Dr. Offit begins his seminar debunking the top three myths the Anti-Vaccination Movement tries to push as fact. 

  1. Vaccines Easily Damned: Laying the Groundwork
  2. Busted: Autism Vaccine Myth #1 – Does MMR Cause Autism?
  3. Busted: Autism Vaccine Myth #2- Does Thimerosal Cause Autism?
  4. Busted: Autism Vaccine Myth #3- Do Too Many Vaccines, Given Too Soon, Cause Autism?

Interested in double-checking Dr. Offit’s resources? Below is a list of mentioned sites, articles, and organizations from the seminar playlist, organized by the order in which they were presented.

Busted: Autism Vaccine Myth #1 Resources:

  1. Wakefield et al.‘s retracted article from the Lancet (1998) is definitely a must read. As the source of all this chaos, it is frequently mentioned (and slammed) in Dr. Offit’s speech.
  2. All those articles Dr. Offit brings up which refute Wakefield et. al.’s findings? We’ve got them right here for you:
  • Taylor, B. et al. Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. Lancet 1999;353:2026–2029. Access here.
  • Dales L, Hammer S, Smith NJ. Time Trends in Autism and in MMR Immunization Coverage in California. JAMA.2001;285(9):1183-1185. doi:10.1001/jama.285.9.1183. Access here.
  • Corri B, Kaye James A, Jick Hershel. Relation of childhood gastrointestinal disorders to autism: nested case-control study using data from the UK General Practice Research Database BMJ 2002;325 :419. Access here. 
  • Madsen, M.D. KM, Anders Hviid, M.Sc., Mogens Vestergaard, M.D., Diana Schendel, Ph.D., Jan Wohlfahrt, M.Sc., Poul Thorsen, M.D., Jørn Olsen, M.D., and Mads Melbye, M.D. N Engl J Med 2002; 347:1477-1482. November 7, 2002DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa021134. Access here.
  • Peltola H, Patja A, Leinikki P, Valle M, Davidkin I, Paunio M. No evidence for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccineassociated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in a 14-year prospective study. Lancet 1998;351:1327–8. 30. Access here.
  • Mäkelä A, J. Pekka Nuorti, Heikki Peltola. Neurologic Disorders After Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination. Pediatrics Nov 2002, 110 (5) 957-963; DOI: 10.1542/peds.110.5.957. Access here.
  • DeStefano, Frank et al. Increasing Exposure to Antibody-Stimulating Proteins and Polysaccharides in Vaccines Is Not Associated with Risk of Autism. Journal of Pediatrics , Volume 163 , Issue 2 , 561 – 567. Access here.
  • Farrington CP, Miller E, Taylor B. MMR and autism: further evidence against a causal association. Vaccine, Volume 19, Issue 27, 14 June 2001 , Pages 3632-3635. Access here.
  • Fombonne E, Chakrabarti S. No Evidence for A New Variant of Measles-Mumps-Rubella–Induced Autism. Pediatrics Oct 2001, 108 (4) e58; DOI: 10.1542/peds.108.4.e58. Access here.
  • Taylor B et al. British Medical Journal. 2002; 324(7334):393-6. Access here.

Busted: Autism Vaccine Myth #2 Resources:  You guessed it– we got those too!

  • Hviid A, Stellfeld M, Wohlfahrt J, Melbye M. Association Between Thimerosal-Containing Vaccine and Autism. JAMA.2003;290(13):1763-1766. doi:10.1001/jama.290.13.1763. Access here.
  • Andrews N, Elizabeth Miller, Andrew Grant, Julia Stowe, Velda Osborne, Brent Taylor.Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association. Pediatrics Sep 2004, 114 (3) 584-591; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2003-1177-L. Access here.
  • Heron J, Jean Golding.Thimerosal Exposure in Infants and Developmental Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study in the United Kingdom Does Not Support a Causal Association. Pediatrics. Sep 2004, 114 (3) 577-583; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2003-1176-L. Access here.
  • Verstraeten T, Robert L. Davis, Frank DeStefano, Tracy A. Lieu, Philip H.Rhodes, Steven B. Black, Henry Shinefield, Robert T. Chen. Safety of Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines: A Two-Phased Study of Computerized Health Maintenance Organization Databases. Pediatrics Nov 2003, 112 (5) 1039-1048. Access here.
  • Barbaresi WJ, Katusic SK, Colligan RC, Weaver AL, Jacobsen SJ. The Incidence of Autism in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1976-1997: Results From a Population-Based Study. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med.2005;159(1):37-44. doi:10.1001/archpedi.159.1.37. Access here.
  • Schechter R, Grether JK. Continuing Increases in Autism Reported to California’s Developmental Services System: Mercury in Retrograde. Arch Gen Psychiatry.2008;65(1):19-24. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2007.1. Access here.

Busted: Autism Vaccine Myth #3 Resources: Both CDC Post-Examination Meta Analyses!

  • Michael J. Smith, Charles R. Woods.On-time Vaccine Receipt in the First Year Does Not Adversely Affect Neuropsychological Outcomes. Pediatrics Jun 2010, 125 (6) 1134-1141; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2009-2489. Access here. 
  • DeStefano, Frank et al. Increasing Exposure to Antibody-Stimulating Proteins and Polysaccharides in Vaccines Is Not Associated with Risk of Autism. The Journal of Pediatrics , Volume 163 , Issue 2 , 561 – 567. Access here.