Vaccines cause autism. The MMR shot, the rest of the childhood schedule, all of it. The thiomersal in the vaccines, the heavy metals, the immune overload, something in there is triggering autism in genetically susceptible kids. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ran a campaign on this. Rates of autism diagnosis have climbed. Rates of vaccination have come down in some communities. The data feels like it's pointing somewhere.
Vaccines do not cause autism. The original Wakefield paper that started this in 1998 was fraudulent and retracted. Every subsequent study has reached the same null result: no association between any vaccine, any vaccine ingredient (including the long-discontinued thiomersal), or any vaccination schedule and the incidence of autism. The most decisive single study is the 2019 Hviid et al. paper from Denmark, following 657,461 children for an average of 8.9 years, with 6,517 autism diagnoses, and finding no link with MMR. Meta-analyses pooling more than 1.2 million children reach the same conclusion. The increase in autism diagnoses over the last 30 years is well-explained by changes in diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV broadened the definition in 1994, DSM-5 added more in 2013), increased awareness, earlier screening, and improved access to assessment, particularly for non-male and non-white children who were historically underdiagnosed. The autism-vaccine connection has been studied more thoroughly than almost any medical claim of the modern era. The answer keeps being no. Vaccinate the kid.
Reception
Sources
- Wakefield Retraction PRIMARY
- Vaccine Safety Meta-Analysis REFERENCE