  A recent study completed from Italy now puts what I think should be the final nail in the coffin of Thimerosal as the autism smoking gun.  

The study ran through over 1,000 randomly selected infants that received two different doses of thimerosal-preserved shots for whooping cough, and then evaluated the children 10 years later.  The study saw no real changes in childhood development.  In fact there was just one child that developed autism, and that one child was in the low dose group.  

For those who are still clinging to the theory that thimerosal and the ethyl mercury that it metabolizes into is a cause of autism, keep in mind that more mercury is present naturally in a mother's breast milk than in the many shots a child may get at once.  There are other potential causes, both genetic and environmental, that provide a better avenue of effort.  

As a parent, I would think this would be significant enough to dispel any qualms of getting your children vaccinated.  Please don't threaten your children's lives with preventable diseases just because of a myth.  Get your children vaccinated for their safety.  Small pox, polio, and all the others are killers, as well as being ultimately debilitating for the child that contracts them.