CDC Updates Statement on Vaccine-Autism Link
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has altered its official position regarding the potential connection between vaccines and autism. The agency's website now states that a link between vaccines and autism "cannot be ruled out," which marks a departure from its prior long-held assertion that no such link exists.
Scientific Context and Public Health Reactions
This change occurs despite a significant body of research that has indicated no connection between vaccines and autism. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously voiced support for claims of a vaccine-autism link.
Public health organizations have issued statements in response to the CDC's updated language:
- The American Academy of Pediatrics, through its president Dr. Susan J. Kressly, stated that over 40 studies across seven countries, involving more than 5.6 million individuals since 1998, have concluded there is no link between vaccines and autism.
- The Autism Science Foundation commented to NPR that the new statement demonstrates a "lack of understanding of the term 'evidence'" and noted that vaccines have been extensively studied as a potential cause of autism.
- Dr. Paul Offitt, a pediatrician and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, characterized the website changes as consistent with anti-vaccine rhetoric.
Department of Health and Human Services Response
Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (DOHS), informed NPR that the claim "vaccines do not cause autism" is not considered evidence-based because studies have not definitively excluded the possibility of infant vaccines causing autism. Nixon also stated that the department has initiated a comprehensive assessment into the causes of autism, including investigations into biological mechanisms and potential causal links.
Internal CDC Concerns
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a former top CDC official who departed in August, indicated that career scientists at the CDC were not involved in developing the updated information and that the data presented were unvetted. Two anonymous current CDC staffers also expressed to NPR that the updates raise concerns about the credibility of the agency's vaccine information, describing it as "anti-science."
Related Actions by Health Secretary Kennedy
Under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, several other actions related to vaccine policy have been implemented:
- Members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) were replaced earlier this year. The new committee subsequently called for the removal of thimerosal, a preservative used in some flu vaccines, despite previous debunking of safety concerns surrounding it.
- Federal health agencies have made it more challenging for individuals to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
- Grants designated for new mRNA technology vaccines, similar to those used for COVID-19, have been canceled.
An ACIP working group is currently reviewing additional potential changes to childhood vaccination protocols, including:
- Removing aluminum compounds, known as adjuvants, used to enhance vaccine effectiveness, which have been utilized safely for nearly a century.
- Separating the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, currently administered as a single shot, into individual injections.
- Considering a delay in vaccinating infants against hepatitis B, a practice historically initiated at birth to prevent liver failure and cancer.
Website Footnote
The CDC's main webpage concerning autism and vaccines still displays a header stating "Vaccines do not cause autism*." A footnote on this page clarifies that this header has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Senator Bill Cassidy.