A British website posted information that suggests that the MMR vaccine could be linked to autism. The Advertising Standards Authority ruled that this claim is misleading and must not appear on the website. This is one of many false claims regarding autism and vaccines made by that website.
I’m going to make this perfectly clear. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) :
“All reputable scientific studies have found no relationship between MMR vaccine and autism”.
The Mayo Clinic says that there is no link between vaccines and autism. It goes on to say:
“One of the greatest controversies in autism is centered on whether a link exists between autism and certain childhood vaccines, particularly the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. No reliable study has shown a link between autism and the MMR vaccination. A study published in 1998 that theorized there could be a link has been retracted because there’s little evidence to support that theory.”
What does the MMR vaccine do? It protects people from catching Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (also called German Measles). Each of those three diseases can cause serious health problems, including death. Encouraging parents to believe that the MMR vaccine causes autism often influences those parents to avoid getting their child immunized against Measles, Mumps, and Rubella. This is dangerous!
A British website called “Babyjabs” is in trouble for posting information on its website that suggests that autism is caused by the MMR vaccine. Babyjabs has an personal interest in convincing parents to avoid the MMR vaccine. According to their website:
“BabyJabs is a dedicated children’s immunisation service, offering a choice of single and small combination vaccines.”
In other words, they are trying to sell parents something. Babyjabs posted on their website that the three-in-one jab may be causing “up to 10%” of autism in children in the UK. It also suggested that “most experts now agree the large rise (in autism) has been caused partly by increased diagnosis, but also by a real increase in the number of children with autism”. This falsely implies that the MMR vaccine is the cause for an increase in the diagnosis for autism.
Babyjabs has gotten in trouble with the Advertising Standards Authority, which is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. Babyjabs had to take down the misleading claims and has been ordered that they must not appear again. Parents, take note! A website that is advising against the MMR vaccine just might be trying to sell you something.
Image by ZaldyImg on Flickr