I hope your family is not affected by the autism epidemic, but you probably know someone who is. It was unheard of when I was a child, but as the graph shows, prevalence has increased more than 3,200 percent since 1970.
The CDC has constantly claimed that “Vaccines do not cause autism.” This header remains on the CDC website with an asterisk, which notes that “the header has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website.”
“Key points” now state that: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism” and that “Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”
An official CDC press release notes: “This statement has historically been disseminated by the CDC and other federal health agencies within HHS to prevent vaccine hesitancy.”
MedPage Today immediately published a strong critique, calling these points “bizarre,” and quoting officials of organized medicine and autism advocacy associations. They claim that the formerly trustworthy CDC has been “dismantled” by Secretary Kennedy. American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) president Susan Kressly, M.D., stated that “Anyone repeating this harmful myth is misinformed or intentionally trying to mislead parents.”
Officially accepted authorities hold that the autism epidemic, if not entirely attributable to a change in diagnostic criteria, is of unknown cause. The incidence rising along with increasing numbers of childhood vaccinations has been dismissed as coincidental, mere correlation.
A recent hypothesis suggests use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) by pregnant mothers. Extensive research into a genetic cause has shown some predisposing factors—but genetics can’t explain an epidemic. Older fathers, exposure to trace environmental toxins, microplastics, antidepressants, cerebral folate deficiency, and exposure to outdoor air pollution during pregnancy are suggested contributors, but observational studies of links to autism do not include vaccines as a confounding factor.
The CDC acknowledgment appeared 3 weeks after the McCullough Foundation published a comprehensive review of the literature on autism titled “Determinants of Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Of 136 studies evaluating vaccines or their ingredients, 107 (79%) identified evidence consistent with a vaccine–autism link.
If the childhood vaccination schedule increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and ADHD, the implications are profound. Mandates for school attendance have decreased the potential control group of unvaccinated children to a very small group. If parents were informed of a possible connection, and allowed to choose to delay or forgo certain vaccines, careful tracking of children’s health should help to answer the question about a link within a few years.
Additional Information:
- Association of genetic variants in folate metabolism with autism, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, winter 2004
- Autism in the United States: a perspective, Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, winter 2003
- Former NIH director called vaccine-autism link worth investigating (2008)
- Former FDA Commissioner warns about aluminum adjuvants in vaccines as a cause of autism, AAPS News, September 2025
