What Makes People Think Vaccines Cause Autism?
In the late 1900s, there was a doctor named Andrew Wakefield who lost his medical
license after writing an article about vaccines causing autism. That article is how it all started. In
Wakefield’s article, he stated that “The MMR vaccine was causing autism in children.” After it
was proved wrong and the article was “repudiated” (Dyer). This started the talk about it all.
However, after all of this, there is still no evidence of vaccines causing autism.
Since then, some people think Wakefield might have been bribed. Wakefield got paid
over half a million dollars for writing the article and after it was out, there were lawyers that
were trying to find links between autism and vaccines to prove he was wrong. They found that
“The studies only included twelve children, and much of the ‘data’ used came from what the
children’s parents themselves observed and what they believed had caused the developmental
and gastrointestinal issues” (“Andrew Wakefield’s…”). After all of this, Wakefield’s medical
license was taken away. This showing that he was wrong and didn’t have the correct evidence to
support his claim.
“Thimerosal is a mercury-containing organic compound” (FDA). Thimerosal was found
in some vaccines and was the only ingredient that had a link to autism. After finding this, studies
were done with kids that had thimerosal in their vaccines and kids that didn’t. They weren’t able
to find any links between the ingredient and autism. Therefore, the ingredients in the vaccines
clearly are not a cause of autism.
Right now, it is estimated that “More than 3 million deaths of children a year from
vaccine-preventable diseases” (“Global Immunization…”). This is significantly more than the
number of autism diagnoses, which isn’t diagnosed until after the age of most of the child deaths
referenced to. Most children aren’t diagnosed with autism until age 4 (Autism facts and figures)
but, “More than 1.5 million of these deaths are in children less than 4” (“Global
Immunization...”). Children getting vaccines for infectious diseases can save their life before the
risk of autism.
The only thing any study could find linked to autism was thimerosal. Articles said that
“Although epidemiologic evidence has not supported the hypothesis of a causal relationship
between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism, concerns continue about pediatric exposure
to mercury through vaccine administration” (“Thimerosal-containing…”). Some people thought
thimerosal was what was causing it because some researchers found a possible link to autism,
however, they were proven wrong when a lot of tests were run. After all of this, the rate of
autism still rose after thimerosal was taken out of vaccines.
Vaccines or booster shots do not cause autism because there have been so many tests and
studies that prove it doesn’t, while there are none that can prove it does. When they add new
things to the vaccines or make new vaccines I think they should run tests on them again.
Works Cited
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“Autism Fact Sheet.” National Autism Association,
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Bhandari, Smitha. “Are Vaccinations Linked To Autism? The Latest Science
Explained.”WebMD, WebMD, 20 May 2018,
www.webmd.com/brain/autism/do-vaccines-cause-autism#1.
Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Thimerosal and Vaccines.” U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, FDA,
www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/thimerosal-and-vacci
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Children's Hospital. “Worldwide Disease Incidence.” Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 1 Dec. 2014,
www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/global-immunization/diseases
-and-vaccines-world-view.
Dyer, Owen. “Wakefield Admits Fabricating Events When He Took Children's Blood Samples.”
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), BMJ Publishing Group Ltd., 19 Apr. 2008,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323045/.
Hurley, Anne M, et al. “Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Autism: a Review of Recent
Epidemiologic Studies.” The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics :
JPPT: the Official Journal of PPAG, Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group, July 2010,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22477809.
Meleko, Asrat, et al. “Assessment of Child Immunization Coverage and Associated
Factors with Full Vaccination among Children Aged 12-23 Months at Mizan Aman
Town, Bench Maji Zone, Southwest Ethiopia.” International Journal of Pediatrics,
Hindawi, 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5757163/.
“Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism Concerns.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Oct. 2015,
www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism.html.
“Vaccine Myths Debunked.” PublicHealth.org, PublicHealth.org, 24 Feb. 2020,
www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccine-myths-
debunked/.
