The debate over vaccines continues as an Italian court ruled in favor of the Bocca family whose nine-year-old son became autistic after receiving the MMR (Measles/Mumps & Rubella) vaccine. I came across this case and felt it was a good idea to report on this as the vaccine debate has been a hot topic here lately. Although the case concluded in 2012, the information is just as relevant today.

We realize the controversy surrounding Wakefield and his study. Please also note that the story about Wakefield being paid to create data to due vaccine makers is a false story. At the time of this false story, vaccine makers were protected from even being able to be sued. He obviously can see no benefit in creating a “fake study” to sue people that cannot be sued. Instead of focusing on Wakefield, observe the other studies involved and the massive growing movement to re-think vaccines based on science and evidence. We also recognize that Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there is a wide range in how it affects people. A phenomenon due to vaccines could account for some type of Autism on that spectrum. On the other hand we recognize that there could be be some genetic differences within ones DNA that could result in showing behavior and other types of characteristics seen in what we have labelled as Autism or ASD.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning that there is a wide degree of variation in the way it affects people.

Valentino Bocca was given the MMR vaccine when he was 15 months old in 2004. The family has stated that immediately after the jab their son began showing signs of serious discomfort. The Bocca family decided to act and took the case to court. Judges determined the vaccine did cause the autism after new evidence was presented and awarded the Bocca family 174,000 euro (£140,000) after the Italian Health Ministry conceded the MMR vaccine caused autism in their nine-year-old son Valentino. After the ruling, Italian lawyers began examining around 100 similar cases which they believe could lead to more families pursuing court cases.

Of course this case does not come with two sides to the argument. In Britain, doctors and health experts insist that the onset of autism after the vaccine was merely a coincidence and that other children develop autism around the same time. The official statement of the Department of Health is that ”˜there is a wealth of evidence showing children who receive the MMR vaccine are no more at risk of autism than those who don’t.’

The Bocca case is not the first case where children have been allegedly damaged by vaccines. The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has paid out over $2 billion in compensation to families who have been damaged by vaccines. The Bocca case ruling will likely re-open much debate over vaccine safety and effectiveness. This was largely made popular when the respected medical journal The Lancet published an article in 1998, making a connection between the triple vaccine and autism. Later on, the author’s methods were discredited but this of course came with controversy as well. Luckily, the news of it alone was enough for families to re-question the vaccine when thinking of their children.

Though the debate is still ongoing, many people are seriously questioning vaccines and this isn’t just the average person. Medical doctors have been educating themselves further on vaccines as the evidence continues to pile up about the ineffectiveness and lack of safety associated with vaccines. The number of autism cases has risen greatly since the 1970s, as the number of vaccines a child receives continues to rise dramatically.

Although it is not yet clear what the new evidence was that concluded the Bocca case, it is almost certain that it will continue to build the case for re-thinking vaccines.