Literature Reviews: Autism and Vaccines
Vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella in children
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32309885/
Cochrane Database Systematic Review
April 2020
The science of vaccine safety: Summary of meeting at Wellcome Trust
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31987690/
Vaccine
February 2020
Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study
PDF available here
Annals of Internal Medicine
March 2019
Autism Occurrence by MMR Vaccine Status Among US Children With Older Siblings With and Without Autism
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2275444
The Journal of the American Medical Association
April 2015
Safety of Vaccines Used for Routine Immunization of U.S. Children: A Systematic Review
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25086160
Pediatrics
August 2014
Vaccines are Not Associated with Autism: An Evidence-Based Meta-Analysis of Case-Control and Cohort Studies
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24814559
Vaccine
June 2014
On-time Vaccine Receipt in the First Year Does Not Adversely Affect Neuropsychological Outcomes
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/125/6/1134/72509/On-time-Vaccine-Receipt-in-the-First-Year-Does-Not?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Pediatrics
Smith, M and Woods, C
June 2010
Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/596476
Clinical Infectious Diseases
Offit, Paul and Gerber, Jeffrey S.
February 2009
Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism
http://www.iom.edu/reports/2004/immunization-safety-review-vaccines-and-autism.aspx
Institute of Medicine
May 2004
Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines: A Report of the Committee to Review the Adverse Consequences of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/1815/adverse-effects-of-pertussis-and-rubella-vaccines
Institute of Medicine
1991
Vaccines in infancy and Autism: Too Many Too Soon?”
Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Multiple Vaccines Overwhelm or Weaken the Infant’s Immune System?
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/109/1/124/79755/Addressing-Parents-Concerns-Do-Multiple-Vaccines?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Pediatrics
Offit, Paul A., Quarles, Jessica, et al.
2002
Immunization Safety Review: Multiple Immunizations and Immune Dysfunction
http://www.iom.edu/reports/2002/immunization-safety-review-multiple-immunizations-and-immune-dysfunction.aspx
Institute of Medicine
February 2002
Cellular Immune Responses in Neonates
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10763708
International Reviews of Immunology
Fadel S, Sarazotti M.
2000
Neonatal and Early Life Vaccinology
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11348697
Vaccine
Siegrist CA.
2001
The Problem with Dr. Bob’s Alternative Vaccine Schedule
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/123/1/e164.abstract
Pediatrics
Offit, Paul A. and Moser, Charlotte A.
January 2009
Thimerosal and Autism Studies
Neuropsychological performance 10 years after immunization in infancy with thimerosal-containing vaccines.
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/123/2/475?
Pediatrics
Tozzi AE, Bisiacchi P, Tarantino V, De Mei B, D’Elia L, Chariotti F, Salmaso S.
January 2009
Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California’s Developmental Services System
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/65/1/19
Archives of General Psychiatry
Robert Schechter, MD, MSc and Judith K. Grether, PhD
January 2008
Early Thimerosal Exposure and Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/13/1281
New England Journal of Medicine
Thompson WW, Price C, Goodson B, et al.
September 2007
Lack of Association Between Rh Status, Rh Immune Globulin in Pregnancy and Autism
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/114264055/ABSTRACT
American Journal of Medical Genetics
Judith H. Miles and T. Nicole Takahashi
May 2007
Comparison of Blood and Brain Mercury Levels in Infant Monkeys Exposed to Methylmercury or Vaccines Containing Thimerosal
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16079072&query_hl=1
Environmental Health Perspectives
Thomas M. Burbacher, PhD
April 2005
Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15342824&query_hl=5
Pediatrics
John Heron and Nick Andrews, PhD and Jean Golding, DSc
September 2004
Neurotoxic Effects of Postnatal Thimerosal Are Mouse Strain Dependent
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15184908&query_hl=10
Molecular Psychiatry
M Hornig, M
June 2004
Safety of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: A Two-Phased Study of Computerized Health Maintenance Organization Database
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14595043&query_hl=59
Pediatrics
Thomas Verstraeten, MD
November 2003
Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and Autism
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14519711&query_hl=16
Journal of the American Medical Association
Anders Hviid, MSc
October 2003
Thimerosal and the Occurrence of Autism: Negative Ecological Evidence from Danish Population-Based Data
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15496004&query_hl=19
Pediatrics
Kreesten M. Madsen, MD
September 2003
“Autism and Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: Lack of Consistent Evidence for an Association”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12880876&query_hl=21
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Paul Stehr-Green, DrPh, MPH
August 2003
Thimerosal and Autism?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12612255&query_hl=22
Pediatrics
Karen Nelson, MD
March 2003
Mercury concentrations and metabolism in infants receiving vaccines containing thiomersal: A descriptive study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12480426&query_hl=30
The Lancet
Michael Pichichero, MD
November 2002
Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) Vaccine and Autism Studies
Autism occurrence by MMR vaccine status among US children with older siblings with and without autism
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25898051/
JAMA
April 2015
Examination of the Safety of Pediatric Vaccine Schedules in a Non-Human Primate Model: Assessments of Neurodevelopment, Learning, and Social Behavior
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2015/2/ehp.1408257.acco.pdf
Environmental Health Perspectives
February 2015
Early Exposure to the Combined Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine and Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25562790
Vaccine
January 3, 2015
Remembering How to Fight Measles
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/opinion/remembering-how-to-fight-measles.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
New York Times
Paul A. Offit, MD
March 2014
How to Think About the Risk of Autism
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/30/opinion/sunday/how-to-think-about-the-risk-of-autism.html
New York Times
Sam Wang, Ph.D.
