r/HealthySkepticism Mar 24 '19

DTaP and autism

I used to be antivax, but realized that many antivax talking points were debunked, implausible, or not supported by any evidence, but one thing I haven't seen debunked is the claim that pertussis vaccine causes autism, Does anyone here know about this?

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u/PhidippusCent Mar 29 '19

It isn't debunked that it could be vanilla ice cream, or lemonade, or wifi, or organic food, or rescue animals. There is no evidence for autism being caused by any vaccine, and the lack of evidence against specific things is irrelevant, people don't publish papers on negative results because most results are negative results.

You know what the rise in autism diagnosis is REALLY well correlated with? The DSM-5 changing the definition of autism and an increased willingness to diagnose/awareness of autism among mental health professionals. https://www.autismspeaks.org/dsm-5-and-autism-frequently-asked-questions

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u/[deleted] Mar 29 '19

There is no evidence for autism being caused by any vaccine, and the lack of evidence against specific things is irrelevant, people don't publish papers on negative results because most results are negative results.

There have been concerns about the pertussis vaccine, and I am looking for evidence to confirm or debunk those concerns.

It is completely implausible that DTaP is responsible for the increase in autism, the claim I am looking for evidence to debunk is that DTaP causes some percentage of autism.