Health officials and all the leading medical authorities insist vaccines don’t cause autism, but more than half of Americans are still unsure whether they do, a new poll finds.
Fifty-two percent of respondents to a Gallup poll released Friday said they don’t know whether certain vaccines cause autism in children, while 41 percent said they don’t and 6 percent said they do.
The poll also found that compared to 15 years ago, a larger percentage of Americans don’t place much importance on getting their kids vaccinated and a smaller share — 54 percent now, compared to 64 percent in 2001 — say it’s “extremely important.”
Americans are also more likely to say they’ve heard about both the advantages and especially the disadvantages of vaccinations for children. Thirty percent said they’ve heard of downsides to vaccines while just 15 percent gave that answer in 2001.
The poll underscores a growing distrust of vaccines among Americans, especially younger ones. Adults ages 18 to 29 were most likely to express views that vaccines lead to autism.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently emphasized that there are no studies linking vaccines and autism, amid a recent outbreak of measles cases that started in California. There are now 170 confirmed cases in 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to the CDC’s most recent data.
The Gallup poll was based on telephone interviews conducted Feb. 28-March 1 among 1,015 adults and the margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.
