Even after all the studies denying any link between vaccines and autism, last week we read an unbelievable headline: "U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism."
As there are no scientific data to support the theory that vaccines cause autism, it was easy to conclude that there had to be something distorted about this headline. Reading further revealed the true story -- government health officials have agreed that childhood vaccines might have worsened a very rare mitochondrial disorder in one young girl, resulting in “autism-like symptoms.” A lawyer representing federal officials was quoted in the same press release saying “the government has not conceded that vaccines cause autism.” So why the contradictory and misleading headline?
The headline is just one of many examples of what the media will do to grab the public’s attention. It is extremely disappointing to see such a misleading and scary headline, especially when the body of the story has a quote that clearly says that the government health officials, in line with all the scientific evidence, continue to deny any vaccine-autism link. Anti-vaccine activists and desperate parents of children with autism (and their lawyers) are going to see such headlines and now feel that they have “proof” that vaccines cause autism -- and may even believe the government is “conceding” this. In truth, there has been one isolated case of a child with other underlying health problems who may have been affected by childhood vaccines. On the other hand, millions of children derive the benefit of vaccines every day because they are now not vulnerable to health threats like measles, polio, or diphtheria.
Although the link between vaccines and autism has been disproven on multiple occasions, there remains a group of people who hope to prove this imaginary link. Parents hearing about this isolated case may be frightened away from getting their children vaccinated, which would be tragic -- vaccines are a crucial method of preventing life-threatening disease, and attacking them jeopardizes the public’s health in a profound way.
Krystal Wilson is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
See also: ACSH's brochure, What's the Story? Childhood Immunizations
