Are vaccines the major cause of Autism?

Are vaccines the major cause of Autism?

  • Yes

  • No

  • No but maybe

  • No it is a conspiracy theory


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JacobLaw

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Are vaccines the major cause of Autism?

A new vaccine study published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular and Genetic Medicine is bringing more awareness to the connection between the dramatic increase in the quantity of routine childhood vaccines and the correlating increase in inflammation-associated disorders. (1)

“A massive increase in immunization has occurred. In the United States for example since just 1999 children are scheduled to routinely receive over 80 additional vaccines over their childhood. The increase in immunization has been followed by a huge increase in inflammation associated disorders like autism.” (1)


There are so many people out there who instantly say no, vaccines have no connection to autism, yet researchers from all around the world in published peer reviewed journals continue to question and consider it. Just because (apparently) a direct link has not been discovered does not mean it doesn’t exist, and given all of the information in all of these studies, it’s ridiculous to completely rule it out and say no.

New Study Links Vaccine Induced Overload To Autism | Collective-Evolution
 

Senator Cheese

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Serious studies that have investigated possible links between autism and vaccination programs have found no correlation whatsoever. The very few studies that do claim to have found some evidence for such a correlation make very careful claims and only base their evidence on a macroepidemiological correlation.

The argumentation goes along the lines of "Well, in populations in which many vaccines take place, autism is on the rise also" - this fails to account, for example, that in populations that spend money on vaccination programs, diagnostics for psychiatric disorders are also considerably higher. As such, the prevalence of all maladies will seem "higher" in any society that spends a considerable amount of money on primary prevention.

The incidence of autism has been on the rise since documentation, which is fairly common due to improved screening and concise diagnostic manuals.
You will, by the way, find an increase for virtually every psychiatric condition and most physical illnesses as well. (Again, only due to the fact that screening programs have become more prevalent)

In fact, a study published in the Lancet in 1999 has shown that there has been a steady increase in autism since 1979 - the rate of this increase did not change at all when the MMR-vaccine was introduced in 1988.

Vaccination programs reduce mortality and decrease morbidity. It's as simple as that. And any Christian should get vaccinated to protect those children that can't be vaccinated (i.e. children with immunodeficiencies, cancer, etc.).

Since the autism-associated risks of vaccination are so miniscule that they haven't been detected in multiple studies, their existence remains disputed. In either case, even if there were a miniscule increase in risk, the benefit remains.

Get vaccinated. There's not much more to say.
Refusing to get vaccinated means you're partially responsible for the death of those who are dependent on herd immunity. I hope you never forget that fact.
 
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TheReasoner

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No, vaccines do not cause autism. There is no link, as Senator Cheese pointed out. I could also point out various other factors concerning the faux study which made that claim, but the crux of the matter is succinctly pointed out by Senator Cheese, and is so important I relay it by quoting it below:

Get vaccinated. There's not much more to say.
Refusing to get vaccinated means you're partially responsible for the death of those who are dependent on herd immunity. I hope you never forget that fact.
 
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Split Rock

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Are vaccines the major cause of Autism?

A new vaccine study published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular and Genetic Medicine is bringing more awareness to the connection between the dramatic increase in the quantity of routine childhood vaccines and the correlating increase in inflammation-associated disorders. (1)

“A massive increase in immunization has occurred. In the United States for example since just 1999 children are scheduled to routinely receive over 80 additional vaccines over their childhood. The increase in immunization has been followed by a huge increase in inflammation associated disorders like autism.” (1)


There are so many people out there who instantly say no, vaccines have no connection to autism, yet researchers from all around the world in published peer reviewed journals continue to question and consider it. Just because (apparently) a direct link has not been discovered does not mean it doesn’t exist, and given all of the information in all of these studies, it’s ridiculous to completely rule it out and say no.

