The link between vaccines & autism has been clear for over 25 years since the CDC did the VSD study.

Question

The link between vaccines and autism has been clear for over 25 years since the CDC did the VSD study
kirschsubstack.com/p/the-link-b...

Answer 1

This is medically incorrect. Firstly, scientists throughout time have disputed the connection of autism and vaccines. The most notorious connection of these shown was a 1998 study done by Andrew Wakefield, who found that in 12 children who were given a specific vaccine, that being the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, 8 were found later to have autism, as shown here (https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-vaccines-and-autism). 

However, this same article goes on to show flaws in the study, as it details a lack of a control group in the study, and the showing that autism begins to show its symptoms at a very young age, similar to that age of when babies are first getting their vaccines. As well, you yourself said this has become evidently clear since the CDC completed their VSD study. However the CDC themselves disputed the claims here (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/autism.html).

Finally, your source is unreliable. The author of the article, which you accessed from a tweet, was written by Steve Kirsch. Kirsch has a Bachelors and Masters Degree in electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/steve-kirsch). Kirsch has no ground to stand on to be considered a trusted source. As well, he has previous history of making false claims on medical problems throughout the last five years. In 2020, he famously said that the COVID-19 vaccine caused shingles, a claim that has been refuted on multiple fronts (https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking/steve-kirsch-and-seduction-simplicity). 

Comments

It is smart to look at the authors record of previous false claims to help support your argument!

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Although I had heard of these claims before, I had never thought to look at it through the lens of the author. Thank you for the well researched and heavily detailed answer. Were there any other interesting arguments against the claim?

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I didn't know that the forum was written by an engineer! Makes you think why he feels like he has a say in medical talk.

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I think you did a really solid job here explaining why the vaccine–autism claim is medically incorrect, and I like how you walked through both the history of Wakefield’s study and the credibility problems with Steve Kirsch. One suggestion I have is to make the structure a little clearer for the reader. Right now, you cover three big points, the history of the 1998 study, the CDC’s official stance, and then the credibility of the author, but they kind of run together. Maybe labeling those sections or summarizing them at the end would help drive home why the claim is false from multiple angles. I also think it would be useful if you briefly explained what the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) is, since not everyone will know that it’s a huge CDC project tracking millions of medical records. That context would make your evidence even more persuasive.

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Sammi,
I completely blanked on mentioning or bringing to attention to important of the VSD. Thank you for the suggestion, I'll know better for next time. And thank you as well for the criticism on making the writing more condensed and concise. I had thought to separate everything into paragraphs with their own explanations to flesh out the different problems with the original question, but I could've done a better job of making it all flow better. Thank you!

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Thank you for all your information on this topic. You explained it perfectly. Autism and vaccines have NOTHING to do with each other. The way you fact-check every article to be incorrect just proves the time and effort you put into putting this "engineer" in their place. I'm curious how you found these sources, and how you were able to prove them wrong?

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This was a great answer because it uses so many different sources to show that the claim is very false. It is important to make sure people are properly informed especially about medical topics.

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The structure of your answer is concise. The reasons why the question is considered false are explained properly. Additionally, the answer is well-supported by references to various articles in each section. Overall, your answer is very easy to read and understand.

Answer 2

The claim that vaccines are a cause of autism is a misleading and medically incorrect statement. Scientists and medical professionals have accomplished thorough research on the ingredients of vaccines, and there has been zero correlation between the two. The evidence to support the claim proves the invalidity of the information above, and scientists have been able to dispute this information.

A study done in 2013 was performed to see if this claim may be true. Antigens that are found in vaccines were given to children during the first two years of life, and they concluded that the amount of antigens was the same in both children who had and didn't have autism, therefore, meaning no trace of relation between the two, as shown here (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/autism.html).

On the other hand, the source provided for this specific claim doesn't provide valid information. First of all, the author of the article, Steve Kirsch, graduated from MIT with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Computer Science. Additionally, it was revealed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he shifted his focus towards vaccines and faced accusations of spreading misleading information about vaccine safety, as reported in an article (https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/steve-kirsch). Furthermore, it was stated that Steve Kirsch was left jobless after promoting false information to the public. (https://www.unmc.edu/healthsecurity/transmission/2022/11/28/this-tech-millionaire-went-from-covid-trial-funder-to-misinformation-superspreader/) 

Comments

I liked how you did further research into the first source that you used to show more evidence for your claim. However, I think you could go into even more detail about the second and third sources you used.

