The ugly stepchild – childhood vaccinations

There has been a lot of attention in the media about autism. Celebrities have taken up the cause; childhood vaccinations have become the hot culprits. While autism is an extremely heartbreaking condition and more research is strongly warranted to identify the causes, in research, it is just as important to understand what does NOT cause a condition (e.g. negative associations) as it is to understand the risk factors. Multiple national, international, large and small population studies have been performed and an association between childhood vaccinations and autism does not exist.

There are two main arguments against vaccinations causing autism. The stronger argument is one of causation. If the accused preservatives in vaccinations do cause autism, than the eradication of thiomersal (the preservative) almost ten years ago should show an associated decrease in autism diagnoses 3-5 years after removal from vaccination production. However, this is not the case. Unfortunately, autism diagnoses continue to rise even as the “cause” has been eliminated. The second argument is temporality, or timing of vaccines and autism. Diagnoses of autism tend to occur in toddlers, right about the same time that they are given the bulk of their childhood vaccinations. So one day they receive another set of vaccines and shortly thereafter, they are diagnosed with autism. What if those same children were diagnosed first and then were given routine, childhood vaccinations shortly thereafter. Would we blame autism on giving the children vaccinations?

My heart goes out to anyone who has been affected by autism, and parents most of all. But mass hysteria regarding the (unfounded) causes and potential risk factors of autism will not help the search for a cause and the greater search for a cure. Wherever the research may lead, we know now that childhood vaccinations are not the culprit.

Decreased vaccination rates among children however have indeed caused outbreaks of measles and whooping cough. Vaccinations and antibiotics are two of the greatest medical advances of the last century. We live in a cosseted time where we no longer see the ravages or graveyards of the great scourges of measles and mumps and rubella and polio. We no longer have outbreaks that will cripple a generation, both literally and reproductively. We rarely see the types of fatalities that an epidemic of tuberculosis or diptheria or plague may cause, at least not here in the United States. But the stronghold against these epidemics, the safeguard for our children, lies in the vaccinations that we provide for them. As those vaccination rates decrease, we infer upon the entire population a vulnerability to the return of these agents.

Some may argue that vaccinating your children is a private, personal issue and parents should have the ultimate choice in whether or not to vaccinate. My main problem with this argument is that “herd immunity” (protection of the entire population) depends entirely on the high rates of vaccination of all eligible members of the population. Some will be unable to receive vaccines (e.g. compromised immunity, allergy to the ingredients in vaccines, too young, etc.) and we rely upon the immune status of the those who are vaccinated to protect the most vulnerable among us, as well as the population as a whole. When a family decides not to vaccinate their children, they not only put their children at risk, but all children in the population. This is similar to the argument against second hand smoke. While it may be a personal freedom to choose to smoke, you are robbing someone else of that same freedom when you expose them unwillingly to your decision to smoke when you share an environment with them.

Let’s not let the emotional fear of vaccinations causing autism (which has been shown by good research to not be true) cloud the very real threat of childhood infectious diseases that can seriously harm a child when the prevention is readily available and whose safety and efficacy has been shown for several generations. Any serious side-effect of vaccinations (called adverse events) are immediately reported and investigated by multiple agencies. Vaccine production and research commissions far less actual monies than pharmaceutical research, development, and production. There is no financial incentive to pushing vaccines on an unwilling population except for the prevention of future medical care costs when children fall ill from preventable diseases. And surely the desire to keep children healthy and safe should be the priority of both parents and doctors and the nation as a whole?