Autism: As little as 10 years ago, the word was still fairly foreign. It can be compared to how knowledgeable people were about AIDS in the 1960s—the idea was out there, but not a lot was known on the subject. Now, just a decade later, the word pops out left and right from newspapers, magazines and television. Perhaps this is because autism affects 1 in 110 births—over 1.5 million Americans. There is comparatively little known about autism. It is now known that it is a neurological disorder, characterized by communication deficiency and social tasks difficulty. The biggest question in most everyone’s minds is what causes it. Theories have been speculated throughout the years, such as environmental and biological. It is questioned whether or not autism is caused from things such as traumatic experiences or influences from things brought to the child from the world around them, or it is simply destined within our genes.

One of the more controversial theories that have arisen is that vaccines are the cause of autism. Statistically, one out of every four parents believes autism is produced from vaccines given to a child. Even the more famous of the population, including Jenny McCarthy and Senator John McCain, have been reported in saying they believe certain vaccines are the origin. This idea comes from 1998 absurdities out of a British medical journal. Dr. Andrew Wakefield claimed that the MMR vaccine, vaccinating against measles, mumps and rubella, was a primary source of autism. The theory behind this was that the mercury from this particular immunization was its basis.

In February, a panel of “special masters” called for a retraction of Wakefields’ claim in the journal. Apparently, there was very little evidence to support that vaccines, of any kind, are the cause of autism.

Let us head back to the 17th century where if women burned at the stake, they were then considered not to be witches. Or go back to last year, when killing off pigs would surely end the swine flu. A lack of knowledge and evidence among people sure makes a difference.

Because of Wakefield’s “discovery,” hundreds of thousands of people will no longer get their children the proper vaccinations they need. Since 1998, there has been a steady increase in measles, mumps and rubella, simply because several families are more scared of the chance that their children could develop autism. This is despite the fact that there are now hundreds more deaths caused by the diseases we were vaccinating against. There is a reason why we live longer these days than those did hundreds of years ago.

Parents who do believe vaccinations are the cause are generally the ones who note that their children’s attitudes change shortly after receiving vaccines. What people usually do not note is the fact that children who are diagnosed with autism are commonly diagnosed around the ages of three and four. This is the same time that all children are given vaccinations in the first place. According to WebMd, after the scare in the late ‘90s scientists began researching the correlation between children who were given vaccinations and those who were not, and found over 14 studies in multiple countries, that there was no significant change in the rate of autism. Meaning, there is no significant evidence to hold that the MMR vaccine does cause the disorder.

This whole matter is, plainly put, ludicrous. While scientific studies on the cause of autism is wonderful, the bottom line is that all Wakefield accomplished was scaring a whole lot of the population for over 10 years. Wakefield, despite putting his article and theories in a noted distinguished journal, had next to no evidence beside his own speculations.

Rumored reports also have it that Wakefield “may have altered” data, after a $1 million dollar persuasion. If true, hopefully that $1 million settles his conscience of the deaths of thousands of children who lost their lives because people took his word and their children did not get proper immunization.

It is also ridiculous that our population in general takes what is said on the television, magazine, or by word of mouth and does not bother to do their own research. If people had taken time out and seen there was no clear evidence that autism is caused from the MMR vaccine, perhaps statistics would have had a dramatic difference.

The entire conflict was a mix of greed and confusion. Parents do whatever it takes to protect their children, and when most do not know about a condition such as autism, it is that much scarier. Thus, the blame is put somewhere. In the end, do not believe everything heard without proper grounds.

Jen O’Hara is a staff writer for The Current.