Overview
- The CDC updated its vaccines-and-autism page to say the claim that vaccines do not cause autism is not evidence-based and that studies have not ruled out a possible contribution from infant vaccines.
- Elsewhere on the CDC site the agency still states studies show no relationship between vaccines and autism, producing visible inconsistency in its messaging.
- The page cites a parent poll, references a 2014 paper listing environmental factors including aluminum in vaccines, and asserts that studies supporting a link were ignored, while offering no new research to justify the change.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Autism Science Foundation condemned the edits and reiterated that extensive studies across countries show no causal link.
- A note says the original headline stayed under an agreement with Senate HELP Chair Bill Cassidy, HHS framed the edits as part of a broader assessment led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and local officials and the CDC employees’ union warned the move could fuel hesitancy as respiratory virus season begins.