While anti-vaccine messages remain prominent, several studies have shown that vaccines are not linked to the development of autism spectrum disorders.
A study published by Andrew Wakefield in 1998 made the conclusion that measles-mumps-rubella vaccines are linked to the development of autism and other disorders. The study was later retracted, and other research has shown a lack of a link between ASD and vaccines.
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Here is what studies showing no connection between vaccines and autism have found:
1. The MMR vaccine showed no harmful association with those at a higher risk of developing autism.
This recent study looked at almost 100,000 children and found the vaccine did not further harm the children most likely to have
autism spectrum disorder, according to Kelowna Now. This included kids who had older siblings with ASD.
2. The total amount of antigens from vaccines received was the same between children with ASD and those without.
Antigens are substances causing the body’s immune system to produce disease-fighting antibodies. A
study from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that within their first two years of life, vaccinated children with ASD and those without had the same amount of antigens in their bodies.
3. Thimerosal, an ingredient in many vaccines, is not linked to autism.
Thimerosal is used to prevent the contamination of multidose vials of vaccines. The Institute of Medicine published a scientific review in 2004 stating “the evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism,” the CDC reported. Nine other studies associated have shown no link, too. Today, for childhood injections, thimerosal is used only in flu vaccines packaged in multidose vials.
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4. Timing is coincidental.
Those with regressive autism begin to develop normally, but they then begin to show autistic symptoms. Signs of this ASD typically begin to become apparent around the same time when children are scheduled to
receive routine vaccinations, according to WebMD.
5. Rates of autism have increased, but vaccinations rates have not.
A U.K. study showed that during 1988 to 1999, 3 million person-years of observation showed an increase in ASD diagnoses, which did not correlate with vaccination rates. Injections of the
MMR vaccine were unchanging, according to Oxford Journals.
6. Gastrointestinal symptoms for autistic children who had vaccinations were the same as those who had not.
Some believed the MMR vaccine causes ASD because of damage to the lining of the intestines. According to the Oxford Journals, A London-based study showed the incidence of developmental regression did not differ between unvaccinated and vaccinated children in an analysis of 473 children with ASD, and their digestive symptoms were consistent between the two groups.
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