MONDAY, March 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is preparing to study whether vaccines are linked to autism — despite overwhelming scientific evidence showing no connection.

The study request came from Trump administration officials, according to sources familiar with the plan.

Both President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have repeatedly pushed claims that vaccines contribute to autism, despite decades of research disproving it.

“As President Trump said in his Joint Address to Congress, the rate of autism in American children has skyrocketed. CDC will leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out what exactly is happening. The American people expect high quality research and transparency and that is what CDC is delivering,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement.

Autism diagnoses have increased significantly over the years. About 1 in 36 children in the U.S. has an autism diagnosis today, compared to 1 in 150 in 2000, according to CDC data from 11 states.

Experts say greater awareness and changes in how it’s classified by medical professionals explain much of the increase.

But researchers are still investigating genetic and environmental factors that may play a role.

Despite all of the uncertainties, one thing most scientists agree on is that vaccines do not cause autism.

Years of research involving hundreds of thousands of children have found no link.

A 2019 study of a half-million kids in Denmark confirmed that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not increase autism risk, The Washington Post reported.

“Dozens and dozens of studies have been conducted looking at vaccines and autism and they all show the same result: no relationship,” Alison Singer, president of the Autism Science Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds autism research, told The Post.

The idea that vaccines cause autism stems from a now-retracted 1998 study that falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism. Its lead author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, was later barred from practicing medicine after being found guilty of professional misconduct, The Post reported.

Critics say conducting yet another study on this topic is not only unnecessary but irresponsible.

“I know they’re going to find that vaccines have no relationship to autism, but spending taxpayer dollars to study something that has already been exhaustively studied is a waste of taxpayer dollars and a diversion, when we could be spending those dollars to study other reasons autism could be occurring,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, longtime head of the American Public Health Association.

Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, agreed.

She said the study “does a disservice to individuals with autism and their families by diverting funding that is needed to learn more about autism and how we can strengthen supportive communities.”

Experts worry that Kennedy’s influence at HHS could mislead the public on vaccines.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), a physician who cast a key vote in Kennedy’s confirmation, pressed him during Senate hearings to acknowledge that vaccines do not cause autism.

“If you show me data, I’ll be the first person to assure the American people that they need to take those vaccines,” Kennedy replied.

In exchange for his vote, Cassidy said Kennedy agreed not to remove language from the CDC website stating vaccines don’t cause autism.

For the new study, the CDC plans to use data from its Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), a project that tracks vaccine safety using electronic health records from 11 health care organizations.

Established in 1990, the VSD monitors rare adverse events following immunization and is used to detect safety concerns in near-real time, The Post said.

However, public health experts say the study will only confirm what is already known — that vaccines are, in fact, not a factor in autism rates.

“The reality is that it’s been studied,” said Richard Hughes IV, a former vice president of public policy at vaccine maker Moderna who teaches vaccine law at the George Washington University Law School. “There is no link, and it’s just irresponsible.”

More information

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has more on vaccines and autism.

SOURCE: The Washington Post, March 7, 2025

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