The Claim:
It’s the myth that won’t die: vaccines and autism.
The Facts:
This claim stems from a 2014 re-analysis of a 2004 study, which was eventually retracted citing undeclared competing interests on the part of the author. The author, Dr. Brian Hooker, analyzed a case-control dataset as a cohort study, which gave skewed results.
The CDC issued a statement regarding the data in question, along with a link to the study, and notes that while there was a small correlation with autism in young vaccinated children, it was likely because there were vaccine requirements for autistic children enrolled in special education preschool programs.
So instead of taking a randomized group of children and looking for a correlation between vaccines and autism, Dr. Hooker took a study of children that purposely included vaccinated autistic children and concluded that autistic children were more likely to be vaccinated, not that the vaccinated children were more likely to be autistic, given the population the study was looking at.
Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved too since this was originally posted. Be sure to check out our most recent posts and browse the latest Just the Facts Topics for the latest.
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