The voice of the anti-vaccination movement is growing louder by the day; therefore we have to do our part in presenting the scientific evidence which clearly shows that vaccines are safe, effective, prevent terrible childhood diseases, do not cause autism, and are not given to children too fast or in too large of an amount.

Here are a number of resources that are helping people out (with a number of my own additions) in the autism-vaccine discussion. Better yet, if you have any resources that you have found helpful in the vaccines and autism debate (or any other debate about vaccines), make sure to share them in the comments below so we can develop a resource for everyone to use.

[I will keep an eye on the suggestions and update the page accordingly.]

Informational Resources on Vaccines, Autism, and Safety

Vaccines for Measles, Mumps and Rubella in Children: Meta analysis of the link between ASD and the MMR vaccine. [Cochrane Collaboration]

Some Common Misconceptions: Some myth busting by the CDC. [CDC]

How to Win an Argument about Vaccines. [Wired Magazine]

An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All: An article about the conflicts between anti-vaccination groups and science. [Wired Magazine]

The Immunization Action Coalition has PDF downloads of clinical handouts extolling the safety of vaccination, showing no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, etc. It suggests that you print these out and hand them to parents unsure of vaccine safety and I suggest you do the same.

Thimerosal in Vaccines: General analysis of the safety of thimerosal in vaccines by the FDA. Table 1. is particularly good useful as it lists all the pediatric vaccines that have thimerosal in them (a grand total of one, which has trace amounts). [FDA]

Thimerosal Fact Sheet (PDF) same as above with less detail, and specific to Australia. [National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance]

Thimerosal-Containing Vaccines and Autistic Spectrum Disorder: A Critical Review of Published Original Data: A systematic review about the link between vaccines containing Thimerosal and ASD. [The Journal of the American Academy of Paediatrics]

Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Multiple Vaccines Overwhelm or Weaken the Infant’s Immune System?: an article specifically addressing the claim that multiple vaccinations weaken an infant’s immune system. Very detailed explanation of how an infant’s immune system works, and how it compares to an adult’s immune system. [The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics]

Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality: A resource showing the evidence behind any claimed adverse effects from vaccination. For example, the evidence shows that the MMR vaccine is not associated with autism or childhood diabetes. [National Academies Press]

Autism and Vaccines: A resource which lists 30 separate reviews of the science behind vaccinations and autism, the rate of vaccination, thimerosal levels, etc. [Autism Science Foundation]

Leftbrain/rightbrain has numerous articles and posts about vaccines, especially about the U.S. ‘vaccine court’ and the decisions made there in the last 10 years.

The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism also has numerous articles by professionals, parents, and people with autism.

WebMD has a FAQ which outlines how the MMR/Autism link was faked.

The BMJ has a running series from Brian Deer, the investigative journalist who broke the story about the 1998 Andrew Wakefield study being an elaborate fraud, which outlines how the study was terrible science, a scam, and a ploy to make money off of fear. [The Bristish Medical Journal]

The American Academy of Pediatrics has a page of “Facts for Parents About Vaccine Safety” explaining the safety of vaccines and the discredited link between vaccines and autism. [American Academy of Pediatrics]