VIDEO
What is Autism? Do you know the signs?
Do children who get the MMR vaccination have an increased risk for developing autism? Is there a link between administration of the MMR vaccine and increased risk of autism?
No, at least not one that’s obvious right now. That’s according to an
The report was authored by a 15-member committee of epidemiologists, pediatricians, biostatisticians, and public health experts who convened in
In recent years, a number of concerns have been raised about the safety of and need for certain immunizations. Although most people realize that vaccines are important for protection against serious infectious diseases, there are some dissenters. According to a study published in 2009 that was based on a national telephone survey, 23% of parents thought that children receive more immunizations than are good for them and 25% thought a child’s immune system could be weakened as a result of too many immunizations.
This may explain why, even in the United States, where immunization rates are the highest, approximately 1 million pre-school children are not adequately protected against potentially disabling or fatal diseases that can be prevented by immunization.
To address those concerns, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) asked the IOM to evaluate the scientific evidence regarding the safety of specific vaccines and whether those vaccines are associated with specific adverse effects.
The IOM reviewed the scientific data available on vaccines and autism up to the year 2004. The scientists in this committee affirmed that vaccines are among the greatest public health accomplishments of the past century.
Vaccines have saved millions of lives and prevented millions of people from suffering disabilities. Based on their review, the committee concluded that the body of evidence does not support a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism. The committee also reviewed the suspected biological mechanisms for vaccine-induced autism and found no evidence to support them.
Even though the committee concedes that it’s theoretically possible the vaccine could trigger autism in some toddlers, they say that this phenomenon has not yet been documented and would be extremely rare if it did occur. Therefore, they say that based on their review as well as the overall health benefits of the MMR vaccine, no changes should be made in current federal or state MMR recommendations.
Terms:
Epidemiology – The part of medical science that deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – A federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services; located in
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