Myth: Vaccines cause autism and are dangerous
‘Parents understandably feel really weird about their kids getting so many injections at once. That said, the immune load of the current vaccines is a fraction of what it was 30 years ago- we’ve gotten much more precise at teaching the immune system what it needs to know to fight disease.
Some people have worried that Thimerosol, a preservative used in older vaccines, causes autism, but the truth is it wasn’t the dangerous kind of mercury, it was the naturally occurring kind. And regardless it was removed from all vaccines in 2002. The true risk of vaccines is children becoming afraid of getting healthcare when they’re older- and parents’ anxiety doesn’t help.
For more information I have done TEDx and TEDMED talks about misconceptions about vaccines.’ – Amy Baxter, MD, emergency pediatrician, founder and CEO of MMJ Labs LLC
