To vaccinate or not to vaccinate?

For parents looking for information on vaccines, the Web can be a confusing place. Misinformation abounds about a purported link between childhood vaccines and autism, and anti-vaccination Web sites have been on the rise in recent years. Naturally, that can cause parents anguish about when and whether to vaccinate their children. But the science is clear; there is no concrete evidence of a link between vaccinations and autism. Meanwhile, largely because of the movement by a determined minority against vaccination, long eradicated diseases are gaining a new foothold, making vaccination as important as ever.

Another in a long line of studies, this one by researchers from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and released this month in the Public Library of Science, has also helped dispel the myth of a link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and the development of autism in children.

Another theory, that mercury in thimerosal—a preservative that was once used in many vaccines—causes autism has also been disproved by several reliable studies. Nevertheless, thimerosal has been removed as an ingredient in most vaccines as a precautionary measure to lower children’s exposure to mercury (thimerosal is still used in most flu shots and is considered safe).

Yet the notion that such a link exists remains strong in our popular consciousness. For example, Jenny McCarthy, an actress who wrote a book about her son with autism, regularly appear on television shows and other outlets to bolster the vaccines-cause-autism myth. Unfortunately, this kind of anecdotal evidence may be more convincing to people than well-controlled clinical trials.

To understand the pervasive myth, consider its history. Autism is commonly diagnosed in early childhood, around the same time that children get vaccinations, like MMR. Some parents of autistic children reported that after vaccination, their children had an illness, such as a high fever or intestinal inflammation, and then were diagnosed with autism. In 1998, The Lancet, a British medical journal, published a study that hypothesized, but didn't prove, a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Upon its release, the lead researcher, Andrew Wakefield, held a press conference to promote the link and the debate has raged ever since. But even as the vaccine debate continued, that study was discredited.

A new book, "Autism's False Prophets," published this month by Columbia University Press retells the heated history of the debate. The author, Paul A. Offit M.D., is chief of infectious diseases and the director of the vaccine education center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and is also an inventor and patent-holder of the rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq. Offit reviews the story behind the 1998 Lancet study, which examined 12 children with autism and 14 controls. The findings, which hypothesized a link, were never confirmed by other studies and the autism link was retracted in 2004 in the Lancet by 10 of the study's 13 authors, after it was revealed that the lead researcher had hidden a conflict of interest. Wakefield had been partly funded by a legal aid society investigating a potential lawsuit on behalf of parents of children with autism against the manufacturers of the vaccine. What's more, some of those children were subjects in Wakefield's study.

The thimerosal theory hit the press next, spurred by articles in The New York Times Magazine and Rolling Stone. But studies continued to show no link, and with thimerosal no longer used in most vaccines, the autism rate has not been reduced. Those who believe that vaccines cause autism, now mostly claim that some combination of vaccines spur the development of the disorder. But there is no science to date that supports this hypothesis either.

There is evidence of the return of long-eradicated diseases, however. Measles, a highly contagious disease, was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but outbreaks of infection attributed to incoming travelers have increased this year. The disease once infected 3 to 4 million people a year causing 450 deaths and 4,000 cases of measles-related brain infection each year. At least 131 cases have been reported so far this year, the most in twelve years and officials cite parents' refusal to vaccinate children as the leading cause for the jump. There have also been outbreaks of other childhood viral diseases, such as polio, and mumps, in recent years. All of those can be prevented by vaccines.

The notion that childhood vaccines cause autism is a belief based on anecdotal experiences that is not backed up by the facts. There is now good scientific evidence that such a relationship does not exist. But not vaccinating children, or delaying to do so, can potentially have serious individual and public health consequences. The collective time lost from school, the individual misery, and the formidable complications (brain injury, deafness, and others) make it worthwhile to once again make those diseases obsolete.

Consumer Reports' medical advisers strongly recommend childhood vaccination. See our recommendations for kids and adults.

—Kevin McCarthy, associate editor

Read more on autism (free) and our Treatment Ratings for the condition (subscribers only).

