GENEVA: A new analysis by the World Health Organization reaffirmed there is no link between vaccines and autism &mdash; &nbsp;contrary to theories being propagated in the United States. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last month revised its website with language that undermines its previous, scientifically-grounded position that immunizations do not cause the developmental disorder autism. Years of research demonstrate that there is no causal link between vaccinations and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the nation&#39;s health chief, has long voiced anti-vaccine rhetoric and inaccurate claims connecting the two. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Geneva that autism was not a side-effect of vaccines. &quot;Today, WHO is publishing a new analysis by the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety that has found, based on available evidence, no causal link between vaccines and autism,&quot; the UN health agency chief said. The committee looked at 31 studies in multiple countries over 15 years relating to vaccines containing thiomersal &mdash; a preservative that prevents bacterial and fungal contamination in multidose vials &mdash; and aluminum adjuvants. &quot;The committee concluded that the evidence shows no link between vaccines and autism, including vaccines containing aluminum or thiomersal,&quot; said Tedros. &quot;This is the fourth such review of the evidence, following similar reviews in 2002, 2004, and 2012. All reached the same conclusion: vaccines do not cause autism. &quot;Like all medical products, vaccines can cause side effects, which the WHO monitors. But autism is not a side effect of vaccines.&quot; Flawed 1998 study&nbsp;A purported connection between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism stems from a flawed study published in 1998, which was retracted for including falsified data. Its results have not been replicated and are refuted by voluminous subsequent research. &quot;The study was later shown to be fraudulent and retracted, but the damage had been done, and the idea has never gone away,&quot; said Tedros. Kennedy has a long history of promoting dubious claims, many of which have become articles of faith among adherents to his &quot;Make America Healthy Again&quot; movement, a vital part of President Donald Trump&#39;s fractious Make America Great Again coalition. The CDC website edits were met with anger and fear by career scientists and other public health figures, including those from within the agency, who have spent years fighting against false information. Tedros said that over the past 25 years, under-five mortality has plunged by more than half, from 11 million deaths a year to 4.8 million, with vaccination being a major reason behind the drop. &quot;Vaccines are among the most powerful, transformative inventions in the history of humankind,&quot; he said. &quot;Vaccines save lives from about 30 different diseases, including measles, cervical cancer, malaria, and more.&quot;

Americas

The committee has looked at 31 studies in multiple countries over 15 years relating to vaccines containing thiomersal — a preservative that prevents bacterial and fungal contamination in multidose vials — and aluminum adjuvants.

