Introduction
While vaccination has been a tool the global medical and health fraternity uses to improve life, a controversy exists claiming that vaccines cause autism in children. The controversy has not only been a subject of debate in the healthcare fraternity but also a significant concern for many parents. After a 1998 paper by British physician Andrew Wakefield that claimed vaccinations cause autism was published, there was cause for alarm (Cosenza & Sanna, 2023).
After a few years, the study garnered scientific research attention, disproving this argument. To date, science continues to disassociate vaccines and autism, pointing to a multifactorial aspect as the cause of autism. Therefore, the overwhelming scientific proof of the disassociation of thimerosal-containing vaccines, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR), and flu vaccines from autism shows that vaccines do not cause autism. Additionally, the consensus among global health and medical organizations on the safety of vaccines and their positive public health impact convinces us that vaccines offer immense health benefits with lifelong benefits.
Vaccines at the Center of the Autism Debate
Extensive research involving millions of children has consistently and cooperatively proven no link between vaccines and autism. Notably, several vaccines have been the focus of proponents of the vaccine and autism theory. One theory is that vaccines containing thimerosal have been associated with autism.
Thimerosal
Prerequisites
Since adjuvants, such as aluminum adjuvants and thiomersal (a mercury derivative), are occasionally used in vaccinations, there is debate and speculation about the presence of heavy metals in vaccines. A vaccine adjuvant called thimerosal is added to certain vaccines to prevent germs and fungi from growing there. Vaccines that have bacteria growing inside them risk disease or even death. Researchers have raised concerns that children receive too much of this substance quickly, potentially disrupting children’s brain development and causing autism (Happé & Frith, 2020). In response to these concerns, experts have recommended eliminating thimerosal from most childhood vaccines.
Rebuttal
However, a study in California found that autism cases did not decrease. They continued to rise despite the removal of thimerosal from vaccines. This increase demonstrates that there are more reasons than vaccinations containing thimerosal that are responsible for the rise in autism in youngsters (Bennett et al., 2019). Similar findings from several scientific investigations debunk the notion that thimerosal-containing immunizations cause autism (Bennett et al., 2019).
Additionally, a pediatric study revealed that children excreted thimerosal quickly, potentially leading to a build-up that could damage brain development. In other words, the inter-vaccine period was sufficient for a child to excrete the thimerosal from the previous vaccine; therefore, children were not receiving excessive mercury through vaccination. These studies demonstrate that immunizations do not result in autism (Bennett et al., 2019).
Furthermore, if mercury were a cause of autism, mercury-chelating agents like leuprolide could be the solution. Studies, however, have shown that it was ineffective, as were all other treatments (Hotez, 2021). Therefore, it further proves that vaccines, especially mercury-containing ones, are not causative agents of autism.
MMR
Prerequisites
Scientific proof continues to show that vaccines do not cause autism, as evidenced by the debunking of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) as a cause of autism. The proponent of the vaccine-autism idea was the British physician Andrew Wakefield (Koslap-Petraco, 2019). He, alongside his co-researchers, argued that the MMR vaccine caused autism in children. His theory was that the measles shot caused intestinal inflammation and infection that caused the absorption of dangerous proteins to the brain, leading to damage that causes autism.
Rebuttal
However, a 2019 study debunked this theory using a survey of 655,461 Danish children (Mawson, 2019). This study showed that only 1% of the children who received the MMR vaccine reported autistic symptoms, concluding that MMR had nothing to do with autism (Mawson, 2019). Many studies on the epidemiology of autism and the biological plausibility of the same have disqualified the MMR theory.
Flu
Besides Thimerosal and MMR, there has been proof that flu vaccines cause autism because they may have thimerosal. While many flu shots today do not contain mercury, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using thimerosal to prevent bacterial growth on needles during administration. Nevertheless, the CDC advises people who fear mercury in vaccines to opt for thimerosal-free alternatives.
Furthermore, there is considerable scientific evidence that contradicts the myth that receiving a flu vaccination while pregnant may increase the risk of autism (Ludvigsson et al., 2020). A Swedish study found that among all mothers who received the H1N1 swine flu vaccination, only 1% of children born between 2009 and 2010 were diagnosed with autism (Ludvigsson et al., 2020). Flu shots are crucial during pregnancy because, at this time, changes in the heart, lungs, and immune system increase a person’s susceptibility to pneumonia-related illnesses. Additionally, vaccination protects newborns against influenza in the first few days after delivery (Pichichero et al., 2008). With that, flu shots do not cause autism in the fetus; on the contrary, they protect the fetus and the mother from severe influenza that can cause death.