Comments

[DD]

Autism or not, injecting levels of mercury much higher than EPA standards for safety into any human is stupid. How about our government agencies learn to work together better and solve these problems before they become issues?

[Andrew Rhinesmith]

I am a recent father of a beautiful little girl. This decision is difficutlt for my wife and I. Not because of the initial pain associated with the shot, I could care less if she cries a little. The problem I have been facing is a lack of real non-bias information. Everyone has a personal agenda I understand that, but this is science in the 21st century right? I read somewhere in my aimless wonderings, after two weeks from the shot nothing can be attributed scientifically to the shot. So, why not? I thought these shots were supposed to last for a little longer than that. It feels to me so far that the medical industry is really pushing this on the American people. I don't want anything bad to happen to anybody, but that is not real life. I would like factual non-bias information that is convincing. Nobody seems to be able to provide that one way or the other. Here is my question. Why did the companies who produce the vaccines pay out nearly 8 million dollars in insurance claims? Some how I don't think everyone affected adversely by these shots were compensated. I love my country, I don't especially like doctors. I am not a highly educated man and hope that I can do right by my litlle daughter so that when she gets old enough she can ruin her own life. I just would rather not do it for her.

[Michael]

Its funny how they say all these diseases are coming back because of lack of vaccination. The fact is our bodies are not taking the vaccines like they used to. America thinks a pill or shot can solve anything. Now our bodies are getting immune to shots. They arent helping us anymore. Its because we have been abusing it all. Trying to find a cure for everything. Now our bodies are building up immunities to the vaccines.

[Nick D]

P.S.
Japs had similar shots system and similar autism problem. When they postponed first shots until child is 24 months old, the problem was almost disappeared.

[Nick D]

It was on the news: Parents, both are from medical fields decided to vaccinate their daughter, 1y9mo old. Shortly after, a girl had bad reaction to vaccine(or maybe a bad burger from fast food restaurant?) and later had very obvious autistic signs. Parents blamed this on a fact that she was vaccinated and were going to sue. I repeat: it was on a news channel. Two days after there were no news whatsoever about that family. I wondered: what happened to them?.. And how many girls like this one out there, that their parents are not from medical field, who think that their child was born with it?
When you obtain prescribed medicine, pharmacist attaches a sheet with side effects to a bag, when you vaccinate your child, how many of you can say that you were (AT LEAST) offered same info? Well, it is available! Ask for and scrutinize it. Thats whats going in your child's system.
1 in 150 children in US is in some way diagnosed autistic. Countries that don't vaccinate as much as US has much smaller autism rate but greater death rate.
BOTTOM LINE: There are researches done or supplied by businesses, who in one way or another connected with vaccinations. All will say: there is no link in between. It is impossible to prove a huge pharmo-industry wrong. Also, there are facts... People, like parents of that little girl, who saw what happened to their kids.
Funny quote from a paper that caught my eye: "A research supplied by sugar company proved, that sugar is harmless to human body."
READ & DECIDE, BUT DON'T DENY FACTS IN A PROCESS OF YOUR DECISION!

[jaena]

god help us.. how to deal with this issue.. im a little bit confused now if i will continuing m son to take shot of vaccines. i keep on read and search about this debate..but inside my heart is only pray can do safe for all of us god knows. thanks guys..

[Robert M.]

All I can say is, wow!!!!
I just listened to a news piece in NPR about this very same issue. A family who chose not to vaccinate their son, came back from Switzerland and their child had measles. As you might imagine, there was a huge outbreak of measles in the San Diego area, with quarantines and all.
I sympathize with the families who are afraid of vaccines, but really it seems like there is no clear link between vaccination and autism. Those people need to take a basic science course to understand a basic rule: co-occurrence or concomitance is not causality. And the fact that they are putting their children at risk, as well as those of others, should at least give them pause. I am a future father of boy, and I have decided to vaccinate him.