New Study Links Vaccine Induced Overload To Autism | Collective-Evolution

Many studies have shown no relationship between vaccination and autism. Also, despite what you are claiming about increased vaccinations, childhood diseases are on the rise in the USA because more parents are not getting their kids vaccinated. Measles Resurgence Tied To Parents' Vaccine Fears : NPR
 
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RealityCheck

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No. Just no.

Even if it did, look up old photos of what kids went through with these diseases we vacinate for and tell me it is not a good trade off.

Exactly. Penn and Teller did a short video that demonstrated this pretty well. Even if there was a 1% rate of autism in vaccinated children and that could be demonstrated concretely as a causal relationship, I'd still have my children vaccinated. I'd gladly raise an autistic child versus a child cripple by polio, or lose a child to one of these easily preventable diseases.

And that's an "if" that has yet to be demonstrated by any credible evidence.
 
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Loudmouth

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Are vaccines the major cause of Autism?

A new vaccine study published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular and Genetic Medicine is bringing more awareness to the connection between the dramatic increase in the quantity of routine childhood vaccines and the correlating increase in inflammation-associated disorders. (1)

200 years ago they did not have any vaccinations, and no airplane crashes. Coincidence? Evidence that vaccines cause airplane crashes?

“A massive increase in immunization has occurred. In the United States for example since just 1999 children are scheduled to routinely receive over 80 additional vaccines over their childhood. The increase in immunization has been followed by a huge increase in inflammation associated disorders like autism.” (1)

The rate of inflammation due to vaccines is nothing compared to the inflammation caused by the real infections. The problem is that our society has lost its memory of the scourge that these diseases really were.
 
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Split Rock

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Are vaccines the major cause of Autism?

A new vaccine study published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular and Genetic Medicine is bringing more awareness to the connection between the dramatic increase in the quantity of routine childhood vaccines and the correlating increase in inflammation-associated disorders. (1)

“A massive increase in immunization has occurred. In the United States for example since just 1999 children are scheduled to routinely receive over 80 additional vaccines over their childhood. The increase in immunization has been followed by a huge increase in inflammation associated disorders like autism.” (1)


There are so many people out there who instantly say no, vaccines have no connection to autism, yet researchers from all around the world in published peer reviewed journals continue to question and consider it. Just because (apparently) a direct link has not been discovered does not mean it doesn’t exist, and given all of the information in all of these studies, it’s ridiculous to completely rule it out and say no.

New Study Links Vaccine Induced Overload To Autism | Collective-Evolution

One needs to look at multiple studies and not just pick and choose the ones that support your hypothesis.






Pediatrics. 2004 Sep;114(3):793-804.

Thimerosal-containing vaccines and autistic spectrum disorder: a critical review of published original data.

Parker SK1, Schwartz B, Todd J, Pickering LK.


Author information

Erratum in
Pediatrics. 2005 Jan;115(1):200.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The issue of thimerosal-containing vaccines as a possible cause of autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) has been a controversial topic since 1999. Although most practitioners are familiar with the controversy, many are not familiar with the type or quality of evidence in published articles that have addressed this issue. To assess the quality of evidence assessing a potential association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism and evaluate whether that evidence suggests accepting or rejecting the hypothesis, we systematically reviewed published articles that report original data pertinent to the potential association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD/NDDs.

METHODS:

Articles for analysis were identified in the National Library of Medicine's Medline database using a PubMed search of the English-language literature for articles published between 1966 and 2004, using keywords thimerosal, thiomersal, mercury, methylmercury, or ethylmercury alone and combined with keywords autistic disorder, autistic spectrum disorder, and neurodevelopment. In addition, we used the "related links" option in PubMed and reviewed the reference sections in the identified articles. All original articles that evaluated an association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD/NDDs or pharmacokinetics of ethylmercury in vaccines were included.

