WHO Rebuts CDC: No Link Between Vaccines and Autism

A new analysis from experts gathered by the World Health Organization found no link between vaccines and autism – countering a recently revised stance by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The conclusion reaffirms WHO’s position that childhood vaccines do not cause autism,” the organization said Thursday in a statement.

The analysis comes after the CDC under President Donald Trump last month changed its long-held stance that vaccines don’t cause autism, now saying on its website that the consensus is “not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”

It adds that “studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities” and noted that the Department of Health and Human Services has “launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations on plausible biologic mechanisms and potential causal links.” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told The New York Times that he personally instructed the CDC to make the website change.

Public health experts and groups strongly rejected the change, with the American Medical Association saying at the time that it “is deeply concerned that perpetuating misleading claims on vaccines will lead to further confusion, distrust and ultimately dangerous consequences for individuals and public health.”

WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety analysis added to the chorus of objections in reaffirming its previous conclusions from 2002, 2004 and 2012 that vaccines do not cause autism.

“WHO advises all national authorities to rely on the latest science and ensure vaccine policies are grounded in the strongest available evidence,” the organization said.

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment on the analysis.

The committee of independent, international experts looked at 31 studies published between January 2010 and August 2025 that included data from multiple countries.

It found that the data “strongly supports the positive safety profile of vaccines used during childhood and pregnancy, and confirms the absence of a causal link with (autism spectrum disorders).”

The panel also analyzed the potential health risks associated with vaccines with aluminum adjuvants, which Kennedy has objected to. Some vaccines use small amounts of aluminum adjuvants to boost the body’s immune response.

The experts reviewed studies conducted from 1999 through 2023 as well as a recent study of children born in Denmark that Kennedy has demanded be retracted. They found no association between autism and aluminum adjuvants in vaccines.

The CDC has long said that vaccines do not cause autism. But Kennedy and the Trump administration have shifted that position in recent months.

The splashiest development by far is the change to the CDC page on vaccines and autism. It prompted backlash from GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who voted for Kennedy’s confirmation after gaining several commitments from him, including one to not remove language on the CDC website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.

But the CDC found a way around that promise by adding an asterisk to the page’s headline: “Vaccines do not cause autism.”

The note at the bottom of the page says that the header “has not been removed due to an agreement with the chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that it would remain on the CDC website.”

But Cassidy said that vaccines protecting against childhood diseases are safe and don’t cause autism, and “any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible and actively makes Americans sicker.”

“What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism,” Cassidy said.