Anti-Vaxx Group Wants to Know Why Study They Funded Shows No Link Between Vaccines and Autism
There
are two things that non-profit group Safe Minds—committed to “ending
the autism epidemic”—doesn’t understand: First, that there is absolutely
no link between vaccines and autism. Second, how research works.
I Love Science reports
that the group just put out a statement discrediting a recent study
they funded that, once again, shows that there’s no link between autism
and vaccination. The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
and is the result of six years of research focusing on whether giving
baby monkeys vaccines results in the development of “autism-like
behavior or neuropathology.”
The study...involved 79 infant monkeys in six groups. Two groups were given thimerosal-containing vaccines. Thimerosal is an antiseptic and antifungal agent that was frequently used in vaccinations until it was removed in the U.S from vaccines given to children in the 90s, and is frequently cited by anti-vaxxers as a cause for autism. The next two groups were given the MMR vaccine (also claimed to cause autism) without thimerosal, and the final two were given saline injections as a control.
And here’s what the study found:
No behavioral changes were observed in the vaccinated animals, nor were there neuropathological changes in the cerebellum, hippocampus, or amygdala. This study does not support the hypothesis that thimerosal-containing vaccines and/or the MMR vaccine play a role in the etiology of autism.
Now, this
is great news for parents who were considering not vaccinating their
kids because it’s even more data that shows that foregoing necessary
vaccinations is dumb as f*** and puts both the non-vaccinated kid and
the people around them in danger. But if you’re running a group
predicated on the notion that vaccines are bad, you’re probably not
going to be as pleased with the results. And Safe Minds isn’t. In fact,
they want to know exactly what happened and why the study they funded
didn’t give them the results that they wanted.
This is the statement that Safe Minds put out when asked about how much they paid to help fund the study:
“The epidemic of autism is expected to cost the country $1 trillion by 2025 if prevalence trends continue. In a recent study, over 40 percent of parents agree or strongly agree that vaccines played a part in the development of their children’s autism. The vaccine primate study in question consisted of multiple phases. The initial phase found a series of negative effects in infant reflexes and brain growth among those exposed to vaccines. The second, recent phase purported to find no effect. SafeMinds has concerns about changes in the study design protocol and analysis that may have led to these contradictory results. We are in the process of collecting and reviewing additional information regarding this study.”
Some other
things that people agree on, based on research that questions
individuals on things they know nothing about but have opinions on
anyway: leaving kids unattended in cars is fine, spanking is gr8, and single moms suck.
(That last one wasn’t limited to parents, but it’s a good reminder that
just asking people what they think is a useless exercise which reminds
us that nothing in the world is good.)
Safe minds
is upset about two things. They claim that the final results of the
study are contradictory to what they initially believed them to be—which
is a thing that happens fairly often— even though they claim they had
no “preconceived notions” going into the research. They also claim that
the part of the research they funded never actually happened. Now they
want a reanalysis of the data, even though the authors of the study
assert that all the information had been given to an independent
statistical consultant. (But, like, not the right one or something,
according to Safe Minds.) It’s also important to note that while Safe
Minds was in no way duped, IFSL points out
that the data they initially received was preliminary and resulted from
a “much smaller trial” which was then expanded and held to more
rigorous scientific standards.
What does
this mean for the general public while Safe Minds gets all its
information together and then tries to present a case against the study?
Vaccines still don’t and never have caused autism. Sorry.