Vaccines are one of the most crucial preventive medical care a person can receive. A major controversy over the years has been whether or not vaccines cause autism.  Many people began to believe that vaccines caused autism after an article was released claiming that the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) was the cause and even more people began to believe when celebrities came into the pictures. The MMR vaccine was not the only thing believed to be connected to autism, there was also the vaccine schedule and the preservative called thimerosal. The belief that vaccinations lead to autism has cause many parents to have doubts in the medical community and not to vaccinate their children. By not vaccinating their children parents leave them susceptible to many diseases, and they also run the risk of other children catching a disease that has been almost completely eradicated by vaccinations.  Many parents believe that vaccines, especially the MMR vaccine, are the main causes of autism due to the thimerosal preservative, and the intensely packed vaccines schedules. Although there is a belief that vaccines are the cause of autism, there is little to no evidence supporting this claim, and studies have actually proven the dangers that come along with not getting vaccinated.

Over the past years, the rates of children being diagnosed with autism has increased. Autism is known as a complex developmental disorder that is diagnosed during childhood and affects the person’s entire life. There are many forms of autism, which are classified under the autism spectrum. It can be diagnosed as mild case to a person having a severe case of autism. A person diagnosed with autism undergoes difficulty with interacting with other and begins to withdraw inward (Sussman 1). Autism is thought to be brought on by environmental factors and also biological factors especially since autism is more common in males. Symptoms can be recognized as early as 6 months but usually appear when a child is around 2 years old. They include not being able to form happy expressions, not replicating gestures like pointing or grasping, and also loss of speech and/or social skills (Sussman 1). In 2010, it was estimated that one in 100 children will be diagnosed with some form of autism” and rates of autism in males are reported “to be as high as 1 in 58” (Bearmen). Rates has since then continued to increase to even higher rates. Due to the increase rates, the demands for a cause of autism has also increase.

Vaccines have been used for generations to reduces communicable diseases in society. The United States department of Health and Human Services states “vaccines are the most effective tool we have to prevent infectious diseases” (U.S Department of Human and Health Services).  Since their creation, vaccines have been the number one way that the society can insure that the current generations, the generation before and the generations to come are more easily able to protect themselves, as long as they take the necessary steps and are vaccinated. They are responsible to the eradication of smallpox and has almost wiped out the polio virus. Vaccines contains a weakened version of the disease, which “tricks” the immune system into fighting the antigens off and then causing the body to become immune to the disease. Antigens are the molecules “that spark the immune system into action” (Carroll). By exposing the immune system to the disease early on, it helps prepare the body to be able to fight future attacks when pathogens come with full strength (Carroll). Before vaccines are released to the public, they have to undergo a series of clinical tests to ensure that the vaccine is safe and effective. Based on the test results, the FDA then decides whether the vaccines can be approved for the public or not (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). However, over the recent years, the safety of vaccines specially childhood vaccines, has been put to the test.

It was first heard that there is a connection between vaccines and autism in a study conducted by Andrew Wakefield and published in the medical journal, Lancet. It suggested that the MMR vaccine was to blame for autism. However, later the article was discredited and “found to be dishonest and performed without ethical approval” (Ratzan 238). It has been proven that there is no scientific evidence connecting vaccines as the cause of autism. Over the years, there has been multiple studies conducted in order to prove that each hypothesis regarding the controversy is wrong and not valid as an excuse in order to not receive a vaccine, that is only used to protect us from harm. In regard to the MMR vaccines hypothesis, there has been “six self-controlled case series studies, two ecological studies, one case crossover trial, five-time series trails, 17 case-control studies, 27 cohort studies and five randomized controlled trial” and over “15 million children” took part in the research in order to prove that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism (Carroll). Overall, there have been over “200 epidemiological and biological studies” conducted in order to provide more information in whether or not vaccines cause autism (Gross 2). Out of all these studies, no evidence was found to support the claim that vaccines cause autism. There is a lot of unknown when dealing with such a complex disorder as autism. A complex disorder also means that there might not just be one cause for the disorder. As autism rates increase in the United States, more research is conducted in order to try and understand autism; however, “the medical literature offers no explanation for its possible causes” (Sussman 1).  With no caused found, people start to jump to different conclusions even if there is no evidence to support it.

One of the main and most popular theories made against vaccines, is the theory that the MMR vaccine causes autism. The MMR vaccine is a combination of the vaccines for the measles, mumps and rubella. It was suggested that because of the three combined vaccines weakens our immune system, thus enabling the measles virus to reproduce and damage the lining of the intestine. This then allows brain damaging proteins to enter the bloodstream, which is then believed to cause autism (Offit). However, there are no studies to backing this hypothesis, in fact there are plenty of studies contradicting the hypothesis. 

Another hypothesis made against vaccines is that thimerosal, a preservative in vaccines, is the reason why vaccines cause autism. Thimerosal is a mercury containing preservative used in vaccines to protect them from fungi and bacteria (Geier 1). The preservative is found to cause serious damage to brain tissue in young children. Today, no vaccines given to children contain thimerosal. However, this is not due to the theory that thimerosal might cause vaccine, it is because of the brain damage found in the use of thimerosal. There are no studies found that support the claim that autism is cause by mercury poisoning. By decreasing the amount of thimerosal in vaccines did not have any effect on the autism rates (Park 3). 

