A social media post suggests that the increase of vaccinations is responsible for the increase in autism diagnoses since 1983. The post, which claims that by 2025, half of all people will have autism, features a video clip of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claiming that vaccines are not properly safety tested.
The persistence of the myth that vaccines cause autism increases its risk. Debunking messaging may emphasize that scientists have investigated a potential link between vaccines and autism for decades and have never found evidence to support any connection. The study that originally claimed that vaccines cause autism was retracted after it was found to involve unethical research practices. No subsequent studies have found a causal link between any vaccine and autism.
