For years there has been a debate as to whether or not autism can be caused by childhood vaccines. Many parents have in fact opted to not have their
children receive vaccines as a result of this argument, and we are again seeing the rise of serious illnesses that at one point had nearly vanished
from America.
One
viewpoint is that the controversy between autism spectrum disorder and vaccines
today is due to a correlation between the MMR vaccine and autism. The idea is
that diseases like measles by nature attack the bowels and that autism is
triggered by an inflammatory bowel condition (Body Ecology). Although this has
not been proven to be true, the correlation for some people is enough to
persuade them. Advocates of this idea argue that there have been issues with
vaccines causing various types of illness for many years, and that today 1 in
every 150 children is diagnosed with autism as compared to less than twenty years
ago when the number was 1 in 10,000 (Liu,Caleb).
Those
who oppose the idea that immunizations are the cause of autism argue that a child injured by a vaccination may have had
underlying immune or metabolic problems that were made apparent by the vaccine.
In these children, receiving a vaccine could be a nonspecific trigger
responsible for the discovery of their underlying issue (Harris, Gardiner). They would also argue that the benefits of
childhood vaccinations outweigh the risks that there could be a correlation,
because the diseases that are being prevented by vaccination are far more
dangerous than the chance of it causing autism. They also raise awareness that
improvements in the screening process for autism could be a likely contributing
factor to the increase in the diagnosis of the disease.
In
my opinion people are naive not to have their children vaccinated. They have
not lived through an epidemic of the proportions of polio or have seen the
devastation that can be caused by an illness whose vaccine was unavailable. I personally know a teenager whose life was severely altered by
contracting meningitis when he was little; he has the mental capacity of a 5
year old and will never live independently. Today there is a vaccine for this,
but then there was not.
Despite
scientific studies that have concluded that autism is not caused by the MMR
vaccine (CDC), the debate will probably continue to surface until science is
able to come up with a better explanation. One side is convinced that a vaccine
is to blame and the other is just as certain that it is not. It is my
conclusion that there needs to be more research done in the area of autism to
find the actual cause of the disease so that the parents that are skeptical about
vaccines can put their fears to rest. It is apparent that just doing studies
proving that vaccines are not the cause of the disease is not enough. More research would be a
win-win situation. The sooner we can find a cause the closer we are to finding
a cure; how ironic would it be if one day we could even vaccinate against
autism.
Body Ecology. Autism and Vaccines: The Truth Behind the
Controversy.
Liu, Caleb.Increase
in Autism - Why Have So Many Children Been Diagnosed With Autism Since the
1990's?
Harris, Gardiner.Vaccine Cleared Again
as Autism Culprit
