Send letter to journal:
Re: Observations and concerns

Emond [1] sits on the United Kingdom Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation [2] which is not disclosed here, and therefore shares collective responsibility for United Kingdom vaccination policy, particularly since the government handed the committee autocratic powers earlier this year [3,4]. Given the controversy which surrounds the alleged non-disclosure of competing interests by Andrew Wakefield in the paper cited [5] and the related General Medical Council hearing it must be a concern whether the editor was aware of this, and if so why it was not acknowledged in the present publication?

Campbell et al discovered that disruption of the MET gene was associated with autism and gastrointestinal conditions [6]. It will be a surprise to many autism affected families that there is no association between autism and bowel disease, however this article would appear to make the classic error of suggesting that Wakefield was proposing that all cases of autism had this etiology, thus attacking a straw argument. Baron- Cohen et al detected a rate for Autistic Spectrum Disorders in the UK school population of 157 in 10,000 [7] compared with only 60 in 10,000 here - the data is therefore likely to be incomplete.

[1] B Sandhu, C Steer, J Golding and A Emond, 'The early stool patterns of young children with autistic spectrum disorder', Archives of Disease in Childhood 2009;94:497-500, http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/94/7/497

[2] JCVI Members, http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/jcvi/DOI- 2007.htm

[3] Laura Donelly, 'Scientists to be given power to decide on vaccinations', Sunday Telegraph, 8 March 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4953256/Scientists-to-be- given-power-to-decide-on-vaccinations.html

[4] Lucy Johntone, 'Jab makers linked to vaccine programme', Sunday Express, 8 March 2009, http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/88216/Jab- makers-linked-to-vaccine-programme

[5] Wakefield AJ, Murch SH, Anthony A, et al.. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet 1998;351:637–41.

[6] Campbell DB, Buie TM, Winter H, Bauman M, Sutcliffe JS, Perrin JM, Levitt P, 'Distinct genetic risk based on association of MET in families with co-occurring autism and gastrointestinal conditions', Pediatrics. 2009 Apr;123(4):1255.

[7] Baron-Cohen S, Scott FJ, Allison C, Williams J, Bolton P, Matthews FE, Brayne C, 'Prevalence of autism-spectrum conditions: UK school-based population study', Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Jun;194(6):500-9.