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from the once-more-for-those-who-haven't-been-paying-attention dept.
The Center for American Progress reports:
A large new study--which was published just in time for National Infant Immunization Week--is being hailed as the final "nail in the coffin" of the persistent conspiracy theory that [the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) is] linked to autism.
[...]In the years since [disgraced British doctor Andrew] Wakefield's [completely discredited] research on the topic, several different studies have reaffirmed the safety of the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. No credible evidence has emerged that vaccines have any effect on autism rates.
Now, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has ruled out a potential vaccine-autism link even among a small group of children who are more at risk for the disorder. The review of nearly 100,000 children found (paywall) that even when toddlers have an older sibling who has been placed on the autism spectrum--which means they could have a greater chance of developing autism themselves--getting the MMR shot does nothing to increase that risk.
This still doesn't solve the Jenny McCarthy (bimbo) problem:
A lie can go around the world while the truth is lacing up its boots.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 07 2015, @09:22AM
Yet again, the news is that someone has proven a negative. And we are supposed to take those news seriously?
In regular science, there is a rule "you cannot prove a negative". News that someone has proven a negative is always about proving that no harm comes from a product that big companies make fortunes producing.
Whether that being that there is no way that any amount of 2.4 GHz radio waves is harmful, (yet they still tell you not to put your dog in the microwave), or that there is no possible way that one of the most toxic non-radioactive elements could be harmful to inject.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 07 2015, @03:20PM
Yes, we cannot even disprove that in five minutes earth's gravitation will fail. But from all the evidence we have we can still say that it would be completely insane to act as if the earth's gravitation would fail in five minutes.
Sure, in the extremely unlikely case that earth's gravitation indeed will fail in five minutes, those insane people who took precautions against the failure of gravitation can point to all the sane people floating into space and say "see? I told you!" But that doesn't matter because we can predict with confidence that this will not happen, despite the fact that we cannot prove it.
Anyway, we also cannot prove that vaccination doesn't prevent autism. Think about it.