RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The results come at a fraught time for U.S. public health, and in particular for childhood vaccinations, including the MMR. Federal data reveals that MMR vaccination rates have been steadily dropping since before the pandemic and cases of life-threatening measles are at a 35-year high
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There is no link between receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine before age 2 and being diagnosed with autism , according to a new study of more than 2.5 million U.S. children.
“These results reinforce existing evidence supporting the safety of MMR vaccination,” the medical research scientists, from University of Washington, wrote last week. The research supports decades of work with similar results, including by the World Health Organization , which said earlier this year there was no evidence that vaccines cause autism.
The results come at a fraught time for U.S. public health, and in particular for childhood vaccinations, including the MMR shot. Federal data reveals that MMR vaccination rates have been steadily dropping since before the pandemic and cases of life-threatening measles are at a 35-year high .
As measles outbreaks rage across the country, public officials’ messaging has been bewildering at times.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - who promoted unapproved treatments for measles last year - told CNN this weekend that people should get the MMR vaccine to protect themselves against the virus. But Kennedy also questioned decades of findings regarding the safety of vaccines when talking about autism, losing his temper at CNN anchor Dana Bash over questions about his leadership and conversations with President Donald Trump .
“You are wrong when you say that this issue has been studied,” he told Bash.
Trump wants Kennedy to study any ties between autism and vaccines - despite current and established evidence.
The president previously suggested the combined MMR vaccine was “bad” and should be split up during a September press conference on autism .
“We want no mercury in the vaccine. We want no aluminum in the vaccine. The MMR I think should be taken separately. This is based on what I feel,” Trump said . “It seems to be that when you mix them, there could be a problem. So, there’s no downside in taking them separately. In fact, they think it’s better. So let it be separate.”
Kennedy has acknowledged studies have shown no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, according to The New York Times .
The MMR vaccine has been studied for decades around the world and is often mentioned when talking about autism because of a 1998 study by former doctor Andrew Wakefield that has since been disproven, according to the non-profit Autism Speaks .
The study in a small group of children suggested that vaccinations caused children's brain development to regress, but it was later retracted due to flawed methodology.
“Before it was retracted, Wakefield's 1998 study had been cited more than 600 times. This serves as an example of how easily misinformation can spread, and how hard it can be to correct,” the American Academy of Pediatrics says, noting that Wakefield’s medical license had been revoked.
Kennedy’s remarks on the MMR vaccine and autism come less than a year after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its webpage on vaccines and autism.
The CDC page was changed in November to say studies “have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism” and studies supporting a link “have been ignored by health authorities.”
“HHS has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links,” the CDC, which falls under Kennedy’s leadership, states.
“The whole thing about ‘vaccines have been tested and there’s been this determination made,’ is just a lie,” Kennedy told The Times last year, defending the move. “The phrase ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not supported by science.”
That update drew alarm the academy, which blasted the move as a waste of government resources. “The American Academy of Pediatrics stands with members of the autism community who have asked for support in stopping this rumor from spreading any further,” President Dr. Susan Kressly said in a statement .
While many vaccines have not been individually tested for whether they might cause autism, it does not mean they haven’t been tested, the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center’s FactCheck.org pointed out this week.
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