Another anti-vaxxer shibboleth bites the dust

One anti-vaxxer conspiracy theory holds that thimerosal, an ethylmercury preservative once used in childhood vaccines, caused the dramatic increase in autism diagnoses in the past 20 years. In addition to the fact that the amount of ethylmercury in vaccines is miniscule and rapidly cleared from the body, thimerosal was discontinued in childhood vaccines back in 2001. If thimerosal caused autism, ASD diagnoses would have fallen since then, but the opposite happened.

Another anti-vaxxer conspiracy theory is that aluminum-based adjuvants, which enhance immune response, are responsible for autism. Now, that’s been debunked as well:

“Researchers at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen led the nationwide study, which used registry data on childhood vaccinations and aluminum content, outcomes, and potential confounding factors in the first 2 years of life among more than 1.2 million children born in Denmark from 1997 to 2018. Median age at the end of the 2-year follow-up period was 5 years. 

 

“Only 15,237 children (1.2%) received no aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines before age 2. Each aluminum-adjuvanted vaccine dose contained 0.125 to 1.00 milligram (mg) of aluminum. The total vaccine-related aluminum exposure by age 2 varied by birth year (median, 3 mg). 

 

“During follow-up, the team looked for vaccine-related events involving 50 chronic conditions, including 36 autoimmune (dermatologic, endocrinologic, hematologic, gastrointestinal, and rheumatic), 9 atopic or allergic (asthma, atopic dermatitis, rhino conjunctivitis, and allergy), and 5 neurodevelopmental (autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

 

“The researchers found no association between cumulative aluminum exposure in vaccines in the first 2 years of life and increased risk of any of the 50 chronic conditions.”

Wonder what the anti-vaxxers will come up with now?

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-vaccines/report-no-link-between-aluminum-adjuvanted-childhood-vaccines-conditions-such?fbclid=IwY2xjawLjN0BleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE1dzM5cTY3Ym52RjVWMnVvAR6vqofBirIFqkN3waqmdWNua0a1cPPK__X_0KtpZEJvNEcxkzP722BIjGfDKg_aem_CZkRzi8OxJeNK6PikyGfBw

  

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