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Huge US study on autism

The US government is going to launch a major study into the causes of autism, a decision not universally accepted by some whose children have the condition.

According to the Associated Press the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced on October 6 that it would undertake its largest study to date - involving 2 700 patients - into what causes autism, which affects an estimated 300,000 children nationwide.

The CDC and five other organisations will conduct the study over a five year period, the A.P. reports. The goal is to find genetic and environmental factors that may contribute to autism.

But, the wire service reports, at least one parents' group whose children are autistic doesn't believe the CDC is the right agency to conduct the research. "We don't want the CDC to do anything. We don't trust them," the wire service quotes Wendy Fournier, president of the US National Autism Association, as saying.

The primary reason is because the government has discounted the autism association's belief that vaccinations containing a mercury-based preservative are a potential cause. So far, no published research has indicated a cause-and-effect, although the preservative, thimerosal, is no longer used in childhood vaccinations. – (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
Child Centre
A-Z of Autism

October 2006

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