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WASHINGTON (AP) - The government began an unprecedented effort Friday to give vaccine critics a say in shaping how the nation researches safety questions surrounding immunizations.
The meeting, the first of more to be set, came amid new controversy about vaccines and autism — and a fledgling theory that vaccinations might worsen a rare condition called mitochondrial dysfunction that in turn triggers certain forms of autism.
Federal health officials said the work, being planned for two years, wasn't in response to that controversy, and encompasses many more questions than autism — from rare side effects of the new shingles vaccine to how to predict who's at risk for encephalopathy sometimes triggered by other inoculations.
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