Autism Vaccine Myth

Dispelling the Autism-Vaccine Myth Over the past three decades, there has been a great debate over the statistical rise in Autism cases and a purported link to childhood vaccines, namely the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine). According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), autism has risen over seventy-eight percent over the past decade (Snyder, M). It is estimated that one out of every eighty-eight children in the United States has a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Snyder, M). For decades, many research studies have been conducted to try to find a connection between childhood vaccines and Autism. To date, there is no evidence showing any link between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and any childhood vaccines or their

One particular study was conducted to try to prove if increasing exposure to antibody stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines was associated with the risk of autism. This study looked at the number of antigens from vaccines during the first two years of life. Researchers compared children with Autism Spectrum Disorder to children without Autism Spectrum Disorder. The results showed that the total amount of antigens from the vaccine was the same among children with or without Autism indicating that the MMR vaccine does not cause Autism (DeStefano, F, et

In 113 of the cases, they were part of a multi-state outbreak linked to Disneyland in Southern California (CDC.gov). In the areas hit hardest by the recent measles outbreak, vaccine rates were as low as 50% in some areas, which allowed the disease to spread (Sifferlin, A). Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital analyzed case numbers reported by the California Department of Public Health as well as other regional surveillance data to estimate the vaccination rates of areas affected by the measles outbreak in California, Arizona and Illinois. They reported their findings in the Journal JAMA Pediatrics. The researchers found that the vaccination rates for the areas were somewhere between 50% to 86%, which is significantly lower than the 96%-to-99% rate needed to create herd immunity (Sifferin, A). The study author John Brownstein, of the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program stated in his interview with Time