No autism-vaccination link

In last week’s Republican debate, Donald Trump asserted a causal relationship between childhood vaccinations and autism. Like many who make such claims, Trump offered no scientific or medical proof of his contention.

As the mother of two children with autism, I have made it my business to research possible causes of the condition. The facts are incontrovertible: There is no scientific basis upon which vaccines are linked to autism. At the same time, there is ample evidence of the adverse effects of withholding childhood vaccinations.

The erroneous link between vaccines and autism began in the late 1990s when a small study of 12 children was conducted in England. Researchers concluded that the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) contributed to autism in at least eight of these children. The study received a worldwide audience when it was published in a well-respected medical journal, the Lancet.

Members of the scientific community were immediately skeptical. Various investigations began. Not another scientific team anywhere in the world has been able to replicate Andrew Wakefield’s results. Twelve years after the original publication of Wakefield’s study, the Lancet retracted and apologized for the work. Wakefield has since lost his license to practice medicine.

In addition to Trump, two doctors at last week’s debate weighed in on the vaccine-autism link, Rand Paul and Ben Carson. While both doctors denied the link in question, they disappointingly said that it would be OK to spread out vaccinations. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, went so far as to suggest that only vaccines that prevent death or crippling are really important. Which vaccine should be cut? The only one that reasonably couldn’t kill is mumps, yet it could cause deafness. What parent wants to make the call to skip that one?

This is not a matter of politics. This is about using the best information available to make the best decisions for our children and our community. When our babies don’t get sick, they don’t make others sick – such as someone you know who is undergoing cancer treatments or your elderly parent with a weakened immune system. We still do not know exactly what causes autism, but we know that childhood vaccinations do not.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "No autism-vaccination link."