It is a commonly held myth that vaccinations, especially the measles shot, causes autism in children. This is just not true. It is not scientifically proven that vaccinations cause autism.
Here is some background on the scientist who made this claim. Andrew Wakefield was a Gastroenterologist, this type of doctor's specialty concerns the digestive system. His specialty was NOT working with special needs children. In his article, he claims there is a connection between the measles and MMR shot, to autism and bowel disease.
Children, whether vaccinated or not, are diagnosed with autism as early as a year old. The measles vaccine is typically administered to children around the age of two years old. The timing of the vaccine, and diagnosing of children fall in the same time period. There are more cases of autism in younger children in more recent years because the definition of autism has expanded and the general public has become more aware of the signs and symptoms of autism. Therefore there is an increasing DIAGNOSIS of autism, not more people "GETTING" autism.
In the study, Wakefield only looked into 12 children's cases. There were no control subjects in the study. Meaning none of the kids in the study did NOT get vaccinated, to determine if they were diagnosed with autism without even taking their shots. Trust me, this is extremely unprofessional in the field. After publishing the paper, and placing fear in the public, other scientists tried to replicate what this scientist claimed. They COULD NOT replicate the results. When scientists cannot replicate a previous study, that means the original is "thrown out" because the original is most likely a fluke or potentially fraudulent.
After being investigated, and discovering his conflicts of interest and fraudulent actions, he is now discredited from the profession. The paper claiming the measles vaccine causes autism has been retracted.
Therefore, it is not scientifically proven the measles vaccine causes autism in children.
The general public took the man's article by storm, and some people have not let go of it. Please do not let this corrupt individual influence you any longer, let's get children vaccinated!
