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To the Editor: Dr Hviid and colleagues¹ found no increase in relative risk of core autism from thimerosal in vaccines using the Danish autism registry. Denmark removed thimerosal from infant vaccines in mid-1992. The findings of Hviid et al are based on finding fewer older (born 1990-1992) thimerosal-exposed children than younger (born 1992-1996) unexposed children in the 2000 registry year. However, a sizable percentage of autism cases, skewing toward older children, are lost from the registry each year. Thus, the authors' finding is likely to be biased due to incomplete recordkeeping.

For instance, the 1995 registry² contains 97 cases among 5- to 9-year-olds. This same cohort, as it grows older, becomes the 10- to 14-year-old cohort in the 2000 registry, where its number has decreased to 75 children, a decline of 22 cases or 23% of the original 1995 group. Hviid et al stated that virtually all cases in their . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Sallie Bernard, BA
Safe Minds (Sensible Action for Ending Mercury-Induced Neurological Disorders)
Aspen, Colo

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