Why Do Vaccines Cause Autism?

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The debate on vaccines and autism has been going on for years now and there still isn’t a definite answer to the confusion. The debate is still ongoing because some parents are still noticing changes in their children after being vaccinated, and the number of children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders are still rising at a very fast rate. This leads to parents being confused and scared for the health of their babies. Researchers have come up with a few reasons as to why vaccines could be causing autism. What is autism? Autism is a developmental disorder. It affects the brain’s normal development of social and communication skills. There are five different autism spectrum disorders; PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delay), Autism …show more content…

Thimerosal contains a form of mercury that people suspect to be causing autism. Different symptoms of mercury poisoning can include: irritability, depression, anxiety, visual problems, speech problems, and sensory nerve problems. When it all comes down to it, mercury is and can be very harmful. “Methylmercury accumulates in human tissue and, at certain levels, can impair cognitive development in young children.” (Vaccines and autism: Separating fact from fiction) The mercury that was used in vaccines doesn’t accumulate in the body. The mercury found in contaminated fish and water is called methylmercury, and can build up in the body and cause severe nerve damage if ingested. Methylmercury is not the same as methyl mercury. The human body eliminates ethyl mercury faster than methylmercury, which means that ethyl mercury doesn’t accumulate in human tissue. U.S. public health officials had come to the realization that the mercury that was given to children in the vaccines exceeded the limit considered safe by government standards. It is said that babies might have been exposed to a cumulative dose of 187.5 micrograms from all sources during the first six months of their life. To this day, childhood vaccines contain no more than trace amounts of thimerosal. By the age of six months old, they are exposed to a cumulative dose of less than 3 mcg of mercury from vaccines. (Vaccines and autism: Separating fact from

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