Vaccines and autism
[5] Despite the scientific consensus for the absence of a relationship[1][2] and the retracted paper, the anti-vaccination movement at large continues to promote theories linking the two.
The idea of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism came to prominence after the publication of a paper by Andrew Wakefield and others in The Lancet in 1998.
This finding was later shown to be due to errors made by the laboratory where the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were performed.
[citation needed] In 2009, The Sunday Times reported that Wakefield had manipulated patient data and misreported results in his 1998 paper, thus falsifying a link with autism.
[13] A 2011 article in the British Medical Journal describes the way in which Wakefield manipulated the data in his study in order to arrive at his predetermined conclusion.
[14] An accompanying editorial in the same journal described Wakefield's work as an "elaborate fraud" which led to lower vaccination rates, putting hundreds of thousands of children at risk and diverting funding and other resources from research into the true cause of autism.
[15] On 12 February 2009, a special court convened in the United States to review claims under its National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program ruled that parents of autistic children are not entitled to compensation in their contention that certain vaccines caused their children to develop autism.
Conducted in 1999, this review found no evidence of harm from the use of thiomersal as a vaccine preservative, other than local hypersensitivity reactions.
[29] Despite this, starting in 2000, parents in the United States pursued legal compensation from a federal fund arguing that thiomersal caused autism in their children.
Poling had encephalopathy, putting her on the autism spectrum disorder, which was believed to have worsened after getting multiple vaccines at nineteen months old.
[8] There have been multiple cases reported similar to this one, which led to the belief that vaccine overload caused autism.
[8] It is known that vaccines constitute only a tiny fraction of the pathogens already naturally encountered by a child in a typical year.
[8] Common fevers and middle ear infections pose a much greater challenge to the immune system than vaccines do.
[38] Aluminium adjuvants simulate immune receptors and cause a strengthened response to the antigen in a way that is natural to the body.
[44] Some celebrities have spoken out on their views that autism is related to vaccination, including: Jenny McCarthy, Kristin Cavallari,[45] Robert De Niro,[46] Jim Carrey,[47] Bill Maher,[48] and Pete Evans.
[49] McCarthy, one of the most outspoken celebrities on the topic, has said her son Evan's autism diagnosis was a result of the MMR vaccine.
Kennedy published the book Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak: The Evidence Supporting the Immediate Removal of Mercury--A Known Neurotoxin--From Vaccines.
[56] Another difference the study revealed was that the anti-vaccine ads were primarily targeted toward women and young adults who possibly had children.
[57] An updated survey, conducted in March 2023, concluded that adults think the MMR health benefits are high/very high, at 72%, and the risk of side effects is low/very low, at 64%.
