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Annotated Bibliography

Vaccines: Helpful or Harmful?

Mitchell Stokes Professor Malcolm Campbell English 1103 October 17, 2012

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Annotated Bibliography "A 05 Autism Spectrum Disorder." DSM-5 Development. American Psychiatric Association. 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is an organization that represents psychiatric physicians from all around the world. While caring for the members of the organization, this association focuses on helping and treating all of those that are afflicted with mental disorders. The APA publishes a book, entitled the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is used to outline each mental disorder with specific classifications of what constitutes each disorder. This website, which comes directly from the APA, shows the proposed revisions for the DSM-V, specifically for the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which is going to be released in 2013. It also contains what the DSM-IV says about the Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is important as well. I think it is important that these classifications of mental disorders are continually changing because the disorders themselves are continually changing as well, especially the Autism Spectrum Disorder. What is interesting about this website is that it shows the differences and changes between the DSM IV and V. As ASD is changing and becoming more and more common it is interesting that this parallels with the classification of the disorder. In the proposed revision, it seems like the number of symptoms has been reduced which means that more people could potentially be diagnosed with the disorder. This website will be helpful for my paper because in order to write a paper about autism, it is important to know what exactly classifies autism as a mental disorder. This source will be used as a foundation for which I will be able to build my entire extended inquiry project.

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Cook, Margaret. "Autism: The Mercury Trail." New Statesman 134.4752 (2005): 19. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. Margaret Cook, a retired consultant haematologist, formerly at St John's Hospital, Livingston argues the relationship between mercury in vaccines and autism in this article. While she understands the science, she writes that there are still many who are unconvinced and that people can still make a convincing argument for the correlation. Cook argues that mercury is a nerve-cell poison and that it is possible that it could cause autism. It would work like this: Children who get autism have a genetic deficiency in excreting mercury and that problem combined with the mercury in vaccines is what causes the autism. While Cook did not comment on autism rates after mercury was removed from vaccines, she did go on to claim that more research needs to be done. She believes that it will only be when people readdress the theory of mercury as a cause of autism. I believe that this article could prove to be a very influential article. Although very biased, Cook does bring up some interesting theories that are quite thought provoking. She also referenced outside sources that, along with her job history, do make this article a reliable source to use contrary to ones that say that vaccines do not cause autism. While some of her article requires additional research, it plants a seed of curiosity in the brain. I think that this source will be helpful for me because it provides an unwillingness to just accept the popular opinion and makes me want to dig deeper into what other alternative explanations that there may be to the autism/vaccine debate.

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Gorski, D. "Mercury In Vaccines As A Cause Of Autism And Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDS): A Failed Hypothesis." Scientific Review Of Alternative Medicine 11.(2007): 23-28. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. Dr. Gorski, a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, writes this article in order to argue for Science-Based Medicine. Science-Based Medicine is described as the evaluation of medical procedures and treatments in a scientific light in order to educate the general population on the scientific facts. This article, from a scientific standpoint, defends the safety and effectiveness of modern day vaccines. While Gorski does come off a bit snarky, the facts are there. According to science, autism rates should have decreased rapidly when thimerosal (the supposed autism causing organomercury compound) was removed from vaccines in 2002. However, as stated in the article, that has not been the case in countries that are five to seven years removed from this removal. Gorski was very adamant throughout the entire article that vaccines are not a cause of autism, something that I think could be a slight oversight by him. While the science may prove that, Gorski could keep more of an open mind to the general subject and to the audience of this article; parents of children who have autism. His tone and statements come across as very degrading to those who may believe that a link exists between these two things. This is something that he has been criticized for on a regular basis by critics online. However, this source will be very useful for me to use. It contains a lot of facts and studies that I can use to further my projects credibility. I also believe that there are a lot of truths in this article that can be better crafted and more gently stated and I would like the chance to do that.

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Johnson, Timothy. "Autism Up Close." Good Morning America. ABC: ABC, New York, Sept. 2008. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. The lead reporter of this show, a medical journalist with a master in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health, was the anchor of a television show on Good Morning America Now about Autism which aired in September of 2008. This special program originally aired on Good Morning America Now but is found online through a series of youtube videos which are posted by the user AutismLibrary. This series of videos, along with Dr. Johnson, used a panel of highly distinguished people to discuss and debate various aspects of autism, including the autism/vaccine topic. This panel included two pediatricians (Dr. Lou Cooper & Dr. Ari Brown) as well as three parents who have children who have autism. Throughout these videos, they discussed what autism was, its symptoms, etc. and it was a great insight towards learning more about autism. One specific segment was about the autism/vaccine debate. The pediatricians argue that there is no data to support this correlation simply because even though mercury preservatives were removed from vaccines, autism rates continued to climb when hypothetically, they should have began to decrease. The parents on the other hand are still not convinced. They still believe that there is still some sort of correlation between autism and vaccines. One such thing they proposed was that the timing of the vaccine could have been too soon for the young children. While both sides may have been biased for their own cause, this video was very good because it showed both sides of debate. It told the scientific facts while also showing the emotional depth of this topic.

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I think that I will be able to use these videos for my project because they help provide a line between both sides of the argument. Mostly, I think that it will help me key into the emotional aspects of this issue.