Kids With Autism Are Less Likely to Be Vaccinated

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Doctors say that there is no scientific evidence suggesting a link between vaccines that infants and young children receive in the first few years of life and the risk of autism, but that has not stopped parents from questioning the connection — and in some cases, forgoing vaccinations for their kids.

In the latest study published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers led by Ousseny Zerbo, from the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center, found that children diagnosed with autism are less likely to receive additional vaccines, and that their younger siblings are less likely to receive the full schedule of childhood vaccinations as well, which doctors say could put them at higher risk for the diseases that the shots protect against.

The study included more than 3,700 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and more than 590,000 children without the developmental condition. Zerbo and his colleagues analyzed health records and immunization data from a database collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and eight sites in the U.S. Autism is usually diagnosed when toddlers are around two or three years old, so Zerbo focused on the immunizations that are recommended when children are four to six years old, and 11 to 12 years old. That way they could get a better understanding of how an autism diagnosis might affect vaccination rates. They found that children diagnosed with autism were 13% less likely to be fully vaccinated after the diagnosis than children who did not have autism.