Key points

Many scientific studies have examined the relationship of vaccines and autism.

Doubt about vaccine safety has profound public health implications.

Vaccines have been critical in defeating many childhood infectious illnesses.

By Joshua S. Anbar, DrPH, MPH, and Ran D. Anbar, MD

On November 19 th the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their guidance on vaccine safety to state that the claim “vaccines do not cause autism ” is not an evidence-based observation. The implication of this updated guidance is the idea that vaccines could cause autism.

Much of the updated guidance is based on the observation that there has been an increase in autism prevalence in the US over the last 25 years, from 67 to 322 per 10,000 children at 8 years of age. This ha

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