More Vaccines Do Not Equal More Autism

Correlation does not imply causation.

Why do some folks think that getting more vaccines increases your risk of having autism?

The use of the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine actually dropped to just 11% in 1999 as we waited for a vaccine without thimerosal. If the hepatitis B vaccine causes autism, then why didn’t this pause in kids getting vaccinated correlate with a drop in the incidence of autism?

New propaganda from anti-vaccine influences…

More Vaccines Do Not Equal More Autism

While the above chart looks convincing, if you are a skeptic, you are not going to take it at face value.

What would I do first?

I would take a look at those vaccine coverage statistics to see if they really do correlate to the rise in autism.

And?

Well, it is no secret that we have been giving more vaccines over the years and more kids have been getting diagnosed with autism.

Japan has a 20-year vaccine gap with the United States and doesn’t give the MMR vaccine, but still had a similar rise in autism rates.

But many other countries have a similar increase in autism, and they give fewer vaccines.

How do you explain that?

Iceland gives fewer vaccines and doesn’t give the hepatitis B vaccine to infants, but has higher rates of autism than many countries that do.

How can you blame the hepatitis B vaccine, when countries that don’t routinely give the hepatitis B vaccine have higher rates of autism than countries that do?

You can’t…

“The proportion of US infants who received dose 1 of hepatitis B vaccine at birth declined from 47% among those born 7 to 12 months before the suspension to 11% among those born during the suspension. Birth-dose coverage remained significantly lower in the year after the suspension was lifted (23% in the first 6 months and 33% in months 7-12).”

Impact of thimerosal-related changes in hepatitis B vaccine birth-dose recommendations on childhood vaccination coverage

And remember, as I mentioned above, we stopped giving babies the hepatitis B vaccine for a time because of the concerns over thimerosal.

Where was the drop in autism rates that you should have seen if the hepatitis B vaccine causes autism?

We didn’t see it…

Correlation does not imply causation.

Vaccines are not associated with autism.

The Risk of Autism Is Not Increased by "Too Many Vaccines Too Soon"

Need more evidence?

“In this study of MCO members, increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines during the first 2 years of life was not related to the risk of developing an ASD.”

Increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines is not associated with risk of autism

How about a case-control study that found no increased risk for autism when kids got more vaccines?

So no, it’s not the MMR vaccine, it’s not thimerosal, it’s not getting more or too many vaccines.

Vaccines are not associated with autism.

References

Luman ET, Fiore AE, Strine TW, Barker LE. Impact of thimerosal-related changes in hepatitis B vaccine birth-dose recommendations on childhood vaccination coverage. JAMA. 2004 May 19;291(19):2351-8. doi: 10.1001/jama.291.19.2351. PMID: 15150207.

DeStefano F, Price CS, Weintraub ES. Increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines is not associated with risk of autism. J Pediatr. 2013 Aug;163(2):561-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.02.001. Epub 2013 Mar 30. PMID: 23545349.

Why Have Vaccines Been Ruled Out as a Cause of Autism? https://historyofvaccines.org/getting-vaccinated/vaccine-faq/do-vaccines-cause-autism