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I appreciate how you started off this answer with a clear answer and backing up with evidence that supports it with not just the link, but also what the importance of this site is when refuting the claim. I think you could expand more on the second two sources and providing direct quotes and how they got their information. The EBSCO article does provide a bibliography so there is the ability to site where they got their information. One of the first sources they list is The Daily Beast, which is left leaning and has a mix of opinion and reporting content, so it is important to know if the article you are reading is an opinion piece or not. Overall, EBSCO is a valid source that provides research and information services.

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I applaud your beginning rebuttal against antivaxxers and how you started by showing how vaccines work. The article linked in the first paragraph was creditable and shut down the accusations with reliable data. I also like how you broke down who Steve Kirsch is and why he Isn't creditable.

Answer 3

The claim vaccines cause autism is not only medically incorrect but also extremely dangerous for the public. Scaring people into believing they are essentially being poisoned by receiving vaccines is hindering people from getting the anti-bodies  they need in order to keep themselves and the people they love safe.  

You claim CDC scientist William Thompson found a link between the MMR vaccine and autism which is completely false. In 2014 an article was created by Vaccinateyourfamily.org that clearly states in the first paragraph that Thompson has not spoken publicly on the issue and the only statement he released had no relevance to his claim. Many other scientists have since reviewed his research and are all in agreement there is no evidence of an increase in autism. 

Info Found Here: https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Whistleblower_QA012017_updatedSept2020.pdf

he CDC’s immunization records publicly available here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/immunize.htm show that 90% of children in the United States have received the MMR vaccine. If there was a link from the vaccine to autism wouldn't 90% of children in the United States have it, or at least a large portion of the population? The centers for disease control and prevention depict that only 3.2% of children are diagnosed with autism. https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/index.html. So if autism really is caused by the MMR vaccine and 90% of children are vaccinated these percentages should be much closer in range than they are. 

Answer 4

I would like to start out by saying this claim is completely incorrect and has little to no real medical basis. The main argument and data from the original post is from a study done in 1998 by Dr. Andrew Wakefeild that shows a link between the MMR vaccine and the causation of autism specifically in young children. This study, despite being posted in a well known medical journal called The Lancet was later debunked by journalist Brian Deer. Who found inaccuracies in the study such as it having too small of a sample size (12 children) and not having proper controls in place to truly test the claim.

 For example The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia. Claims that  “Because MMR is administered at a time when many children are diagnosed with autism, it would be expected that most children with autism would have received an MMR vaccine”  Showing how his claim of MMR causing autism was not causation but rather correlation and circumstantial to the fact children with autism also received the vaccine. 

Along with this it was found that Dr. Andrew Wakefield, according to The National Library Of Medicine. Was falsifying data and was being paid by lawyers who planned to sue vaccine companies using the study he created. Due to this along with the inaccurate data The Lancet retracted Dr. Andrew Wakefield's work from their medical journal in 2010. Months after this he was stripped of his license from the General Medical Council due to him not disclosing his fundings all this according to The National Institutes Of Health.

Going back to the original source of this entire debate, The Steve Kirsch Newsletter.  It has been found that Steve Kirsch is not a legitimate source either. According to Mcgill Office For Science And Society Steve Kirsch has claimed incorrect and harmful lies about the Covid 19 vaccine. Such as saying the vaccine shows little to no benefit, and that the Pfizer vaccine kills more people than it saves. Showing a history of untruthful and unbacked scientific information from him. 

However I would like to note the Mcgill office for science and society is still a source that can have some biases due to funding and personal beliefs. And should be taken into account as it is a secondary source. 

 Lastly, I want to address the original headline of the post  “The link between vaccines and autism has been clear for over 25 years since the CDC did the VSD study” 

The VSD study is simply The vaccine safety datalink created by the CDC to monitor the effects of vaccines and safety of them on large populations. Neither of these establishments show any link between vaccines and autism and the CDC even clearly states this here on their website.

All evidence I have found from my sources have supported my claims that this study is inaccurate and a result of medical dishonesty. There is no evidence I could find that undermines my claim in a factual and provable way or by a peer review or tested medical journal. 

The only potential biases I can think of are my primary sources like The National Library Of Medicine,  The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia or The National Institutes Of Health might have been that the study has already been debunked so they might not want to look into them as thoroughly. However I doubt that and I would consider these to be mostly non- biased sources and all the information in them to be accurate.Lastly, I tried to contact the man who made the original post on Bluesky who went under the screenname ‪@jerry44939.bsky.social, however despite multiple attempts I have not received a reply.