March 2014
Lack of Association Between Measles Virus Vaccine and Autism with Enteropathy: A Case-Control Study
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003140
PLoS One
Hornig M, Briese T, Buie T, Bauman ML, Lauwers G, et al.
September 2008
Measles Vaccination and Antibody Response in Autism Spectrum Disorders
https://adc.bmj.com/content/93/10/832.abstract?
Archives of Disease in Childhood
Gillian Baird, F.R.C.Paed.
February 2008
Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Prevalence and Links With Immunizations
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16818529&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum
Pediatrics
Eric Fombonne, MD
July 2006
MMR Vaccination and Pervasive Developmental Disorders: A Case-Control Study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15364187&query_hl=38
The Lancet
Liam Smeeth, MRCGP
September 11, 2004
Association of Autistic Spectrum Disorder and the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella Vaccine
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12860782&query_hl=40
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
Kumanan Wilson, MD, MSc, FRCP
July 2003
Neurologic Disorders After Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12415036&query_hl=64
Pediatrics
Annamari Makela, MD
November 2002
No Evidence for a New Variant of Measles-Mumps-Rubella-Induced Autism
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11581466&query_hl=66
Pediatrics
Eric Fombonne, FRCPsych
October 2001
Autism and Other Vaccines
Maternal Influenza A(H1N1) Immunization During Pregnancy and Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring : A Cohort Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32866418/
Annals of Internal Medicine
October, 2020
Prenatal Tetanus, Diphtheria, Acellular Pertussis Vaccination and Autism Spectrum Disorder
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30104424/
Pediatrics
October 2020
Association Between Influenza Infection and Vaccination During Pregnancy and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27893896/
JAMA Pediatrics
January, 2017
Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy in Autism Families
Beliefs about causes of autism and vaccine hesitancy among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32732144/
Vaccine
September 2020
Parental attitudes and decisions regarding MMR vaccination during an outbreak of measles among an undervaccinated Somali community in Minnesota
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32981779/
Vaccine
October 2020
Vaccine Hesitancy and Attributions for Autism among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Groups of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32710507/
Autism Research
October 2020
Interpreters’ knowledge and perceptions of childhood vaccines: Effect of an educational session
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31757578/
Vaccine
January 2020
Confirmatory bias in health decisions: Evidence from the MMR-autism controversy
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32057491/
Journal of Health Economics
March 2020
Autism and Vaccines in the Media
A Journalist’s Guide to Covering Outbreaks of Vaccine-Preventable Disease
http://tangledbankstudios.org/sites/default/files/Documents/journalist-guide-disease-outbreaks-pub.pdf
From the producers of the PBS-NOVA special “Vaccines—Calling the Shots.”
On January 21st, 2011, Dr. Paul Offit was on The Colbert Report speaking about his new book, “Deadly Choices: How The Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All.” Click Here to Watch the Interview.
On September 9, 2014, ASF President Alison Singer was on The Leonard Lopate Show to talk about the risks of not vaccinating. Click here to listen to the program.
What’s Next?
If we ask the same questions we’ll get the same answers. We’ve asked the autism vaccine question over two dozen times and each time we get the same response: no relationship. We need to move on. We need to invest in studying genetics, the brain structures of children with autism, and environmental factors that may be playing a role.
Downloadable Materials
Below are three fact-sheets prepared by physicians at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They are excellent resources to distribute at events.
- Vaccines and Autism: What You Should Know
- The Facts about Childhood Vaccines
- Vaccine Ingredients: What You Should Know
Below are two tables prepared by the initiative Every Child By Two. These tables summarize the major procedures and conclusions of the most recent studies regarding autism and Thimerosal, as well as autism and the MMR vaccine.