Structured investigation of the claim that MMR vaccination causes autism.
"The MMR vaccine causes autism. The increase in autism rates correlates with the increase in MMR vaccination rates, and the original 1998 study by Wakefield et al. established this link."
The original paper published in The Lancet by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues claimed to find a link between MMR vaccination and "regressive autism" in 12 children. This paper is frequently cited as the source of the MMR-autism hypothesis.
Status: The paper was retracted by The Lancet in 2010. The UK General Medical Council found Wakefield guilty of dishonesty and ethical violations. Subsequent investigation revealed data manipulation.
Some argue that the rising autism prevalence correlates with increasing vaccine exposure, particularly the addition of more vaccines to the schedule since the 1980s.
Multiple large-scale studies have found no association between MMR and autism:
No plausible biological mechanism has been demonstrated. The claim that MMR causes "leaky gut" leading to autism through "opioid peptides" has not been replicated and remains speculative.
The correlation between autism diagnoses and vaccine exposure is a classic ecological fallacy. Autism diagnoses increased after thimerosal was removed from vaccines in 2001, yet autism rates continued to rise. The increase in diagnoses reflects expanded diagnostic criteria and awareness, not causation.
The scientific consensus is clear: the MMR vaccine does not cause autism. This conclusion is supported by:
Confidence Level: HIGH
The claim that MMR causes autism has been thoroughly investigated and definitively disproven by multiple large-scale studies and the retraction of the original research.