On this page are peer-reviewed scientific studies that document the research on the lack of connection between vaccines and Autism. I have taken the time to read them and provide short summaries. However, please read them yourself! If any of the links don’t open or are not open access, feel free to reach out to me and I’ll see if I can find you an accessible copy.
This is by no means the complete list of such research, just what I’ve been able to accomplish so far. I may update it periodically, as I have time.
RETRACTED: Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children, The Lancet, 1998
- This is the original study led by Andrew Wakefield that started the wave of unfounded fear around Autism and vaccines. Note that it has been retracted. Retraction in this case is in line with the numerous design flaws within this “study,” in addition to undisclosed, egregious conflicts of interest associated, for which Wakefield lost his medical license in the UK.
- There were a total of 12 children discussed in the publication.
- There was no control group.
- There was no control time period.
- The published study did not include all of the children studied; cases were cherry picked.
- No concessions were made for correlation vs. causation (i.e., vaccine age being similar to the age at which some children are identified as Autistic).
- The study itself claimed there was no proven causal connection, but Andrew Wakefield held press conferences claiming the opposite.
- Prior to their involvement in this study, some of the parents of children in this study were involved in a lawsuit preparing to sue makers of the MMR vaccine.
- Lawyers responsible for this lawsuit paid Wakefield personally upwards of £400,000. This seems to indicate that he was (allegedly) paid to create this study to bolster the lawsuit.
- Co-authors pulled their names from the study.
- The Lancet retracted the study. This is an extreme measure in scientific research, appropriate given circumstances surrounding this study, how it was conducted, etc.
- In 2010, Wakefield’s medical license was revoked after a hearing uncovering all of this misconduct.
Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: No epidemiological evidence for a causal association, The Lancet, 1999
- 498 Autistic children in the UK were examined, looking for any increase of Autism identification or change in age of identification before and after the MMR vaccine was introduced in 1988.
- The analyses found no support for a causal connection between MMR vaccination and Autism.
- “If such an association occurs, it is so rare that it could not be identified in this large regional sample.”
No Evidence for A New Variant of Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Induced Autism, Pediatrics, 2001
- Three sample sets of children were compared.
- 95 children immunized with MMR at 13.5 months with developmental disorder diagnoses
- 98 children pre-MMR vaccine
- 68 children post-MMR vaccine
- These children were assessed according to modern Autism testing.
- No evidence was found to support MMR-induced Autism.
A population-based study of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination and autism, The New England Journal of Medicine, 2002
- All children born in Denmark between January 1991 and December 1998 were examined in a retrospective study of health record data to examine whether the MMR vaccine causes Autism.
- Of a cohort of 537,303 children, 440,655 received the MMR vaccine. Of these, 738 were identified as Autistic. Researchers found no association between vaccination or vaccination age and Autism.
- “This study provides strong evidence against the hypothesis that MMR vaccination causes autism.”
No effect of MMR withdrawal on the incidence of Autism: A total population study, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2005
- 300,000 children up to age 7, born between 1988 and 1996 in the Kohoku Ward, Yokohama, Japan, were examined for cumulative incidence of Autism.
- MMR vaccination rates declined significantly from 1988 to 1992, and no MMR vaccines were administered after 1993.
- Incidence of Autism, however, increased, most notably beginning with the birth cohort year of 1993.
- MMR vaccination is very unlikely to be a main cause of Autism.
- Withdrawal of MMR vaccination does not lead to a decrease in Autism.
Lack of association between measles virus vaccine and autism with enteropathy: A case-control study, PLOS ONE, 2008
- Researchers investigated whether measles virus RNA could be found within the bowel tissue of Autistic children.
- Tissue samples were taken from 25 Autistic children with bowel disturbances and 13 neurotypical children with bowel disturbances.
- Researchers found no differences between the two groups of children in whether there was measles virus RNA in ileum and cecum.
- “This study provides strong evidence against association of autism with persistent MV RNA in the GI tract or MMR exposure.”
- This case-control study compared a group of Autistic children (189) with a group of neurotypical children (224) to investigate the relationship between Autism and general vaccinations, including measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccine.
- No convincing evidence was uncovered linking number of vaccinations with greater incidence of Autism.
- “Therefore, these findings indicate that there is no basis for avoiding vaccination out of concern” about [Autism].
Autism occurrence by MMR vaccine status among US children with older siblings with and without autism, JAMA, 2015
- This huge study examined over 90,000 children with older siblings over a period of 11 years.
- Researchers tracked children who received 0, 1, and 2 doses of the MMR vaccine.
- Researchers found that getting the MMR vaccine was not associated with Autism, whether or not older siblings were Autistic.
- “These findings indicate no harmful association between MMR vaccine receipt and [Autism],” even for children more likely to be Autistic (i.e., Autistic sibling).
Early exposure to the combined measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and thimerosal-containing vaccines and risk of autism spectrum disorder, Vaccine, 2015
- Two groups of children (189 Autistic children, 224 neurotypical children) were compared at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months to determine relationship between MMR vaccines and Autism.
- This study also looked into thimerosal dosage (mercury as a preservative/bacteria killing agent in vaccines) as a variable.
- “No convincing evidence was found in this study that MMR vaccination and increasing thimerosal dose were associated with an increased” incidence of Autism.
The myth of vaccination and autism spectrum, European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 2022
- This article is a summary of the connection between vaccination and Autism. It’s a fairly easy read, though written from a very particular viewpoint: vaccines do not cause autism. This does count as bias.
- However, this article isn’t seeking to run any particular research or study, but to lay out the story of how vaccination has become entangled with fear of Autism.
- There are a ton of great articles and resources linked in this article!
Allison Wall 