Is There a Vaccine/Autism Link?
Reviewed by Melinda Ratini on October 01, 2014
Sources
Tanya Altmann, MD, FAAP.
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Video Transcript
Tanya Altmann, MD, FAAP: There is no connection between autism and vaccinations and numerous medical studies have shown that there is no association.
Narrator: Then why are so many parents afraid of that?
Tanya Altmann, MD, FAAP: Signs of autism often present in the toddler age range, When children are developing and gaining speech and starting to interact and become social. And so usually it's around 18 month to 3 years of age that you may start seeing signs of autism. Also during this time when we're trying to protect our children, kids have received several sets of vaccinations. And so as a parent, it's often natural to look back and think, is there something that happened that caused my child to change or not to develop appropriately? Immunization is really are one of the best public health measures ever invented. They protect children against illness, against illness that can cause death and disease. And a lot of parents today, don't realize how serious this was years ago, because we're not familiar with these diseases. We haven't had to worry about polio, or had to stay up on that with our kids fighting for breath when they have whooping cough. But if parents choose not to vaccinate, we will see some of these diseases come back. And so I think, it's important to remind parents that immunizations are important. They are safe. They are one of the best ways to protect your child from deadly disease and illness, and to keep them healthy.
Narrator: Then why are so many parents afraid of that?
Tanya Altmann, MD, FAAP: Signs of autism often present in the toddler age range, When children are developing and gaining speech and starting to interact and become social. And so usually it's around 18 month to 3 years of age that you may start seeing signs of autism. Also during this time when we're trying to protect our children, kids have received several sets of vaccinations. And so as a parent, it's often natural to look back and think, is there something that happened that caused my child to change or not to develop appropriately? Immunization is really are one of the best public health measures ever invented. They protect children against illness, against illness that can cause death and disease. And a lot of parents today, don't realize how serious this was years ago, because we're not familiar with these diseases. We haven't had to worry about polio, or had to stay up on that with our kids fighting for breath when they have whooping cough. But if parents choose not to vaccinate, we will see some of these diseases come back. And so I think, it's important to remind parents that immunizations are important. They are safe. They are one of the best ways to protect your child from deadly disease and illness, and to keep them healthy.