[Baggio]

consumer report ha!!!! how many time people vaccinate children in europe and asia,,or rusia or india??? Y,,,here we have to do that what consumer report tell us to do coz,,they gat payd to say that maybe thats Y ,simple,,,how many vaccinations we are going to give to our childrens 10-20 yrs,,from today ,,just look how many people dien from cancer in this cuntry,,and look how many are in other cuntrys ,,Y i think becoze to many vaccinations we give to our children ,,,!thankx

[Kristin]

Since so many of you are insisting that Consumers Reports provide you with 100% proof that vaccinations do not cause/ trigger autism (2 very different issues, by the way), why don't you provide us with some proof the vaccinations IRREFUTABLY DO cause autism?

Providing people with such information would certainly make this a non-issue, don't you think?

[Elizabeth]

I saw consumerreports, great - Not so great! Pretty flimsy article. Tell me this - Where is the scientific proof that vaccinations 100% DO NOT CAUSE or TRIGGER autism. That would be a great article. Please show it to me.

[Lee]

A very weak article. Just spew out useless information. Do some research next time before you spit out this garbage. I love how this article gives flimsy statements with no facts backing it up. Typical.

[What a scam that nobody talks about]

What a scam. I love the fact that the studies that allegedly dispell the the myth that vaccines cause Autism are all done by the manafacturer of the vaccine!!!! even in this article:

Paul A. Offit M.D., is chief of infectious diseases and the director of the vaccine education center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and is also an inventor and patent-holder of the rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq.

what do you really think he is going to show that his vaccine causes problems!!! come people get real and dont just swallow what these corporations feed you. there are plenty of studies that do show that VACCINES DO CAUSE AUTISM along with many, many other problems, but these studies are alwasy pushed under the rug, by big goverment ande big corporations. think for yor self people!!

[elizabeth b.]

Thank you mr. crespo for responding so evenly and respectfully to tracy macarthur's knee-jerk and overheated response to the autism-isn't-caused-by-vaccines article. Now I can feel free to invite miss/mister macarthur to go back to whatever wacky "it makes sense" health-fraud quackery website out there that he/she came from, such as Mercola.com, to lick his/her wounds about what a "regurgitated" place Consumer Reports is!

I am sick of people with no scientific or medical training having such utter disregard for the authority of those who use their science/medical knowledge to gather and interpret data responsibly and carefully. If you know anything about vaccination and herd immunity, and if you ask anyone a generation or two older than you, you'll understand why vaccines are so important. People used to die of all sorts of diseases that we no longer have to worry our pretty little scientifically feebleminded heads about any more. But two of my four grandparents lost siblings to diseases that are prevented by widespread vaccination--flu and diptheria. My great-aunt was crippled by polio. This is not a weenie roast we are talking about here, this is life and death and anti-vaccination folks are just ignorant.

[Jason Crespo]

I'm not sure why anyone would call this article pathetic. Let's remember that Consumer Reports is NOT a medical science website, nor does it claim to be. Rather, it is a guide for consumers who choose to be informed about their purchases. As such, this article fits perfectly here. It is a warning that one MUST do research, and then weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether or not to vaccinate one's children. Moreover, the author provides links to the reports referenced in the article, and these reports are indeed written by reputable bodies.

I am not here to pick a fight, but I must say that as a future father, and the husband of a woman in the special-education field, I have had questions about the possible link between vaccinations and autism. This article has pointed me to some viable and verifiable reports which present a perspective diametrically opposed to the views so often propagated by the media and the stars who often manipulate it.

Thank you, Mr. McCarthy.

[Tracy MacArthur]

This was the most pathetic article about vaccines I have read. It is obvious the author took no time to educate himself and just spewed out information the has been regurgitated over the past few years. I have always valued Consumer Reoprts views but this one has made me consider not renewing. I thought you had to have some knowledge about a subject before putting it into the magazine.

[ANB]

Thank you, Consumer Reports. Wakefield's scam, and the parasitical autism cure industry that has since sprung up are largely ignored by the US media. Offit's book is a great primer on how the next great public health crisis came to be.