VACCINES CAUSES AUTISM OR MENTAL RETRADATION?

The currents against vaccination have been rising. Many parents of autistic children are convinced their child's autism was caused or partly caused by vaccination. Some swear by their belief that the mercury in Thimerosal. a preservative used in some vaccines, is the culprit, while others think that the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine is the cause. This belief has led to countless spats between autism parent groups, and caused a public rift between a father who withdrew financial support for his daughter's autism organization and the daughter who was convinced vaccines had caused autism in her child.

The belief is not limited to autism. Many parents are afraid that MMR could cause mental retardation and refuse to have their children vaccinated.

This is despite of the fact that countless studies have proven otherwise, that there is no evidence whatsoever that indicates adversity of vaccines. A Wall Street Journal article written by Dr. Paul Offit shows that the highest resistance to vaccination occur in rich neighborhoods like Beverly Hills and Santa Monica where parents are highly educated. It is ironic that the vaccination rates in these rich, liberal neighborhoods are comparable to those in Chad or southern Sudan. Sadly, measles, having been declared eradicated in 2000, have returned this year with a record 600 cases, the largest in 20 years. "In 2010 California experienced an outbreak of whopping cough larger than any outbreak there since 1942.", Dr. Offit reported.

That we all prefer simple, easily identifiable solutions to complex problems is human nature, and it is understandable why parents of autistic children gravitate towards making a single biological marker like food dye, gluten, allergiy, sugar, or vaccine as cause of autism. The wish is so great that we sometimes ignore or refuse to believe research that disagrees.

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