The Largest Study Disproves Several Myths Of Vaccine Opponents At Once

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 23:16

The largest study disproves several myths of vaccine opponents at once

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not increase the likelihood of autism or provoke it in children at risk. Scientists have also refuted the concept of anti-vaccination workers that vaccination increases the number of atypical forms of autism, which are diagnosed later and therefore are not recorded by conventional research.

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The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not increase the likelihood of autism or provoke it in children at risk. The results of the new study, which included more than 650,000 children, were published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The scientists used the Population Registration Service to collect information. The study included 657,461 children born in Denmark between 1999 and 2010. The authors documented risk factors for the development of autism, including parental age, sibling autism, premature birth, and low birth weight.

Autism was diagnosed in 6517 study participants. No association was found between disease progression and MMR vaccination. In addition, the vaccine did not increase the risk in high-risk children. Scientists have also refuted the concept of anti-vaccination workers that vaccination increases the number of atypical forms of autism, which are diagnosed later and therefore are not recorded by conventional research.

“The idea that vaccines cause autism is still alive and well on social media,” said Anders Hviid, lead author of the study at the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark.

As vaccination groups become more active and even celebrities and politicians are joining them, Hweed and his group decided to dispel doubts about vaccination with this scientific work.

The myth linking vaccines and autism emerged from a study by Andrew Wakefield, published in 1998 in the medical journal The Lancet. Wakefield then received compensation from a law firm intending to sue the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine, but in 2010 he was stripped of his medical license. In 2011, The Lancet withdrew this study because an investigation found Wakefield had altered or misrepresented the information. Several subsequent studies attempting to replicate his findings found no link between vaccines and autism. A total of 17 studies were conducted in seven countries, on three different continents, involving hundreds of thousands of children.

Globally, measles incidence increased by 48.4% between 2017 and 2018, according to UNICEF estimates based on data from the World Health Organization. Ten countries, including Brazil, the Philippines and France, accounted for nearly three quarters of the total increase in measles incidence in 2018.

The World Health Organization considers reluctance or refusal to vaccinate (if vaccines are available) as one of the main threats to global health in 2019.