# CDC to study potential links between vaccines and autism despite research showing no connection

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning a large study into potential connections between  and , two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, despite extensive scientific research that has disproved or failed to find evidence of such links.

It is unclear whether the health secretary, , who has long promoted anti-vaccine views, is involved in the planned CDC study or how it would be carried out. The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services were not immediately available for comment.

The CDC’s move comes amid one of the largest  the US has seen in the past decade, with more than 150 cases and two deaths in Texas and New Mexico. The outbreak has been fueled by declining vaccination rates in parts of the United States where parents have been falsely persuaded that such shots do more harm than good.

Kennedy, whose role includes authority over the CDC, has long sowed doubt over the safety of the combined vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). In a cabinet meeting last week, Kennedy initially downplayed news that a school-aged child who was unvaccinated had died of measles in Texas, the first such death in a decade, calling such outbreaks ordinary and failing to mention the role of vaccination to prevent measles.

Over the weekend, Kennedy published an opinion piece on the rightwing media outlet Fox News that promoted the role of vaccination, but also told parents vaccination was a personal choice and urged them to consult their physician. Kennedy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Autism diagnoses in the United States have increased significantly since 2000, intensifying public concern. Many researchers attribute the rise in diagnoses to more widespread screening and the inclusion of a broader range of behaviors to describe the condition.

But some public figures have popularized the idea that vaccines are to blame, an idea stemming from a since-debunked study from the British researcher Andrew Wakefield in the late 1990s that connected a rise in autism diagnoses with widespread use of the MMR shot for babies.

The causes of autism are unclear. No rigorous studies have found links between autism and vaccines or medications, or their components such as thimerosal or formaldehyde.

Donald Trump, in  to Congress this week, cited the rise in autism among children. “So, we’re going to find out what it is, and there’s nobody better than Bobby and all of the people that are working with you,” Trump said, referring to Kennedy.

Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views have drawn concern among some Republicans. During Kennedy’s confirmation hearing Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican senator and physician, suggested that the nominee disavow any links between vaccines and autism. Kennedy denied that he was anti-vaccine, but did not acknowledge that such a link had been debunked.

This week Cassidy questioned Trump’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of , Jay Bhattacharya, over his stance on investigating a potential link between autism and childhood vaccinations.
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