00:00And now some science and medical news.
00:02A new study linking vaccines to autism has reignited one of the most polarizing health debates of our time.
00:09The McCulloch Foundation's findings claim that vaccination is the dominant risk factor for autism.
00:16As outrage and misinformation spread online, doctors are warning,
00:20don't let pseudoscience undo decades of life-saving vaccination progress.
00:25Here's more in our next report.
00:30It is a question that has been raised time and again,
00:40and one that has divided opinions like no other.
00:44Are vaccines behind autism?
00:47A new study done by the McCulloch Foundation has linked vaccination to autism,
00:52saying that it is the dominant risk factor for autism spectrum disorder.
00:57It says autism's rise is multifactorial, but vaccination is the most significant, preventable driver.
01:08Doctors have argued that those who are behind this study are known as anti-vaxxers.
01:13Well, one of the authors of the study, Andrew Wakefield, was in five behind the 1998 study that drew a link between MMR vaccine and autism,
01:24and was published in the journal Lancet at that point in time.
01:27It all started years ago with this paper that was first published, like I mentioned, in the Lancet,
01:34that indicated a link between MMR vaccines and autism.
01:37But it was deeply flawed.
01:39The story was later on retracted in the year 2010.
01:43The largest study ever on this, which is actually a Danish study,
01:47found no association between childhood vaccines and 50 different health conditions.
01:52It is just a report of a foundation that is well known for its anti-vaccine stance.
02:00Unfortunately, people without a background of healthcare training and statistics are easily fooled by such reports.
02:06According to recent estimates by the World Health Organization and partners,
02:11global immunization efforts have saved around 154 million lives over the past 50 years.
02:17This estimate covers vaccination against 14 diseases such as measles, polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis,
02:24from around 1974 to 2024.
02:27Of the 154 million lives saved, over 100 million were infants,
02:33which is children under the age of one in that time span.
02:37Vaccinations currently prevent an estimated 3.5 to 5 million deaths per year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus,
02:45pertussis, influenza, measles.
02:48In 2024, Gavi-supported vaccines saved a record-breaking 1.7 million lives,
02:53which is 4 lakh more than the year 2023.
02:56In 100 children worldwide,
02:59autism spectrum disorder and its prevalence rate has been rising by about 0.07% per year globally.
03:08This controversial new study, though not peer-reviewed,
03:11has again opened up a pandora's box on what really is the reason behind rising cases of autism across the world.
03:20Visneha Modani, Bureau Report, India Today.
Comments