No link between vaccinations and autism

A comprehensive systematic review has found there is no link between childhood vaccinations and the development of autism or autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

Led by researchers from the University of Sydney, the comprehensive meta-analysis involved five cohort studies involving more than 1.25 million children, and an additional five case-control studies involving more than 9920 children, obtained via systematic searches of international medical databases including MEDLINE, PubMed, EBASE and Google Scholar up to April 2014.

All studies examined revealed no data to support a relationship between childhood vaccination for commonly used vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough and the development of autism or ASDs.

“There has been enormous debate regarding the possibility of a link between these commonly used and safe childhood vaccinations and the supposed development of autism," said Associate Professor Guy Eslick from the Sydney Medical School.

“A rising awareness of autism cases and the claimed but not proven link to childhood vaccinations has led to both an increased distrust in the trade between vaccine benefit outweighing potential risks and an opportunity for disease resurgence.”

“This has in recent times become a major public health issue with vaccine-preventable diseases rapidly increasing in the community due to the fear of a ‘link’ between vaccinations and autism.

“This is especially concerning given the fact that there have been 11 measles outbreaks in the US since 2000, and NSW also saw a spike in measles infections from early 2012 to late 2012.”

The study was published in the medical journal Vaccine.