The last hypothesis deals with the idea that the intensely packed vaccines schedule was too excessive especially when dealing with a newborn. In today’s society, infants and young children receive up to 14 vaccines (Offit).  Parents are worried that a child’s immune system is not strong enough to be able to handle the vaccines, which leads to strong reaction that then causes autism. They also worry that the current vaccine schedule might overwhelm and stress out the human body. They believe that their child should not be exposed to a large amount of antigen in the first months of their lives. In order to protect their child and still have them vaccinated, parents choose to split the vaccines schedule by spacing out the vaccines at different times. This requires more trips to the doctor which leads to extra expenses and more exposure to sick children; also reduced the likelihood to be completely vaccinated.  However, research shows that the vaccines schedule has no effect on a child. Children are continuously exposed to different antigens from the environment that triggers their immune system, which also helps strengthen their immune. Dr. Paul Offit estimated that infants can “respond to about 10,000 vaccines at any one time” (Carroll). Also, vaccines given to young children contain “less than 315” antigens and children are believed to “fight off 2,000 to 6,000 antigens every day” (Carroll). This demonstrates that the vaccine schedule has no effect on a child’s immune system, in fact it helps strengthens it. 

People, especially new parents, no longer believe that vaccines are safe for their children. Parents are more scare of their child developing autism than the small chance of them contracting a deadly disease. However, parents forget what exactly these vaccines are protecting their children and the community from. Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and advocate for vaccines, states that the problem is that “the fact is young mothers today never grew up with the disease [polio]” (qtd. in Park). It’s not just the chicken pox, it also includes some of the most devastating diseases such as polio, measles, whooping cough. If people continue to not be vaccinated, these infectious diseases could begin to rapidly spread again, leading to an epidemic. Polio was known as one of the deadliest diseases that infected the entire nation, leaving millions paralyzed. In 1952, before the polio vaccine was introduced there were 57,879 cases reported and then six years after the introduction of the vaccine there were only 1,312 cases reported. By today, there are zero reports of the polio disease, all credited to the use of the polio vaccine (Kluger). Another example of the importance of vaccines deals with the measles vaccine. Before the measles vaccine was introduced, there was over three million people who contracted the disease each year in the United States. After the measles vaccines was distributed out to the public, only 55 cases were reported in the year 2012 (Kluger) However, when people decided to not have their children vaccinated anymore, it lead to different outbreaks across the nation. Outbreaks of measles where discovered in New York City and Orange County, California. There was also an outbreak of whooping cough throughout the state of California (Kluger). This demonstrates how important vaccines are to society and how one person’s decision of not being vaccinated can lead to devastating results. Vaccines doesn’t just provide individual protection, it also provides protection for the entire community with the idea of herd immunity. Herd immunity provides protection for people with suppressed immune system such as cancer patients or newborn, who are too young to be vaccinated (Park). By having the surrounding people vaccinated, it protects those who can’t be vaccinated; however, when those surrounding people chose not to be vaccinated, it puts un-vaccinated people at risk. It leaves newborns a chance to develop a deadly disease like whooping cause, before they even get an opportunity to be vaccinated. With the loss of herd immunity, it can put everyone at risk even if they are vaccinated. Vaccines are not 100% guaranteed to prevent every disease, there is still a small chance to contract a disease. Herd immunity helps prevents that and provide extra protection for everyone including people who are vaccinated and those who are not.

Not only is herd immunity an important reason for parents to vaccinate their children, but on a larger scale that includes everyone’s safety is the threat of biological terrorism. While vaccines have eradicated smallpox there are other diseases out in the world, such as anthrax, that still pose a threat to the society. These threats come from both domestic and foreign entities. After the 9/11 attacks a biological attack occurred when an unknown unidentified subject mailed infectious anthrax spores to two U.S senators (Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, and Vaccines). While these biological attacks are not completely related to vaccines causing autism, they do add another reason to the list of why a person should vaccinate themselves, and their children. These attacks are not an imminent threat to society, but they are a possibility. These attacks have happened before, and there is a strong possibility that they will happen again in the future. By not vaccinating their children parents are opening them up to the realistic possibility of an attack in an attempt to prevent their children from getting autism, a side effect that has be disproved by science time and time again.

 Human beings can be very easy to sway into believing one side or the other, even without having evidence to support either side. It is a part of our human nature to be influence by others. Celebrities are a major influence on today’s society and people are easy to believe whatever they say without doing the research themselves. By being famous, they are given a platform that allows them to state their opinions effortlessly and most of the time they take advantage of these opportunities. Many celebrities have voiced their opinions regarding the vaccine and autism controversy, including Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey.  They are strong supporters in the belief that vaccines are the main cause of autism due to the fact their son was diagnosed with autism after receiving his routine vaccines (Kluger). They continue to support and promote that vaccines cause autism while the scientific community contradicts what they believe. By continuing to promote the concept of not being vaccinated, they put themselves and the entire community at risk for these infectious diseases. After all the scientific evidence made against the claim, people still believe that it is true because of the celebrities’ support against vaccines and the discredited articles. Dr. Paul Offit (2015) discovers an important lesson during his research into the controversy, that “although it is easy to scare people, it is much harder to unscare them” No matter how many studies are published proving that there is no evidence connecting vaccines to autism, people will still doubt when receiving vaccines or deciding whether to vaccinate their children.   

Vaccines are one of the most important public health invention in today’s society. They are the reason why some of the deadliest diseases, like smallpox, are no longer seen in communities today. To be able to keep these diseases out of our homes and our community, is by continuing to be vaccinated, and to have our children vaccinated as well. However, one should not just blindly accept an injection of a vaccine without conducting their own research. In order to make a well-informed decision, people need to understand the risks and benefits by researching into both sides and not just read one article. When making your decision on whether to vaccinate your child remember that there is no evidence of a link between vaccines and autism, which has been shown through multiple studies conducted throughout the years. By remembering that vaccines are one of the reasons why most people are still living today, instead of worrying over the imaginary consequences of vaccines, society will have a better chance to eradicate more diseases and make the world a better place for the future generations.
