Concordance between Prior Cases of Congenital Rubella and Contemporary Children with Autism

Rubella Illness Eliminated but Neurotropic Effects of Live-Attenuated Vaccine, Cytokines, other Factors May Have Resulted in Autism Epidemic

By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH

We are in the midst of an epidemic of autism spectrum disorder. Increased detection and public awareness is driving a search for the root cause. Older aged parents and siblings with autism routinely come up as risk factors, but they cannot nearly begin the explain the tsunami we are seeing in clinical medicine.

Mawson and Croft have pointed out the striking similarities of children born years ago with congenital rubella syndrome and kids today with autism. The parallels in clinical features are notable . Rubella vaccination has been associated with a marked reduction in congenital rubella syndrome however rates of autism have skyrocketed. The authors noted: “As noted above, from 7% to 12% of children with CRS were diagnosed with autism in the 1960s, rates that were 200-fold or higher than population-based rates at the time. Rubella and CRS are now rare in the U.S. However, rates of autism have increased dramatically, from about 1 in 5000 in the 1960s to about 3% today, with autism diagnoses having tripled and accelerated since 2000.” Additionally the authors point out that high vitamin A intake and herbicides that get into the food supply may have additional neurotoxicity in the early months and years of life.