By EMILY JOSHU STERNE HEALTH REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and REUTERS
Published: 13:35 EST, 7 March 2025 | Updated: 13:52 EST, 7 March 2025
The CDC will study the potential link between vaccines and autism, sources have revealed.
Two sources told Reuters the agency is planning a large study into the long disproven connection.
It is unclear whether newly appointed health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has long been skeptical of vaccines, is involved in the planned study or how it would be carried out.
The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) could not immediately be reached for comment.
The bombshell move comes amid one of the largest measles outbreaks in US history, with more than 150 cases across the country and two deaths in Texas and New Mexico.
Experts believe the outbreak has been fueled by declining vaccination rates in parts of the US.
Kennedy, whose role includes authority over the CDC, has long sowed doubt over the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, along with Covid shots made by Pfizer and Moderna.
However, he did make a U-turn move earlier this week when he urged people to get the shot to prevent measles.
The CDC said this week it will look into the potential link between autism and vaccines, despite the theories being long disproven. The above image shows an MMR vaccine being prepared in Texas, where a measles outbreak surges
HHS secretary Robert F Kennedy has long been critical of vaccine safety and has repeated debunked claims on vaccines and autism. It's unclear if he will be involved in the new CDC study
However, Kennedy also said vaccination was a 'personal' choice for parents.
Autism diagnoses have surged in the US, going from seven in 1,000 in the early 2000s to one in 36 in 2022, the latest data available.
Experts have cited increased awareness and better diagnostic processes,
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 British researcher Andrew Wakefield in the late 1990s that connected a rise in autism diagnoses with widespread use of the MMR shot.
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.
There is widespread speculation among scientists that its neurological characteristics may develop in utero, when the fetal brain is being wired. Studies have linked autism to maternal factors in pregnancy, and some research suggests a link to birth complications and timing.
President Donald Trump, in an address 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 Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican 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 Health, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, over his stance on investigating a potential link between autism and childhood vaccinations.
"I don't generally believe there is a link, based on my reading of the literature," Bhattacharya said. "But we do have a sharp rise in autism rates, and I don't think any scientist really knows the cause of it. I would support a broad scientific agenda based on data to get an answer to that."
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)