Is autism correlated with vaccinations?

The issue of whether vaccinations are responsible for the increase in cases of autism among young children, was dramatized recently (February 2008) by an episode of "Eli Stone" on the ABC television network. This episode, that depicts the hero-lawyer successfully winning a case against a company producing vaccine, under the premise that the vaccine caused the autism. Despite the outcry by the Amercian Academy of Pediatrics and other responsible organizations, ABC decided to continue its tradition of attempting to indoctrinate us with drivel, as long as the ratings are high. However, although dealing with TV networks is beyond our means, getting the facts is our bread and butter!

There are two types of studies related to this issue. One type examines the difference in autism rates between children who were vaccinated, and those who were not. The other type looks at the correlation between the vaccination rates in different years, and the autism rates - if the two are correlated, then years with high vaccination rates would be followed (within 1 to 3 years) by years with a high autism rate.

Given the extreme importance of these results to children's health and well being, we will make an exception to the usual format of our site, and present the results before the evidence:

There is NO (repeat - NO) evidence that childhood vaccines increase the chance of children becoming autistic!

We also note that while other studies are sometimes suspect due to their funding by the big drug manufacturers, the broad international scope of these studies, and the degree of agreement between them preclude any such suspicion.

Last Modification - Update - February 18, 2007

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