Vaccine book looks at autism debate

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the letters and e-mails started to pour in, Dr. Paul Offit braced himself.

The paediatrician and vaccine inventor is a prominent defender of childhood vaccines, tackling those who have argued that immunizations can cause autism.

His book, "Autism's False Prophets," takes on British researcher Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose now-debunked 1998 study in the prestigious Lancet medical journal linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism. It also criticizes organized groups that advise parents to avoid vaccinating their children for fear the vaccines may cause autism.

The issue is at the centre of a vociferous and often vicious debate, despite the preponderance of scientific opinion in favour of vaccination.

Offit has endured hate-filled letters, death threats and even a phone call that menaced his children. However, his book was greeted with an outpouring of support from parents of children with autism who had previously remained silent.

"It's actually been exactly the opposite of what I would have guessed," Offit said in an interview.

One mother of an 8-year-old autistic boy wrote: "It really angers me when I hear others vilify you."

Another example: "I am a very unpopular mother at my children's school as I do advocate that children need to get their shots," writes the mother of a 10-year-old boy with autism.