Myth: Vaccines cause autism

✓ FACT

The vaccine-autism link has been thoroughly disproven. The original fraudulent study was retracted, its author lost his medical license, and dozens of large studies show no connection between vaccines and autism.

The Evidence Against This Myth

### The Original Study

The 1998 Wakefield study claiming a vaccine-autism link was **fraudulent**. Wakefield manipulated data, had undisclosed financial conflicts, and the study used just 12 children. The journal *Lancet* retracted it in 2010, and Wakefield lost his medical license.

### Large-Scale Research Shows No Link

**CDC Study (2019)**: 650,000+ children — no autism link to MMR vaccine

**Swedish Study (2019)**: 2+ million children — no increased autism risk

**Danish Study (2014)**: 657,000+ children — no association

**UK Study (2014)**: 1.4 million children — no link

### Why Do Some People Still Believe It?

Timing illusion: autism is diagnosed around age 2, same time as many vaccines

Confirmation bias: selective attention to stories that fit the belief

Distrust of institutions (understandable given historical medical racism, but not evidence-based here)

### What Actually Causes Autism

Autism has strong genetic roots (heritability ~83%). Environmental factors remain unclear but do not include vaccines.