New Vaccine Study Sheds More Light on Autism

The origins of the debate between vaccines and autism began with two studies by Dr. Andrew Wakefield — the Wakefield studies. The Wakefield studies found that some children who received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine had developed autism. When both studies — one was completed in 1998 and the second in 2002 — were analyzed further, it was plainly evident that both were significantly flawed. The flaws led to the immediate retraction of both studies.

Despite the renouncement of the Wakefield studies, the public has since been skeptical. The European Journal of Pediatric Neurology shares how the myth surrounding the link between vaccinations and autism has made some parents choose not to have their child receive vaccinations.

When children are not vaccinated against major viruses like MMR, polio, and COVID-19, those children are at risk of experiencing life-threatening illnesses that their bodies cannot fight off. “Complications from illnesses that children are vaccinated against are often much more severe, sometimes leading to lifelong complications, hospitalizations and death,” shared nurse practitioner Jennifer LeGare to the Mayo Clinic. “Not vaccinating your children also increases the risk to others around them.”

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A recent study published in 2020 from the Annals of Internal Medicine Journal proved how there is no link between the influenza vaccine and autism. The study focused on pregnant mothers and the influenza shot. Out of nearly 40,000 participants of the study, one-third were given the influenza vaccine during the first trimester of pregnancy and two-thirds of the participants remained unvaccinated. The results revealed that the vaccination shot did not increase the risk of autism nor cause autism.

A previous study in a Journal of American Medicine study of 95,727 children with older siblings (including children whose older siblings had autism spectrum disorders), getting the MMR vaccine was not associated with an increased risk of developing autism, regardless of whether older siblings had ASD. These findings indicated that there is no harmful association between the MMR vaccine and autism, even if a child is at a higher risk because his or her sibling has autism.

Over the years, the research continues to disprove the myth about vaccinations, and medical professionals can comfortably say how vaccines do not lead to autism.

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With there is misinformation about the causes of autism, there are some factors that scientists have found that make individuals more at risk for having autism.

• Autism can be genetically passed down
• Autism can be more of a risk for children who are born from older parents
• Autism is more of a risk if there were pregnancy complications
• Autism can be caused by various environmental factors

One parent had some important insight for other parents about raising a child with autism. “If someone is diagnosed with autism, it doesn’t change a single thing about them. They are still the same person, and we all have our own strengths, weaknesses, and individual traits. A diagnosis might just help them understand why they think the way they do,” mom Alexandra Adlawan previously shared with Mom.com.