OLYMPIA — The Washington State Department of Health made a statement Friday that vaccines are an essential tool for protecting people’s health. It also stated that it is joining health agencies and associations across the country, such as the Autism Science Foundation, in confirming that there is no credible scientific evidence linking vaccines to autism. 

“One theory, popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, that vaccines cause autism, has since been disproven by numerous studies conducted around the world,” reads a statement from the Autism Science Foundation.  

This statement from WDOH comes after the update to the Centers for Disease Control website, which was updated Nov. 19.  

The “Vaccine Safety” page used to read studies have found “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder.” 

That has now changed. 

The "Autism and Vaccines” page 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.” 

The CDC’s website still has a header that reads “vaccines do not cause autism,” which according to the CDC website has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the website. However, under that header is information saying scientific studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines contribute to the development of autism.  

According to the WDOH, autism is a complex condition with multiple contributing genetic and environmental factors.  

“Attributing it to any single cause is inaccurate and misleading,” WDOH said in a statement.  

WDOH said there have been decades of research, including large-scale studies which show no association between vaccination and increased risk of autism.  

According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the speculation that autism is caused by vaccines, began with a 1998 article published by Andrew Wakefield in an English journal, the Lancet, which described 12 children who received the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine and later developed autism.  

The paper was later retracted after problems were found in the report. For example, cases were cherry-picked to fit the narrative; it was unclear at what age children received the MMR vaccine and when children began to develop autism. There were also no control subjects.  

Following this, several large-scale studies were conducted by Johns Hopkins, including nearly 1.8 million children from 11 studies. From these studies, it was determined that there was no link between childhood vaccinations causing autism, according to a statement made by the school.  

WDOH said vaccines are thoroughly tested and remain one of the “most important tools we have for preventing infectious diseases.” It said that vaccines have saved millions of lives, prevented illnesses and lifelong disabilities for people.  

“Claims suggesting a link between vaccines and autism undermine public confidence, reduce immunization rates, and contribute to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases,” reads a statement from WDOH.  

It recommends that residents continue to follow the recommended vaccination schedules to protect both themselves and their children. If people have questions around vaccinations, they should have conversations with their health care providers, bringing up any potential questions and concerns.