BETHESDA, Maryland, USA: Mercury in some vaccines given to babies may be a contributory cause of autism and heart disease, new research here claims.

The study, by Dr Mark Geier, a physician with a PhD in genetics, and David Geier, a graduate student at the National Institutes of Health, who are both consultants in genetics based in Bethesda, Maryland, found that children who had received vaccines containing a preservative called thimerosal, which is almost 50 per cent mercury, were more than twice as likely to develop autism than children who did not.

Mercury, which is known to be neurotoxic, is being phased out of vaccines in America and Europe after scientists in the United States found the amount in vaccines exceeded federal safety limits.

The new study, published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, supports unpublished research carried out by the American Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in 2000. This showed an increased relative risk of autism of 2.48 for children who had received 75 micrograms of mercury, the amount in the British schedule.

The incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders and heart disease following the administration of Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (DTP) vaccines containing mercury compared with non-mercury vaccines was based on nationwide data in the United States.

The researchers claim they have produced "the first epidemiological evidence showing a direct association between thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders."

Thimerosal is used in some vaccines to prevent bacterial infection. Mercury is not present in the triple measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR).

The Phoenix Business Journal, 02/04/2003

The Arizona Diamondbacks Charities gave US$200,000 to the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center(SAARC) at a fund-raising breakfast on April 2. 

When Rich Dozer, president of the baseball team, walked into the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa for the fundraiser, he was prepared to give $100,000. He already had the cheque written out, speech in hand. By the end of the event, attended by 1,000 business and community leaders, Dozer said he was "so moved" that he wrote out another $100,000 cheque, doubling the donation.

Called the Grand Slam Award Grant, the donation was the first of its kind given by the Arizona Diamondbacks Charities. 

The SARRC was selected from more than 80 non-profit-making organisations applying for the Grand Slam grant. The money will be used to develop new Arizona training camps for exceptional children, Dozer told the crowd, which included Arizona's state governor, Janet Napolitano, and the Mayor of Phoenix, Skip Rimsza. 

At the Diamondbacks' third game of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the night of April 2, all the D-Backs players were to wear a special hat with the autism symbol, a purple ribbon with a piece of a puzzle, depicting the missing piece of information to find a cure for autism. Dozer told the group he would be auctioning the hats after the game to raise even more money for the autism group. 

Greg Swindell, a former pitcher for the Diamondbacks, gave a tearful testimonial about his son Dawson, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old. Pitcher Greg Swindell was happy to hear that. He spoke at the breakfast about his two-year-old son, Dawson, who was diagnosed with autism six months ago.

"As you know," Swindell said, stopping to control his quavering voice, "it (autism) has hit home with us."

He thanked friends for supporting his family and Dawson, "the loving boy that he is."

Swindell also thanked his wife, Sarah. "If you could see the smile that he has when she walks in the room, I think everyone would write a cheque for $100,000," Swindell said.

The Swindell's fourth child and first boy, Dawson was developing normally. But at 15 months, "he stopped using his words" and began flapping his hands, a repetitive movement often found in autistic children.  By 18 months, Dawson was diagnosed as moderately to severely retarded and the doctor explained he had autism.

"No one can ever prepare you to hear those words," said Swindell's wife, Sarah. "I wanted it to go away. I wanted it to be a mistake."

She said that, before the diagnosis, she often wondered what her son would grow up to become - whether he would be an athlete like his dad or a doctor. But now that Dawson is "in a world of his own," all her dreams for him are shattered. "No one can ever prepare you to hear those words that your child's life is over," she said. 

The Autism Center's founder and president, Denise Resnik, told a similar story about her son, Matthew, 11. Explaining that her family's experience with autism spanned a decade, Resnik said she had been resigned to the fact that autism was "an intractable disorder that will be with us forever."