Autism is a neurological development disorder that sets in impairment in social skills and communication abilities in the affected person. The afflicted person will also show OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and prefer to get into solitude.
Though there are many disagreements and disputes, one school of thought doing its rounds denotes to the possibility of link between vaccines and autism. One detailed study claims that only after the introduction and administration of the MMR (mumps, measles, rubella) vaccine there was an increased occurrence of autism in people.
But in case of any controversy, it is always better to look at all possible angles and get as much information as possible before making a conclusion. When it comes to the controversial debate over vaccines and autism, there are two claims namely the claim of increased cases and the proven results of possible relationship between vaccines and autism are to be taken into account.
The Claim of Increased Autism Cases
When you look into the statistical data provided by the State of California you can come to a conclusion that the relation between vaccines and autism is indeed a possibility. The report clearly points out the possibility of vaccines causing autism due to the reason that the autism cased registered an increase after the introduction and administration of MMR vaccines. However, one has to take into consideration of other factors also that happened during the time frame within which the study was conducted.
For instance, the increase in population also might have contributed to the increase in autism cases among children. In addition to it, the improved diagnostic tools would have resulted in diagnosing more cases, which would have gone undiagnosed otherwise.
Further, again the increased level of autism awareness among the general public would have led to a situation making all the parents got their children diagnosed and ending up with many cases of autism which might have gone undiagnosed earlier.
Outcome of Various Studies
Right from the year 1970, various studies were undertaken to find out the relation and the correlation between vaccines and autism and all these studies were undertaken with various variables such as various locations, various research tools, various age groups etc.
Out of many such studies undertaken, one study was conducted on to know the incidence of autism before and after MMR use. Interestingly, the study revealed that there is no correlation or increase after the usage of MMR vaccine.
A yet another study that aimed towards studying the direct effects of vaccine itself in triggering autism in children revealed that there is no evidence to put the blame on the MMR vaccine. One more study that concentrated on the age of the autistic children found that the MMR vaccine is not responsible for autism irrespective of its administration before or after the age of 18 months.
What is the Conclusion
Out of many studies conducted to know the relation between vaccines and autism, few studies in fact suggest that there is indeed a relation between vaccines and autism. One of the studies revealed that administration of MMR vaccine resulted in a viral infection of digestive system that indirectly triggered autism in children.
Unfortunately, there are no two studies that confirm one single conclusion and that makes researchers wonder at the efficacy of the tools used in the studies. So far only one study has revealed that MMR vaccine is capable of causing developmental disorder in children. However, it did not throw much light on the development of viral infection of the digestive system.
To summarise, the debate or the controversy is yet to find a logical end.
[tags]Autism, Autism Vaccines[/tags]