Ben Carson (R) and Donald Trump (R) (Photo : YouTube)
Republicans Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson, United States presidential candidates, made controversial claims about child immunization shots during the second Grand Old Party (GOP) debate on September 16, Wednesday. Medical experts and groups criticized billionaire Trump's exchange with retired neurosurgeon Carson in which the former linked autism with vaccines despite several medical studies refuting such a relationship.
Trump stated that autism is an epidemic compared to the number of cases two or three decades ago. He argued that the severe mental disorder was completely out of control.
The GOP frontrunner claimed that a child of his employee became autistic after receiving a vaccine. She was about 2 years old.
Carson then countered Trump's claim by explaining that documented studies have proven no link between autism and vaccines exist. However, the ex-surgeon then promoted spacing out kids' vaccine schedules more.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) referred to Trump's and Caron's claims as "dangerous" to public health. AAP is the U.S.'s leading pediatric group.
Dr. Karen Remley is the AAP Executive Director. She explained that a large amount of medical literature has disproved the link between vaccinations and autism. The Autism Science Foundation also stated that was factual, according to ABC News.
Remley added that delaying vaccines lengthens the amount of time children are at risk of various diseases. It does not make immunizations safer.
Dr. Max Wiznitzer is an autism specialist. He explained that researchers have several theories that explain rising autism diagnoses during recent years.
For example, high-tech diagnostic tools are detecting more autism cases, according to Slate. In addition, people are having children at older ages, which boosts the risk of autism.
