Experts weigh in on the possible link between vaccines and autism, and why it’s become public health’s 3rd rail
Might there be 25 children living with autism spectrum disorder who developed it after receiving childhood vaccinations? Or could it be 25,000?
The fact remains that there are some. A review in Pace Environmental Law Review more than a decade ago found 62 cases in which Health and Human Services (HHS) compensated children with autism for injuries described as vaccine-induced brain damage.
The question of precise risk is one many parents wrestle with, but data fall far short of offering sound insight. What is concerning to some doctors is that there is still so little investigation into the issue and that the subject perpetually unleashes emotionally divisive opposition that does nothing to further science.
A recent meta-analysis affirming the link between autism and the gut microbiome brings to mind the explosive reaction another time the association was made. Nearly 20 years ago, a case report study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in The Lancet highlighted inflammatory bowel symptoms associated with autism and the fact that eight of the 12 children had recent MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccinations.
It wasn’t a study examining vaccinations, but it spurred media headlines speculating that Dr. Wakefield was making a claim that led eventually to an investigation, the study’s retraction, the destruction of his reputation and career, and the start of what’s now dubbed the vaccine-autism myth.
The meta-analysis published June 26 in Nature Neuroscience doesn’t mention vaccines. By applying new analytics to 25 previous studies, it’s made the strongest link between autism and the gut. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) website has a page about autism and vaccines that declares, “Vaccines don’t cause autism.”
But the unanswered question that Dr. Wakefield’s observational study posited still lingers: Could vaccines cause gastrointestinal (GI) issues that are unique to autism? The issue is no less controversial today.
By Amy Denney
