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Could thimerosal have been a factor in Great Britains rise in rates of autism in children born in the 1980s and early 1990s?

April 26, 2017autism born children early 1990 Factor great britain rates Rise thimerosal

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Could thimerosal have been a factor in Great Britains rise in rates of autism in children born in the 1980s and early 1990s?

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It is unlikely that the rapid increase in autism cases in the UK was due to thimerosal. The only vaccine in the UK’s childhood immunization program that contains thimerosal is DTP. All other vaccines (OPV, BCG, MMR, Hib, menC) added to the program since the 1950’s are and have always been thimerosal free. In addition, if thimerosal in vaccines were causing autism, we would expect to see a simultaneous increase in both thimerosal exposure and autism cases. However, from the 1950’s on, there was no increase in the amount of thimerosal UK children were receiving from vaccines, yet there was a jump in autism cases in the 1980’s.