The main health authority in the United States has reformulated the area of its website dedicated to vaccine safety and started to maintain that there are not enough elements to rule out a relationship between childhood immunization and autism.
The change represents a break with the historic position of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which for decades has reaffirmed the absence of a link between the two topics.
The review was published days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a. Kennedy, one of the most influential names in the anti-vaccine movement in the country, argues that immunizations may be associated with the development of autism spectrum disorder, a thesis rejected by scientific research and medical institutions around the world.
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The CDC’s new text states that the phrase “vaccines do not cause autism” would not be supported by “available evidence”, in addition to accusing health authorities of ignoring studies that, in the agency’s view, would point to a possible relationship.
Until then, the page categorically reported that clinical trials, epidemiological research and independent analyzes had ruled out any link between vaccination and autism.
The change generated immediate reactions in the scientific community. The World Health Organization and other international agencies reiterated this Thursday (20) that the medical literature is broad, consistent and conclusive: vaccines do not cause autism.
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Despite the redesign of the website, experts highlight that no new data has emerged that justifies the change in guidance.
For researchers and medical entities, the episode could stimulate doubts about childhood immunization and compromise vaccination campaigns at a time of increasing outbreaks of measles, whooping cough and other diseases already controlled in the past.
The CDC did not explain what technical criteria motivated the content review.
