Media Coverage May Perpetuate Autism Myths

June 21, 2007 — -- Despite experts and health organizations refuting the theory of a connection between vaccines and autism, recent events have brought the debate front and center in the news once again.

But are the media actually doing a disservice to the public by continuing to bring up vaccines when discussing autism?

"Do I think they've done a disservice? Yes," said Dr. Gregory Poland, director of the Vaccine Research Group at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

"I think any concern should be heard, and anything that's plausible should be investigated. But once we get to that point and scientists think it's no longer a valid hypothesis, we shouldn't continue to propagate it."

Representatives from the National Autism Association agree that the media has been misinforming the public, but for different reasons.

"A lot of news reports are saying that thimerosal has been completely removed from all vaccines, which is not true, so we've been very disappointed in how the media is covering this story," said Wendy Fournier, president of the group.

Fournier said parents should be completely informed before deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children, and should use information from the FDA and other sources to make that choice.

Poland said one of the major implications of the press continuing to cover this debate is that many parents are not getting their children vaccinated against common childhood diseases, such as measles, mumps and rubella.

These preventable diseases can lead to death or severe impairments in children. For many researchers, this brings up concerns about public health in the United States.

"Measles is the most contagious disease known to humans. You have to have 96 to 98 percent of the population immunized to stop the circulation of the virus," Poland said.

Because outbreaks of childhood diseases do not regularly occur in this country, parents may conclude that they are no longer a threat and that vaccinations against them are not necessary. Poland disagrees with this notion.

"[If] there's an importation of a case, everyone around that area who is susceptible gets that disease. For measles, there's a certain percentage: three out of 1,000 who will die, and others will have encephalitis -- an infection of the brain -- and will never be the same again. Some will be hospitalized and some will have a mild disease course," he said.

Many parents also come to Jim Carr, a Western Michigan University psychologist who leads an outpatient autism clinic, with vaccination concerns that are often born out of reports in the media. Like most scientists in the field, he considers the association between vaccines and autism to be unfounded.