Autism and vaccinations

BACKGROUND: Although vaccines play a critical role in the control of infectious diseases and disease outbreaks, vaccination rates have been declining in recent years because of vaccine hesitancy or refusal. AIMS: We aimed to determine the rates and reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of vaccination for their children in Türkiye. METHOD: A total of 1100 participants selected from 26 regions of Türkiye were involved in this cross-sectional study conducted between July 2020 and April 2021...

INTRODUCTION: The BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines have been approved for children and adolescents for protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection. This longitudinal study aimed to compare adverse outcomes after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in children with neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) (e.g., attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], autism spectrum disorder [ASD], communication disorders, intellectual disability, and tic disorders) and healthy control children...

Ongoing outbreaks of measles threaten its elimination status in the United States. Its resurgence points to lower parental vaccine confidence and local pockets of unvaccinated and undervaccinated individuals. The geographic clustering of hesitancy to MMR indicates the presence of social drivers that shape parental perceptions and decisions on immunization. Through a qualitative systematic review of published literature ( n = 115 articles; 7 databases), we determined major themes regarding parental reasons for MMR vaccine hesitancy, social context of MMR vaccine hesitancy, and trustworthy vaccine information sources...

INTRODUCTION: Autistic individuals often have comorbid medical conditions, which can increase the likelihood of being severely affected by COVID-19. The best prevention for this is vaccination. However, some autistic individuals engage in behaviors that might create a barrier to successful vaccination. AIMS: We describe the development and acceptability of a clinic specializing in the administration of COVID-19 vaccines for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who exhibit challenging behavior...

INTRODUCTION: One of the most important inventions in human history is vaccines. However, to date a consistent amount of people exhibit a hesitant approach toward them and mixed results have emerged in the attempt to characterize which factors may play a role in predicting such negative attitude. Here, we aimed at investigating how the individual scoring along the autism-schizophrenic continuum component and socio-cultural factors contribute toward vaccination attitudes in the general population...

As the global vaccination mass campaign against COVID-19 extended to children aged 5 to 11 years, some parents remained hesitant about their children being administered the vaccine despite data supporting its safety. Parent vaccine hesitancy (PVH) may have predisposed certain groups of children, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), to COVID-19 when other neurotypical children would have been vaccinated. We investigated the current PVH in 243 parents of children with ASD and 245 controls using the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) scale...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations including those with learning disabilities. Assessing the incidence and risk of death in such settings can improve the prevention of COVID-19. We describe individuals who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 while residing in care homes for learning disabilities and/or autism and investigate the risk of death compared with individuals living in their own homes. METHODS: Surveillance records for COVID-19 infections in England from 02 February 2020 to 31 March 2022 were extracted...

BACKGROUND: Vaccine refusal is a global trend and was announced as one of the top ten health threats in recent years. The rate of vaccine refusal (VR) among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has also increased in parallel with the global trend but their vaccination behavior may differ from that of the normal population. This study aims to determine the VR rates among parents of children with ASD, to define the risk factors for developing VR, and to evaluate the parental concerns for childhood vaccinations in this susceptible population...

Aluminium (Al) is the most ubiquitous metal in the Earth's crust. Even though its toxicity is well-documented, the role of Al in the pathogenesis of several neurological diseases remains debatable. To establish the basic framework for future studies, we review literature reports on Al toxicokinetics and its role in Alzheimer's disease (AD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), and dialysis encephalopathy (DE) from 1976 to 2022. Despite poor absorption via mucosa, the biggest amount of Al comes with food, drinking water, and inhalation...

BACKGROUND: Several previous studies have identified a potential role that the gut microbiome can play in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children, but little is known about how variations in the virome may be involved in ASD. We aimed to understand the changes in the gut DNA virome of children with ASD. METHODS: A case-control study was presented, in which 13 two-children families were observed while considering the age, mode of birth, history of antibiotic use, and vaccination history to minimize the influence of confounding factors...

