Study Finds No Link Between Autism and Vaccinations

An enormous new study has found there is no link between the vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella, and being afflicted with autism.

The Guardian reports that the study was done from a sample of 95,000 children and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was conducted by researchers from the Lewin Group, based in Falls Church, VA. The research team was led by Anjali Jain.

Among the participants in the study, 2% had an older sibling who was on the autism spectrum. The study found no relationship between the vaccines and autism, regardless of if the children were vaccinated before the age of two. It also found no relationship between autism and vaccines in children around the age of five who received a second shot in order to reinforce the first.

The study also found that children who had an older sibling on the autism spectrum were 6.9% more likely to be on the autism spectrum as well.

The conventional wisdom surrounding vaccines as safe has been challenged in the last two decades after the release of a now widely discredited research paper linking autism and vaccinations. Despite that paper having been discredited, celebrities like Jenny McCarthy and Rob Schneider have spoken out against vaccines.

This has led to many people refusing to vaccinate their children. As a result, cases of mumps, measles, and rubella have increased in various communities throughout the United States. The most serious outbreak affected 159 children spread throughout 18 states and was traced to Disneyland.