The updated page casts aside decades of research by scientists around the world, which has found no link between childhood vaccines and autism.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was changed this week, breaking with scientific consensus and stating there could be a link between The change has alarmed public health experts and medical providers across the country, who worry that such messaging will scare more parents away from vaccinating their children, opening the door to more outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough.
The updated CDC webpage now says, “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” The page goes on to raise doubts about past research into vaccine safety, and says federal health agencies will look into a possible link between childhood vaccines and autism. The updated page casts aside decades of research by scientists around the world, which has found no link between childhood vaccines and autism.Medical groups swiftly denounced the CDC’s new vaccine language. Dozens of medical and public health groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, signed onto“We call on the CDC to stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations,” Kressly wrote.Firstly, if vaccines did cause autism, that would’ve shown up in all types of previous research. If the link was true, for instance, comparisons of unvaccinated versus vaccinated populations would have different rates of autism. Repeated research has turned up no such link.Secondly, researchers said, the timing doesn’t make sense. Signs of autism appear in early infancy, and research has found evidence that differences begin in the womb. This means that autism begins before a child is born, even if the diagnosis doesn’t come until later. That timing rules out vaccination, which happens after birth, as a cause of autism.The CDC falls under the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is headed by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Kennedy is among the most prominent vaccine skeptics in the country, and previously spent eight years at the helm of an anti-vaccine advocacy group. Because of this, public health experts and others have continuously warned that Kennedy may use his role in the federal government to unwind the vaccine infrastructure that previous administrations spent decades building. Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital and Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, laughs with Dr. Peter Hotez, Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, in Houston.Dr. Peter Hotez — who is the father of a daughter with autism and a doctor and vaccine researcher based at Baylor College of Medicine — said the CDC web page change is another step down that road.“He’s weaponizing the CDC,” Hotez said of Kennedy. “Step by step by step, he’s seeking to undermine our nation’s vaccine ecosystem and undermine public confidence in vaccines.” In isolation, Hotez said, the webpage change might not feel like a huge deal. But it didn’t happen in isolation. Hotez framed the change instead as part of a larger attack on vaccines, seen in previous moves such as Kennedy’s “If you look at each of the individual things, they’re bad but they’re not game-changers,” Hotez said. “It’s the cumulative effect.” In Texas, healthy food blogger and medical freedom advocate Nina Miller said in an email exchange that the website change marks “an important shift.” She and other medical freedom advocates, Miller wrote, are “cautiously optimistic” about the direction that federal health officials are going.Michelle Evans, the political director for the medical freedom organization Texans for Vaccine Choice, was more reserved. She said the change is validating for parents who have long pointed the finger at vaccines, but she also noted the rest of the CDC website appears to remain unchanged. “I think that it’s much ado about nothing on both sides,” Evans said. “This is a slight change, but I don’t see this as anything groundbreaking or actually moving the needle in one direction or another.”Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is greeted by pediatrician Dr. Jason Terk, Chair of Texas Public Health Coalition after Operation Fly Formula flight, a FedEx Express MD-11 charter flight from Cologne, Germany, arrived at DFW Airport, June 9, 2022. The air shipment of approximately 1.6 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Nestlé NAN SupremePro Stage 1 infant formula is being administered by the Biden Administration.“I think that it’s gong to create even more challenges for families who are simply trying to make the best decision that they can for their children,” said Dr. Jason Terk, a pediatrician in North Texas.“We pediatricians are the ones that are, on a day-to-day basis, invested in the health of the patients that we take care of,” he said. “If you have questions, talk to your pediatrician.”Emily Brindley reports on health in North Texas and across the state. She was previously an investigative reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Before moving to Texas in 2021, she covered the coronavirus pandemic at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut.Change on CDC website links vaccines and autism. What does it mean for doctors, parents?
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