Describe the controversy over whether routine vaccinations in children cause autism. What is the ...

ANSWER:
In a paper later retracted by the British medical journal Lancet, unsubstantiated claims that the routine measles/mumps/rubella vaccination caused autism were published. Similar controversies in the United States about thimerosal, a type of mercury preservative in vaccinations, ensued, promoted by well-known figures such as model Jenny McCarthy and members of Congress.

The weight of the scientific evidence shows that vaccinations play no part in the development of autism. Cumulative exposure to thimerosal was the same for children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a narrower classification of autism (AD); autism spectrum disorder with regression (ASD with Regression, in which the child makes normal progress, then develops symptoms); and healthy controls.

Despite the clear data and reassurances from medical experts, worried parents have withheld vaccinations from their children, leading to increasing numbers of cases of life-threatening, preventable diseases that had previously been believed to be under control. For example, in the first half of 2008, measles cases in the United States doubled compared to the rates observed between 2000 and 2007, and all cases involved unvaccinated school children.