Despite being debunked numerous times, anti-vaxxer conspiracies continue to spread. This time, one of them shared a picture on Tumblr, showing the contents of an influenza shot. Using their super ultra mega cognitive skills, they highlighted a couple of "dangerous" words, saying: "Do not give or get any vaccinations for yourself or your kids." To make the claim even more persuasive, they used caps lock. However, one person responded to the individual with arguments that were bigger than their capital letters.
Probably the most favorite claim of anti-vaxxers evrywhere says that immunizations ‘cause’ autism. It’s also wrong. These rumors spread after a paper was published in 1998, allegedly linking the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine to autism. However, the researchers and their conclusions were utterly discredited.
Medical News Today emphasizes that vaccines do not cause autism, and refers to a very recent “large-scale” Danish study. In particular, the study looked at possible links between the MMR vaccine and autism in “at-risk individuals.” Scientists had access to data on 657,461 children, of which 6,517 were diagnosed with autism within 10 years. Researchers then “compared autism rates in children who had received the MMR vaccination and compared them against children who had not had the jab.” There was no increased threat of getting autism when vaccination. No surprises there.
The anti-vaxxers movement is a dangerous, health risk causing trend. Luckily, the battle against them is no longer limited to the internet. The state of New York, for example, banned unvaccinated children from going to public schools.
This extensive response did have a couple of small factual mistakes. The argument was still valid, though