Enterocloster bolteae (formerly known as Clostridium bolteae) is a gastro-intestinal pathogenic bacterium often detected in the fecal microbiome of children in the autism spectrum. E. bolteae excretes metabolites that are thought to act as neurotoxins. This study is an update of our first E. bolteae investigation that discovered an immunogenic polysaccharide. Through a combination of chemical derivatizations/degradations, spectrometry and spectroscopy techniques, a polysaccharide composed of disaccharide repeating blocks comprised of 3-linked β-d-ribofuranose and 4-linked α-l-rhamnopyranose, [→3)-β-D-Ribf-(1 → 4)-α-L-Rhap-(1→]n , was identified...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: In Morocco, autism is a frequent disorder and no epidemiological studies have been carried out. The aim of this work is to analyze the characteristics of the onset of autism in children. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study, spread over a period of 10 months. METHODS: We included in our survey children who, according to the DSM 5 definition, had one of the autism spectrum disorders and had a well-defined diagnosis...

OBJECTIVES: To explore nurses' experiences of a tailored intervention that supported them with knowledge and tools to use during encounters and dialogue with parents with low vaccine acceptance. DESIGN: A qualitative study with in-depth interviews conducted in 2017. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. SETTING: This study was part of a multicomponent intervention targeting Somali parents and the nurses at child health centres in the Rinkeby and Tensta neighbourhoods of Stockholm...

The spread of vaccine misinformation may contribute to vaccine refusal/hesitancy and consequent harms. Nonetheless, censorship is often rejected on the grounds of free expression. This article examines John Stuart Mill's influential defence of free expression but finds that his arguments for freedom apply only to normal, reasonably favourable circumstances. In other cases, it may be permissible to restrict freedom, including freedom of speech. Thus, while Mill would ordinarily defend the right to express false views, such as that vaccines cause autism, he might have accepted restrictions on anti-vaccine misinformation during the present pandemic...

BACKGROUND: Vaccination is an essential public health intervention to reduce morbidity and mortality from infectious diseases. Despite being at higher at risk of infectious diseases, health inequalities towards vaccine uptake in people with mental health issues have not been systematically appraised. METHODS: We searched 7 databases from 1994 to 26/03/2021. We included all studies with a relative measure of effect comparing a group with a mental health issue to a control group...

OBJECTIVES: Sweden has had a high and stable vaccination coverage for measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine (>96%) through the national immunization program (NIP), but coverage rates highlight local pockets of lower vaccination coverage. This project addressed low MMR vaccine acceptance among parents in a Somali community, in Stockholm. The objective of the intervention was to increase vaccine confidence and MMR-vaccine uptake and also to inform practices addressing vaccine acceptance...

BACKGROUND: Protective vaccinations are one of the basic means of infectious disease prevention. The aim of the study was to assess the implementation of compulsory and additional protective vaccinations among adult Poles, their knowledge about the purpose of introducing a vaccination schedule and adverse events following immunization. Opinions about and support for anti-vaccination movements were also examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 700 (100%) people aged 18 to 80 (x̅  = 32,16 ± 16,46) took part in the study, conducted using the proprietary questionnaire...

This study examines the personal beliefs held by parents of autistic children in Puerto Rico regarding the cause of their child's autism and how these beliefs may influence parental vaccination decision-making. This study seeks to contribute towards diversifying the autism literature by focusing on an autism community living in a relatively lower income, resource-deficit context. These findings expand our understandings of how parents of autistic children may perceive vaccines and how these perceptions are informed by various sources of knowledge...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affects all countries and populations worldwide, significantly impacting people with autism with a high risk of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19. Approximately 25% of children with autism have an asymptomatic or symptomatic immune deficiency or dysfunction. In addition, they frequently have various comorbid conditions that increase the severity of COVID-19. In addition, severe COVID-19 during pregnancy may increase the risk of autism in the offspring. Furthermore, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 could target human nervous system tissues due to its neurotrophic effects...

INTRODUCTION: Outcome reporting bias in vaccine studies is a widespread problem among all researchers who have a tendency to report selective results and conclusions that support their beliefs and values or those of sponsoring agencies. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, this bias surfaced through the unprecedented proliferation of conflicting vaccine studies. Many researchers strongly recommend and report on the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine. Those researchers who embrace the COVID-19 vaccine and vaccines, in general, are often dismissive of other researchers who present views that differ from medical orthodoxy and oppose medical consensus...