Do too many vaccines cause autism?

“Too Many, Too Soon” is not a new claim, and it is a claim that has been studied. Vaccine hesitant parents often misunderstand that vaccines are tested alongside other vaccines on the current schedule to be sure they are safe and effective when given with other vaccines.

And while the vaccine schedule has increased over the decades (though not really at all over the last decade), so have the number of diseases we can prevent through vaccination and our scientific refinement of vaccines. In fact, the number of antigens in vaccines has decreased.

The reasons for the rise in autism rates are multi-faceted: changes in diagnostic criteria, increased awareness, educational changes, and lowered rates of intellectual disability account for most of the rising rates. Biological risk factors such as father’s age and premature birth could also account for a rise in some incidence of autism.

And there’s plenty of evidence that vaccines do not cause autism. Not only do the studies done to date show vaccines are not in any way linked to autism, but studies indicate disorganization of the prefrontal cortex in the brains of autistic people, linked to development in the womb. Of all the risk factors in developing autism, we know genetics looks the most likely and being vaccinated is not among them.

Finally, the vaccine schedule was reviewed by the Institute of Medicine. That committee found no safety concerns with adherence to the CDC-recommended vaccine schedule.