Do Vaccines Cause Autism In Young Children
Many parents are concerned when it comes to the health of their young children, and in recent years the prevalence of autism in young children has been rising, causing many parents to fret. Recent research has suggested that there is a possible tie between childhood vaccines and the increasing numbers of children with the development disorder, autism, in the United States.
Although this idea is alarming to parents around the nation, there unfortunately is no confirmed reason as to why the number of children with autism is increasing at such a rapid rate. Some experts in the field claim that the increase in autism is simply related to the fact that it is easier to spot and diagnose children with autism in today’s society than it was years ago. However, others believe this rise in autism is directly related to the increase of childhood vaccinations in America. The firestorm started in the late 90′s when studies began to emerge relating autism and a specific combination of common childhood vaccinations. While this particular research study was widely refuted by doctors and researchers, it did raise some questions on whether vaccines could have the ability to cause autism in young children.
Many doctors believe that the mercury-based preservative, thimerosal that used to be used in vaccinations can cause autism in developing children and that mercury can cause both health and intellectual problems. However, other experts and doctors state there is no real evidence to back this claim. Others claim that the startling evidence which shows nearly no cases of autism in certain communities, such as the Amish who don’t use vaccines is enough proof needed for further research into the topic. This fact along with a handful of studies that show the possible correlation between autism and childhood vaccines have some concerned parents thinking twice about the vaccines their child receives. However due to the lack of physical evidence on the topic, many health care experts state there is no reason to panic over childhood vaccines. Whatever the case may be with vaccines and childhood autism, it is clear that more research is needed on the issue to come up with a clear-cut answer on this hot topic.
