FACT CHECK #2KD4_QH9

WHAT WE FOUND

Hello there! It is completely natural to have questions about your child's health, but you can rest easy knowing that vaccines do not cause autism 1, 4, 12. While there was a recent, highly publicized change to the CDC website in late 2025 that suggested the evidence was inconclusive 8, leading experts from Johns Hopkins, the Mayo Clinic, and the Autism Science Foundation have clarified that this change was not evidence-based 2, 3, 9. In fact, scientists and health officials have rebuked these messaging changes as a distortion of decades of established science 10, 11. The original 1998 report that first suggested a link was found to be based on fraudulent data and was retracted long ago 1, 13. Extensive studies have shown that any perceived connection is usually due to the fact that the timing of autism symptoms often coincides with the standard childhood vaccination schedule 5, 14. Vaccines remain a safe and essential way to keep our communities healthy 1, 4.

SOURCES

1. 1 · aap.orgFACT-CHECKER
   Fact Checked: Vaccines: Safe and Effective, No Link to ...

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2. 2 · factcheck.orgFACT-CHECKER
   Revised CDC Website About Autism and Vaccines Is Not ...

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3. 3 · publichealth.jhu.eduACADEMIC
   Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism | Johns Hopkins

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4. 4 · mayoclinichealthsystem.orgACADEMIC
   Autism-vaccine link debunked - Mayo Clinic Health System

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5. 5 · autismspeaks.orgWEB
   Do vaccines cause autism?

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6. 6 · politifact.comFACT-CHECKER
   Viral image perpetuates misconception that vaccines cause autism

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7. 7 · snopes.comFACT-CHECKER
   12 rumors about autism that Snopes has investigated

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8. 8 · cdc.govACADEMIC
   Autism and Vaccines - CDC

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9. 9 · autismsciencefoundation.orgACADEMIC
   CDC's New Autism Webpage Distorts Science and Rejects Decades ...

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10. 10 · npr.orgACADEMIC
    The CDC revives debunked 'link' between childhood vaccines ... - NPR

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11. 11 · cidrap.umn.eduACADEMIC
    After unprecedented autism-vaccine messaging change, scientists ...

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12. 12 · mass.govACADEMIC
    DPH Commissioner rebukes misleading assertions about vaccines ...

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13. 13 · chop.eduACADEMIC
    Vaccines and Autism | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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14. 14 · pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govACADEMIC
    Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses - PubMed Central

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