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1 Page 1 of 5 search this site: search Home About ASF What is Autism? What We Fund Autism Science Media Center Get Involved Contact Us What is Autism? How Common is Autism? Autism Diagnosis Getting a Diagnosis Autism Warning Signs Autism and Vaccines Treatment Options Beware of Non Evidence-Based Treatments Recommended Reading Quick Facts About Autism Autism and Vaccines Beyond the Autism/Vaccine Hypothesis: What Parents Need to Know about Autism Research It s been so rewarding to see the scientific progress being made toward understanding what causes autism and in developing better treatments for individuals with autism. While there are still a handful of parents who, in almost a religious way, cling to the notion that vaccines cause autism, the vast majority of parents and scientists have accepted what the data clearly show. There is no data to support an autism vaccine link. There never has been. Vaccines don t cause autism. A decade ago most agreed that we need to study vaccines in relation to autism. We had to reconcile the fact that the number of vaccines children were receiving was increasing, and at the same time, the number of children who were being diagnosed with autism also was on the rise. But fortunately this was a question that could be studied and answered by science. We looked at children who received vaccines and those who didn t, or who received them on a different, slower schedule. There was no difference in their neurological outcomes. We ve done multiple studies looking at the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination in relation to autism. We ve looked at thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, and its relation to autism. The studies are very clear; there is no relationship in the data between vaccines and autism. Read the studies themselves below. It s Time to Ask New Questions If we ask the same questions we ll get the same answers. We ve asked the autism vaccine question over two dozen times and each time we get the same response; no relationship. We need to move on; We need to invest in studying genetics, the brain structures of children with autism, and environmental factors that may be playing a role. Read the Science Literature Reviews: Autism and Vaccines On-time Vaccine Receipt in the First Year Does Not Adversely Affect Neuropsychological Outcomes Smith, M and Woods, C June 2010

2 Page 2 of 5 Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses Clinical Infectious Diseases Offit, Paul and Gerber, Jeffrey S. Feb "Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism" Institute of Medicine May 2004 Too Many Too Soon? Addressing Parents' Concerns: Do Multiple Vaccines Overwhelm or Weaken the Infant's Immune System? Offit, Paul A., Quarles, Jessica, et al Immunization Safety Review: Multiple Immunizations and Immune Dysfunction Institute of Medicine February 2002 Cellular Immune Responses in Neonates International Reviews of Immunology Fadel S, Sarazotti M Neonatal and Early Life Vaccinology Vaccine Siegrist CA The Problem with Dr. Bob's Alternative Vaccine Schedule maxtoshow=&hits=10&hits=10&resultformat=&fulltext=offit&searchid=1&first Offit, Paul A. and Moser, Charlotte A. January 2009 Thimerosal and Autism Studies Neuropsychological performance 10 years after immunization in infancy with thimerosal-containing vaccines. maxtoshow=&hits=10&hits=10&resultformat=&fulltext=neuropsychological+pe Tozzi AE, Bisiacchi P, Tarantino V, De Mei B, D'Elia L, Chariotti F, Salmaso S. January 2009 Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California's Developmental Services System

3 Page 3 of 5 Archives of General Psychiatry Robert Schechter, MD, MSc and Judith K. Grether, PhD January 2008 Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years New England Journal of Medicine Thompson WW, Price C, Goodson B, et al. September 2007 Lack of Association Between Rh Status, Rh Immune Globulin in Pregnancy and Autism American Journal of Medical Genetics Judith H. Miles and T. Nicole Takahashi May 2007 Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal Environmental Health Perspectives Thomas M. Burbacher, PhD April 2005 Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association John Heron and Nick Andrews, PhD and Jean Golding, DSc September 2004 Neurotoxic Effects of Postnatal Thimerosal Are Mouse Strain Dependent Molecular Psychiatry M Hornig, M June 2004 Safety of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: A Two-Phased Study of Computerized Health Maintenance Organization Database Thomas Verstraeten, MD November 2003 Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and Autism Journal of the American Medical Association Anders Hviid, MSc October 2003

4 Page 4 of 5 Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence from Danish Population-Based Data Kreesten M. Madsen, MD September 2003 "Autism and Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: Lack of Consistent Evidence for an Association" American Journal of Preventive Medicine Paul Stehr-Green, DrPh, MPH August 2003 Thimerosal and Autism? Karen Nelson, MD March 2003 Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: A descriptive study The Lancet Michael Pichichero, MD November 2002 Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Vaccine and Autism Studies Lack of Association Between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study PLoS One Hornig M, Briese T, Buie T, Bauman ML, Lauwers G, et al. September 2008 Measles Vaccination and Antibody Response in Autism Spectrum Disorders maxtoshow=&hit... Archives of Disease in Childhood Gillian Baird, F.R.C.Paed. February 2008 Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Prevalence and Links With Immunizations db=pubmed&cmd=retrieve&dop... Eric Fombonne, MD July 2006

5 Page 5 of 5 MMR Vaccination and Pervasive Developmental Disorders: A Case- Control Study The Lancet Liam Smeeth, MRCGP September 11, 2004 Association of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine Archives of & Adolescent Medicine Kumanan Wilson, MD, MSc, FRCP July 2003 Neurologic Disorders After Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination Annamari Makela, MD November 2002 No Evidence for a New Variant of Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Induced Autism Eric Fombonne, FRCPsych October 2001 Autism and Vaccines in the Media On January 21st, 2011, Dr. Paul Offit was on The Colbert Report speaking about his new book, "Deadly Choices: How The Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All." Click Here to Watch the Interview Autism Science Foundation 419 Lafayette Street, 2nd floor New York, NY Autism Science Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Terms of Use & Privacy