International Organizations on the Safety of Vaccination
Besides scientific evidence, there is consensus among global health organizations on the safety of vaccines. These international health organizations include the World Health Organization (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). These organizations agree that vaccines do not cause autism and have many health benefits compared to the risks they might pose. However, some people are still vocal about the vaccine-autism theory, and the organizations encourage fearful parents not to vaccinate their children. Following the resurgence of the vaccine-autism narrative in 2019, the CDC reported that 1200 children died of measles, and many parents stopped vaccinating their children (Lewandowska et al., 2020).
Numerous reputable health and scientific organizations have thoroughly reviewed the evidence and reaffirmed that vaccines are safe and do not cause autism. Unvaccinated children stand the risk of severe preventable diseases that can lead to death. The organizations conduct rigorous assessments with field experts to ensure national public health safety is the top priority when recommending any treatment, including vaccines. This consensus further proves that vaccines do not cause autism in children.
Benefits vs. Risks of Vaccination
Vaccines have become the number one tool that medical and public health professionals use to eradicate severe infectious diseases, saving lives and improving quality of life. From another perspective, the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. Given the above scientific evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, not vaccinating children puts them at risk. Vaccines save children from serious diseases, such as the paralyzing disease polio, by preventing complications and death (Wilson, 2022). It strengthens a child’s immunity, protecting them and others they come into contact with. Ignoring this fact could put the entire world population and all future generations at risk.
In addition, vaccination saves significantly on health care costs. Most of the diseases children are vaccinated against are expensive to treat, and some require lifelong costs. Vaccination reduces the disease burden and increases society’s economic stability (Wilson, 2022). This is because disease incidence decreases, allowing people to work and live whole lives. In addition, vaccination promotes global health equity, where everyone can access preventive healthcare regardless of their geographic location. In short, vaccines have a positive impact on public health.
Counterargument
Besides the above proof that vaccines do not cause autism and that the benefits far outweigh the risks, some naysayers would still counterargue. Often, naysayers use Wakefield’s studies to counterargue that vaccines cause autism. The MMR was identified as a potential source of intestinal inflammation that allows harmful proteins to cross the blood-brain barrier in Wakefield’s initial study, conducted in 1998 (Cosenza & Sanna, 2023). He tested 8 of 12 children with cognitive delays and showed signs of autism a month after receiving the MMR vaccine (Cosenza & Sanna, 2023). He produced a second research in 2002 in response to criticism of the first, which vaccine-autism theorists and defenders of the theory rely on (Cosenza & Sanna, 2023).
In the study, which examines the connection between the measles virus and autism, samples of intestinal biopsies from children with and without autism are tested. He discovered that 75 of 91 autistic youngsters have the measles virus in their intestines (Cosenza & Sanna, 2023). In short, counter-arguers cite these studies supporting their claim that vaccines cause autism. However, these studies are highly flawed, and the counterarguments are rebuttable.
Rebuttal
First, these studies need to be revised to be sources of support for the vaccine-autism argument. During the first research, ninety percent of youngsters in England received the MMR vaccination (Nuwarda et al., 2022). Therefore, most children at that time should have developed autism.
While the consequence of the measles virus in children is intestinal inflammation, Wakefield’s study observed the inflammation after discovering autistic symptoms, not before, as it should have. Wakefield’s decision to assess whether the measles virus discovered in the 75 children was natural or the result of the attenuated vaccination would have been sound, given that England is a hotspot for the wild measles virus (Davidson, 2022).
Furthermore, well-known studies, such as one conducted in North Thames, England, in 1999, refute Wakefield’s findings by demonstrating that in a sample of 498 autistic children, symptoms did not appear until six months after getting the MMR vaccination (Davidson, 2022). A study investigating the combination of all 25 vaccines children receive before the age of two found no link between vaccination and autism (Davidson, 2022). In other words, it is not true that vaccines cause autism.
The research findings have been refuted, but the number of anti-vaccination individuals is rising; thus, the issue is still significant. A tiny but vocal minority of people who oppose vaccinations reject the consensus among scientists that vaccines are safe and do not cause autism. Most people in this group do not give a damn if more than a dozen studies have failed to find a connection between the two events. Researchers from the Annenberg Centre for Public Policy surveyed in 2018 and discovered that respondents believed they knew more than experts, despite their limited knowledge about autism and a tendency to believe false information (Jamieson et al., 2021). Therefore, this complacency is what causes some individuals to oppose the idea of mandatory vaccination and leads them to hold a low opinion of medical professionals.
Conclusion
As the above argument shows, vaccines are not causative agents of autism in children. Numerous studies that counter the vaccine-autism argument demonstrate the safety of vaccines. Additionally, the global consensus among health and medical bodies on vaccine safety further reinforces this safety. Additionally, the observed public health benefits of vaccines demonstrate that they outweigh the risks associated with them. Nevertheless, some still hold on to Wakefield’s argument, despite research that has continuously debunked it. In short, vaccines are not causes of autism; they are safe, and every child needs them for a quality and healthy future.
References
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