Do Vaccines = Autism?

There has been a debate that has been gaining attention over the past five or so years over whether or not we should be vaccinating our children. Fear of vaccines causing autism have been the number one reason parents have been questioning the safety of vaccines.

Arguments include the dangerous chemicals in vaccines and studies that have been linked to vaccines causing autism. A particular chemical that has caused concern is a mercury based substance called Thimerosal. In reality, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, thimerosal has not been found in children’s vaccines since 2001. The video below gives a brief description on the rationale behind some of the other various chemicals contained in vaccines.

Studies Linked to Autism and Additional Concerns:

Since the initial study that was linked to autism and vaccines in 1998 there have been no additional studies that have concluded that vaccines can cause autism. In fact, the 1998 study has been debunked due to the doctor falsifying the numbers of the study and is no longer allowed to practice as a licensed medical doctor. 

In addition to concern over the chemicals found in vaccines, some parents fear that these vaccines are not being tested heavily enough before being added to the recommended vaccine regiment. On the contrary, it takes 6-10 years of varying degrees of heavy research by professionals before it is determined by the FDA if a vaccine is safe for children.

Here is a video that gives a breakdown of how clinical trials are conducted:

Vaccines save lives and there are researchers and medical doctors that have devoted their lives to studying the effects of vaccines. There has been no scientific based study that has shown any link between vaccines and autism. It is our responsibility to vaccinate our children to ensure we keep diseases such as measles, polio, and rubella eradicated or at least extremely rare. The chances of your child having a bad reaction to a vaccine is 1/1,000,000. 

This final video gives an overview of the benefits the world has seen since the invention of vaccines: 

In conclusion, please vaccinate your children for the betterment of themselves and society!

References

Vaccine Safety. (2015, November 23). Retrieved February 05, 2018, from

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism.html

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2006, October 11). Vaccine Safety. Retrieved

February 05, 2018, from https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/safety/index.html

Six common misconceptions about immunization. (n.d.). Retrieved February 05, 2018, from

http://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/initiative/detection/immunization_misconceptions/en/

V. (2014, June 17). Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLHnUjhzv9E

M. (2015, July 31). Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztkNLWFgYH8

Y. (2015, January 15). Retrieved February 21, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4AUGdT3DE8