The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its website to no longer definitively state that vaccines do not cause autism. Previously, the website asserted that studies had shown no link between vaccines and autism spectrum disorder, citing reviews and CDC studies.
The revised statement on the CDC webpage now reads, "The claim 'vaccines do not cause autism' is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism." This change reflects the skepticism voiced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
regarding vaccine safety, despite decades of scientific studies that have consistently failed to find a connection between vaccines and autism. The updated text also suggests that health authorities have overlooked studies that do support a link and indicates that the Department of Health and Human Services is undertaking a thorough evaluation of autism's causes.
This shift in the CDC's messaging represents a departure from its prior efforts to combat misinformation about vaccine-autism links.
