Hannah Poling

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'''Hannah Poling''' {{lived|1999}} is from Athens, [[Fun:Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[United States|USA]]. As a girl, she had {{wpl|Mitochondrial disease|mitochondrial enzyme deficit}} caused encephalopathy. Her case was one of the [[Autism omnibus trial|5,000 filed by families of autistic children]] until the US Department of Health and Human Services reviewed her medical records. In 2008 the US Department of Health and Human Services decided that vaccines may have played a part in exacerbating her symptoms caused by the enzyme deficit. No hearing was heard and no case was presented to the "vaccine court" as her case was conceded administratively.<ref>[http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc086269| The New England Journal of Medicine - Correspondence Vaccines and Autism Revisited]</ref>

The case was concluded without cause.

What makes the case seem like a smoking gun for [[Anti-vaccination movement|vaccines causing autism]] is that Hannah had a series of ear infections, delaying vaccinations until receiving 5 in one day at 19 months of age. She experienced side effects such as irritability, rash, and a bad fever.<ref>[https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/on-the-rebranding-of-autism-as-a-mitochondrial-disorder-by-antivaccinationists/ The Hannah Poling case and the rebranding of autism by antivaccinationists as a mitochondrial disorder] - Science-Based Medicine</ref> Two months later, she became very sick, and would pull at her left ear. Five months later, she had a speech delay, and at one point in time she appeared to dislike eye contact. While speech delay and avoidance of eye contact are hardly exclusive to [[autism]], anti-vaxxers were quick to play armchair psychiatry and [[Correlation does not imply causation |blame the vaccines]] as the perfect fit for their "theories".

A prominent autism blogger noted that descriptions of Hannah didn't show enough evidence to meet the diagnostic criteria of autism.<ref>[https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2008/03/01/vaccines-autism-and-the-concession/ Vaccines, Autism and the Concession]</ref> The only autistic-like traits she showed were differences in social relatedness, avoidance of eye contact, and an interest at staring at fluorescent lights (possibly a sign of sensory processing disorder, a condition that is common in but not limited to autistic people).

Hannah was quickly found to have a mitochondrial enzyme deficit that caused encephalopathy.<ref>[https://www.umdf.org/types United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation - Disorder Types]</ref> Mitochondrial disorders are starting to be frequently found in autistic people as the ability to diagnose it becomes more accurate and less costly.<ref>Oliveira G, Ataide A, Marques C, et al. Epidemiology of autism spectrum disorder in Portugal: prevalence, clinical characterization, and medical conditions. Dev Med Child Neurol 2007;49:726-733
</ref> It is a very rare disorder group where research is still limited, but the disorder often causes autism symptoms between 1 and 2 years of age. Cases have pointed to infections worsening encephalopathy with this disorder.<ref>[http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0802904| Vaccines and Autism Revisited — The Hannah Poling Case]</ref> [[Negative proof|While not admitting cause, there isn't anything disproving that vaccines can make encephalopathy worse]]. Likely resulting the case being found for the family.

It was trumpeted as a smoking gun by the [[anti-vaccine]] crowd. However, as [[Steven Novella]] has repeatedly stated, this case "...involves a rare, underlying mitochondrial disorder that is not relevant to other vaccine cases." Not that the vaccine denier crowd gives a shit about facts or reality as [[Jenny McCarthy]] is [[Bullshit|still a renowned spokesperson for mothers affected by vaccines and autism]]... even though her child probably has {{wpl|Landau-Kleffner syndrome|Landau-Kleffner syndrome}} instead of autism.<ref group=note>It's a common misdiagnosis, but it's been years now... maybe she should realize the mistake.</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Anti-vaccination movement, Living people