In a rebuke to RFK, Jr.’s anti-vax crusade, journal retracts study claiming hepatitis B vaccine–autism link

A 2010 paper that linked the hepatitis B vaccine in infant boys to an increased risk of autism diagnosis was retracted. Since there is no evidence that any vaccine is linked to an increased risk of autism, it is frustrating that the journal took 16 years to retract the paper.

This paper was used in a safety review of the vaccine, after which the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) eliminated the recommendation for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine. 

The study, published in 2010 in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, claimed that boys vaccinated as neonates with the hepatitis B vaccine had three times higher odds of an autism diagnosis compared with boys vaccinated after their first month of life or not at all.

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In the simplest of terms, the reviewer states that the data did not support their conclusion about the vaccine’s effect on autism risk.

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Related on the SLP

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Of course, ACIP, made up of individuals who have a dedicated goal of reducing vaccinations, didn’t critically analyze this study before using it as a basis for removing the recommendation for the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here