Separating Fact from Fiction

I’ve heard that a preservative in some vaccines can cause autism – what’s going on?

This controversy has been raging for some time, with government and mainstream scientists on one side, and several small but vocal advocacy groups on the other. And many parents have been left feeling confused and frightened about their children’s health.

The advocacy groups say that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system and responsible for an alarming rise in rates of autism among children in the United States and around the world. Most scientists say there’s no credible scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism.

Over the last 15 years, a number of major medical institutions have reviewed the evidence from the United States and abroad, and all have concluded that there’s no link between autism and exposure to thimerosal. What’s more, the preservative has been removed from most childhood vaccines in the United States.

But some health activists continue to challenge the validity of the existing science and assert that the U.S. government has conspired with vaccine manufacturers to cover up the truth about thimerosal and autism.

Read the rest of the article from BabyCenter.com