Vaccines
Can vaccines cause autism?
by The Babble Staff
December 26, 2006
Vaccines — Should You Worry About Side Effects?
THE BABBLE TAKE
The discovery of vaccines and widespread immunization has helped all but extinguish many infectious diseases like tuberculosis and polio, once common causes of death or disability in children. However, some parents are now opting out of immunizing children because they fear side effects. They argue that vaccines, or rather ingredients in vaccines, can cause damage of their own. The internet is rife with alarmist speculation regarding links between autism and mercury in vaccines; a leading theory is that mercury may be responsible for a rise in the incidence of autism in the United States and Britain. But the autism-vaccine connection has never been proven in any reputable study. Most doctors and public health officials say that, while there are some small risks inherent to vaccination, complications are rare to the point of being practically non-existent. They dismiss media scares on the side effects of vaccine as false controversy. Doctors also suggest that the general public has forgotten how devastating certain infectious diseases can be and that, by refusing to immunize their kids, they're are playing with fire. The real risk, they say, is an unvaccinated young population contracting and spreading dangerous diseases.
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Baylor College of Medicine
"In most cases, parents who object to vaccines are reacting to misinformation or reports of rare reactions to vaccination. Perhaps they never saw the effects of infectious disease. Those of us who grew up with children who had had polio and carried with them the resulting disabilities know the importance of preventing diseases if at all possible."
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Centers for Disease Control
"Thimerosal is a preservative which contains a type of mercury called ethylmercury. [...] The level of mercury exposure from vaccines is low. There is no evidence to suggest that thimerosal in vaccines causes any health problems in children and adults other than minor reactions like swelling at the injection site."
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Institute of Medicine
"This eighth and final report of the Immunization Safety Review Committee examines the hypothesis that vaccines, specifically the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines, are causally associated with autism. [...] The committee concludes that the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism."
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American Academy of Pediatrics
"Vaccines help prevent infectious diseases and save lives. Childhood immunizations are responsible for the control of many infectious diseases that were once common in this country, including polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). While the US currently has near record low cases of vaccine-preventable diseases, the viruses and bacteria that cause them still exist. Vaccines prevent disease in the people who receive them and protect those who come into contact with unvaccinated individuals."
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Homeopathy Online
"Many homeopathic physicians are concerned with the effect of vaccinations on the state of health of their patients. In everyday homeopathic practice, we all know the obstacle to cure that vaccinations can pose. If you are like me, you may have wondered whether any non-homeopaths have ever taken notice of the risks involved in immunizations."
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