Vaccines do not cause autism: WHO

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven, and in some cases discredited, ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t take Tylenol,&rdquo; Trump instructed pregnant women about a dozen times during the unwieldy White House news conference, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries. He also fueled long-debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism in the U.S., without providing any medical evidence. The rambling announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, comes as the Make America Healthy Again movement has been pushing for answers on the causes of autism. The diverse coalition of supporters of Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. includes several anti-vaccine activists who have long spread debunked claims that immunizations are responsible.The announcement also sheds light on Trump&rsquo;s own long-held fascination with autism and his trepidation about the childhood vaccine schedule, even as the president has taken pride in his work to disseminate COVID-19 vaccines during his first term. Medical experts said Trump&rsquo;s remarks were irresponsible. New York University bioethicist Art Caplan said it was &ldquo;the saddest display of a lack of evidence, rumors, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies and dangerous advice I have ever witnessed by anyone in authority.&rdquo; Trump announced during the event that the Food and Drug Administration would begin notifying doctors that the use of acetaminophen &ldquo;can be associated&rdquo; with an increased risk of autism, but did not immediately provide justification for the new recommendation. Evidence for potential link between Tylenol and autism is not conclusive Some studies have raised the possibility that taking acetaminophen during pregnancy might increase the risk of autism &mdash; but many others haven&rsquo;t found that concern, said autism expert David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania. One challenge is that it&rsquo;s hard to disentangle the effects of Tylenol use from the effects of high fevers during pregnancy. Fevers, especially in the first trimester, can increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems, according to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Trump also urged against giving Tylenol to young children, but scientists say research indicates autism develops in the fetal brain. Responding to Trump&rsquo;s warnings, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said it still recommends Tylenol as an appropriate option to treat fever and pain during pregnancy. The president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Monday that suggestions that Tylenol use in pregnancy causes autism are &ldquo;irresponsible when considering the harmful and confusing message they send to pregnant patients.&rdquo;Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Monday evening that the administration &ldquo;does not believe popping more pills is always the answer for better health&rdquo; and that it &ldquo;will not be deterred in these efforts as we know millions across America are grateful.&rdquo; Tylenol maker Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism on Monday and said in a statement that if pregnant mothers don&rsquo;t use Tylenol when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier painkiller alternatives. Shares of Kenvue Inc. fell 7.5% in trading Monday, reducing the company&rsquo;s market value by about $2.6 billion.Kennedy announced during the news conference that, at Trump&rsquo;s urging, he was launching a new all-agency effort to uncover all the factors that could be contributing to autism, a question scientists have been researching for decades. Trump administration explores the potential role of folate FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary also took the stage to announce it was taking the first steps to try to approve a folic acid metabolite called leucovorin as a treatment option for patients believed to have low levels of folate in the brain. That may include some people with autism. Leucovorin is used to counteract the side effects of various prescription drugs, including chemotherapy and other high-dose medications that can negatively impact the immune system. It works by boosting folate levels, a form of vitamin B that&rsquo;s critical to the body&rsquo;s production of healthy red blood cells. Women already are told to take folic acid before conception and during pregnancy because it reduces the chances of certain birth defects known as neural tube defects. In recent years, a handful of studies have suggested positive results when high-dose folic acid is used to treat children with autism, with researchers in China and other countries reporting improvements in social skills and other metrics. Those small studies have been quickly embraced by some parts of the autism community online. The theory is that some, not all, children with autism may not properly metabolize folate, Mandell said. But the recent studies &ldquo;are really tiny,&rdquo; he said. To prove an effect, &ldquo;we would need an independent, large, rigorously controlled randomized trial.&rdquo; Decades of studies show no link between vaccines and autism During the press conference, Trump said he&rsquo;s a believer in vaccines but claimed without evidence that giving vaccinations close together at the recommended ages has a link to autism. Spacing out shots as he suggests can lead to an increased risk that children become infected with a vaccine-preventable disease before returning for another visit. Though anti-vaccine activists, including Kennedy, have long suggested a link between vaccines and autism, widespread scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there isn&rsquo;t one.Autism is not a disease but a complex developmental condition that affects different people in different ways. It can include delays in language, learning or social and emotional skills. For some people, profound autism means being nonverbal and having intellectual disabilities, but the vast majority of people with autism experience far milder effects. The disorder affects 1 in 31 U.S. children today, a sharp rise from just a few years ago, according to the CDC. Experts say the increase is mainly due to a new definition for the disorder that now includes mild cases on a &ldquo;spectrum&rdquo; and better diagnoses. They say there is no single cause of the disorder and that the rhetoric appears to ignore and undermine decades of science into the genetic and environmental factors that can play a role. The announcement is the latest step the administration, driven by Kennedy and his supporters, has taken to reshape America&rsquo;s public health landscape. Beyond cutbacks at federal health agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been roiled by disagreements over Kennedy&rsquo;s vaccine policies. An influential immunization panel stocked by Kennedy with figures who have been critical of vaccines last week changed shot guidance for COVID-19 and other diseases.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House

President Donald Trump promoted unproven links between Tylenol, vaccines and autism, urging pregnant women to avoid the drug. Medical experts condemned his claims as dangerous misinformation, while the FDA signaled a review of acetaminophen use during pregnancy.

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Vaccines do not cause autism: WHO

Medical community pushes back after Trump questions Tylenol and vaccine safety