Celebrity Refuses to Give Child Vaccines Due to Fear of Autism

You would think that the recent measles outbreak in both California and New York would be alarming enough to encourage others to get their vaccinations. Apparently, many are still concerned about the vaccinations "potential" link to autism.

Kristin Cavallari is the latest celebrity to speak out about not vaccinating one of her children. Her son Camden is 18 months old and she has another one the way; she's stated she will not vaccinate either of them due to health concerns.

"You know what, I've read too many books about autism," Cavallari said in this U.S. Weekly article. "There is a pediatric group called Homestead or, shoot, Homestead or Home First -- now I have pregnancy brain, I got them confused -- but they've never vaccinated any of their children and they've never had one case of autism. And now, one in 88 boys is autistic, which is a really scary statistic."

Time and time again, medical experts have conducted studies and found no link between vaccinations and autism. And yet, many people refuse to vaccinate themselves or their children. The outspoken celebrities on this subject aren't helping the cause either. Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. have renounced vaccinations because of their potential link to autism.

There are many more factors that contribute to autism, other than the alleged effect that vaccinations have. Children who are born to older parents have a higher risk for autism spectrum disorders; it typically occurs in people who have genetic or chromosomal conditions, and it also commonly occurs with the presence of other development, psychiatric, neurologic, chromosomal, and genetic diagnoses. You can read more on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Additionally, 62% of children diagnosed with ASD do not have any intellectual disability.

In February and March there were reports of measles and mumps cases, most notably in San Francisco and New York City. Back in February, a student from UC Berkeley was believed to have contracted measles in the Philippines and did not get medically examined. He rode the local transit system and was believed to have infected 14 other people. There were an additional 16 cases of measles reported in New York City last week.

In 2013, 189 cases of measles were reported in New York, California, and North Carolina. Studies increasingly show that there is no medical connection with vaccines to autism or other diseases.

To read more about celebrities refusal to vaccinate their children, visit this ABC News blog article.