After a decade of argument and analysis, in February, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., ruled in three critical tests that vaccines do not cause vaccines. They specifically denied any link between vaccines and the possible disorders associated with autism. Though seeming to be the definitive ruling on this matter, it has done nothing to end the ongoing battle that threatens the very foundation of the American public health system.

The very idea that something is definitely wrong with our vaccination system continues to be all over the media. All this attention is driving a belief that there is an epidemic of autism on the horizon and its cause is the use of vaccines on children. Despite continued rejection by the scientific community, this pro- autism belief has spawned a growing movement led by Hollywood celebrities like Charlie Sheen and Jim Carrey that has spawned thousand of lawsuits and even threats against scientists whose very work discredits this theory.

This fear is driven by the fact that autism in children is on the rise and nobody knows what caused this spike. Twenty years ago, one in 10,000 children was diagnosed with autism. Today that number is almost one in a hundred.

From David Kirby, author of Evidence of Harm:

“Put yourself in the shoes of these parents. They have perfectly normal kids who were walking and happy and everything, and then they regress.”

This belief in vaccines being the source of autism is a growing concern despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

When it comes to autism, those who have studied the vaccines have two conclusions. First, that the condition causing the apparent autism is most like a evolving genetic issue and not a product of environment. Second, they believe that there is not a rising autism epidemic, but more of rising classification of what autism is.

Autism is not one specific disorder. It is a whole range of disorders that differ in symptoms and expression but share some fundamental characteristics. These include an inability to communicate, poor social development, and obsessive repetitive actions. Autism can strike children at very young ages in an instant and has shown to have genetic dispositioning.  Despite having genetic origins, scientist can never completely rule out the chance that autism is can be triggered by environmental triggers that react with a child’s genetic inclination for autism.

As autism is a complex disorder with various causes and varied forms of expression, there is no sure way to determine if the rate of autism is on the rise. With the medical field constantly growing and the availability of knowledge now on the internet, could this rise just be because more people are more aware of this childhood disease that before was considered something taboo to mention as children with this disorder were generally abandoned or kept hidden from the world around them.