What is the measles virus doing in the brain to cause autism?
For me this was the most challenging question of the entire trial. I understand the comparison made by the family attorneys and it sounds plausible. Everybody agrees the measles virus can hide in the brain after a measles infection for years without being detected. After hiding in the brain for as long as seven years, the virus reactivates as causes diseases such as sub-acute sclerosing pan-encephalitis (SSPE) and measles-induced brain encephalopathy (MIBE), usually resulting in neurological complications before bringing about death. The claim is that the attenuated, or weakened measles virus used in the vaccine has somehow been shorn of its lethal properties, but maintains its ability to hide in the brain, and cause inflammation and encephalopathy. In other words, this virus has had it’s ability to kill taken away by the attenuation process, but it can still cause a lot of trouble. The government’s experts weren’t able to help their case a great deal by their explanation of the attenu