For Immediate Release

Vaccine-Autism Link: Sound Science or Fraud?

About half of Americans think vaccines don't cause the disorder, 18 percent think they do and 30 percent aren't sure

NORWALK, Connecticut, USA (January 20, 2011) - Just a slim majority of Americans -- 52 percent -- think vaccines don't cause autism, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll found.

Conversely, 18 percent are convinced that vaccines, like the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, can cause the disorder, and another 30 percent aren't sure.

The poll was conducted last week, following news reports that said the lead researcher of a controversial 1998 study linking autism to the MMR vaccine had used fraudulent research to come to his conclusion.

The poll also found that parents who have lingering doubts about the vaccine were less likely to say that their children were fully vaccinated (86 percent), compared to 98 percent of parents who believe in the safety of vaccines. Still, the percentage of fully vaccinated children remains high, at 92 percent, the poll found.

"This sounds like a cup half-empty/cup half-full story," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll. He noted that while the number of people who believe in a connection between vaccines and autism is "only 18 percent," that nonetheless translates to "millions and millions and millions of people, and it's clear that in some cases that has led them to not vaccinate their children."

In the new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll, 69 percent of respondents said they had heard about the autism-vaccination theory -- but only half (47 percent) knew that the original Lancet study had been retracted, and that some of that research is now alleged to be fraudulent.

Barbara Loe Fisher, president of the NationalVaccineInformationCenter, which supports more research into vaccination safety, said: "Parents have legitimate questions about vaccine risks and want better vaccine science to define those risks for their own child. This concern long predated the debate about vaccines and autism. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 was passed by Congress, in part, to address those concerns but has not done the job."

The new poll -- an online survey of 2,026 adults carried out Jan. 11-13, 2011 -- was done by Harris Interactive, one of the world's leading custom market research firms, and HealthDay, a leading producer and syndicator of health news.

The complete findings of the newest joint Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll are available here . HealthDay's news report is available here . Full data on the poll and its methodology are available at Harris Interactive .

 

About HealthDay
HealthDay, a division of Scout News LLC, is a leading producer and syndicator of evidence-based health news for consumers and physicians and is the largest syndicator of that news to Internet sites. Its consumer health news service ( www.healthday.com ) appears on more than 5,000 Web sites such as Yahoo!, MSN, iVillage, US News & World Report, hundreds of hospitals and hospital group Web sites, as well as print publication Web sites across the country. HealthDay also produces Physician's Briefing ( www.physiciansbriefing.com ), a news service for physicians, nurses and other medical professionals updated twice daily providing 15 articles a day across 32 medical specialties. HealthDay also provides custom content for major health portals. The newest addition to the HealthDay portfolio is HealthDay TV -- a 90-second news broadcast of essential health information that appears on several major media Web sites, U.S. government Web sites and other health information sites.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including health care, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in more than 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us - and our clients - stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com .

 

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TABLE 1

SEEN, HEARD OR READ ANYTHING ABOUT VACCINATIONS CAUSING AUTISM

"Have you seen, heard or read anything about the theory that some vaccinations have caused autism?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

 

 

TABLE 2

BELIEVE VACCINATIONS CAUSE AUTISM

"Do you believe that this theory that vaccinations can cause autism is…?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

 

TABLE 3

ADULTS WHOSE CHILDREN WERE OR WERE NOT VACCINATED

"Which of the following most accurately describes your child(ren)'s vaccination history? Please select all that apply."

Base: Adults with one or more child under 21 (30% of all adults)

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

 

 

TABLE 4

KNOW FAMILIES WHERE ONE OR MORE CHILDREN WERE NOT VACCINATED BECAUSE OF CONCERN ABOUT AUTISM

"Do you know any families where one of more children were not vaccinated because the parents were concerned about the risk of their child becoming autistic?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

 

 

TABLE 5

AWARE THAT RESEARCH LINKING AUTISM TO VACCINES HAS BEEN DISCREDITED

"Are you aware that the medical journal that published the paper linking vaccines to autism has now withdrawn the paper, and a published account describes the research as fraudulent?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

 

 

TABLE 6

SHOULD SCHOOLS REQUIRE THAT ALL CHILDREN BE VACCINATED

"Do you think that schools should require that all children have received the required shots in order to attend school?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding

 

 

 

Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United States January 11 to 13, 2010 among 2,026 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

Full data available at www.harrisinteractive.com

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.