RESULTS:

Twelve publications that met the selection criteria were identified by the literature search: 10 epidemiologic studies and 2 pharmacokinetic studies of ethylmercury. The design and quality of the studies showed significant variation. The preponderance of epidemiologic evidence does not support an association between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD. Epidemiologic studies that support an association are of poor quality and cannot be interpreted. Pharmacokinetic studies suggest that the half-life of ethylmercury is significantly shorter when compared with methylmercury.

CONCLUSIONS:

Studies do not demonstrate a link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and ASD, and the pharmacokinetics of ethylmercury make such an association less likely. Epidemiologic studies that support a link demonstrated significant design flaws that invalidate their conclusions. Evidence does not support a change in the standard of practice with regard to administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines in areas of the world where they are used.
Thimerosal-containing vaccines and autistic spect... [Pediatrics. 2004] - PubMed - NCBI
 
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sfs

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Mind you, I'm not aware of any studies showing that vaccination in general couldn't be a cause of autism, because that's a difficult study to do well and ethically. On the other hand, I'm also aware of zero evidence in favor of that hypothesis.
 
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Nithavela

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polio-victims.jpg


Well, at least they don't have autism.
 
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PsychoSarah

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Mind you, I'm not aware of any studies showing that vaccination in general couldn't be a cause of autism, because that's a difficult study to do well and ethically. On the other hand, I'm also aware of zero evidence in favor of that hypothesis.

It wouldn't be too hard, if autism is caused by vaccines, then there should be more autistic people in populations who received vaccinations than in those that didn't. Given that you can find both within the same country, that shouldn't be too hard to compare. As it turns out, getting diseases while pregnant or as a baby is much worse than the near nonexistent and non mental related risks of getting a shot. As in increased schizophrenia risk, as well as others.
 
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sfs

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It wouldn't be too hard, if autism is caused by vaccines, then there should be more autistic people in populations who received vaccinations than in those that didn't. Given that you can find both within the same country, that shouldn't be too hard to compare. As it turns out, getting diseases while pregnant or as a baby is much worse than the near nonexistent and non mental related risks of getting a shot. As in increased schizophrenia risk, as well as others.
You have to do more than that, since different groups have different incidence and diagnosis rates for autism. It's really not an easy study to do adequately.
 
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PsychoSarah

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You have to do more than that, since different groups have different incidence and diagnosis rates for autism. It's really not an easy study to do adequately.

Then you go after the fact: you pick out autistic people, and see what percentage had shots early on and prenatal, and which didn't, then account for the percentage in the host population which has families which do and don't get vaccines. If vaccines have any significant impact, it will show. Also, babies born during a bad flu year or during times in which media expresses disease concerns for young children should be more likely to get flu shots, and thus more likely to have autism (should shots cause autism).


But the fact of the matter is, no correlation of any kind has ever been established between flu shots and autism. And not for the lack of studies.
 
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sfs

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Then you go after the fact: you pick out autistic people, and see what percentage had shots early on and prenatal, and which didn't, then account for the percentage in the host population which has families which do and don't get vaccines. If vaccines have any significant impact, it will show.
That only works if the families that do and don't get vaccines are drawn from the same population, meaning having both the same genetics and the same environments (including medical care, disease exposure, exposures to toxins, etc, etc). Avoiding ascertainment bias is important and difficult in this kind of study. Really.
Also, babies born during a bad flu year or during times in which media expresses disease concerns for young children should be more likely to get flu shots, and thus more likely to have autism (should shots cause autism).
That could work, since the number of vaccinations is probably known. Flu vaccines are only a small part of total vaccinations, however, and it might be difficult to pick out a signal if there were one. Especially if there are any causal factors varying at the same time (e.g. the only cause for autism that seems to be pretty well established is certain viral infections in the mother during pregnancy.)
 
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sfs

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By the way, I dropped by the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research this afternoon(*) and talked to a few people. I could not find any enthusiasm there for the idea of an inflammatory component to autism. Clearly hide-bound traditionalists, and probably part of the conspiracy.

(*) I.e. I went up to the ninth floor for Thursday beer hour.
 
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