With the school year underway, many parents have had to decide whether or not to vaccinate their children to comply with school requests.  Even celebrities like Jenny McCarthy are staunch advocates against children getting vaccinted.  However, a new study released in advance of publication of the October issue of Pediatrics Magazine has found that infants exposed to high levels of thimerosal, the preservative found to be in many vaccines, are no more likely to develop autism that those exposed to only a small amount of thimerosal.

The author of the study, Dr. Frank DeStafano, who is the directof of the immunization safety office at the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention stated, “Prenatal and early life exposure to ethylmercury from thimerosal in vaccines or immunoglobulin products does not increase a child’s risk of developing autism.”

The U.S. federal court ruled in 2009, prior to the study, that there was no scientific evidence linking autism to vaccines.

In the new study, researchers examined medical records and conducted interviews with the mothers of 256 children with an autism spectrum disorder and 752 children matched by birth year who did not have autism. The children were all members of three health care management organizations in California and Massachusetts.

Researchers also gathered information about the manufacture and lot number of the vaccines that the children received, to determine how much thimerosal they were likely exposed to.

Children in the highest 10 percent of thimerosal exposure, either prenatally or between infancy and 20 months, were no more likely to have autism, an autism spectrum disorder or autism spectrum disorder with regression than children in the lowest 10 percent of exposure, according to HealthDay.com.

Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for a leading advocacy group, Autism Speaks said, “”This study adds to a large body of evidence indicating that early thimerosal exposure through vaccination does not cause autism.”

She urged parents to have their children vaccinated.

“We encourage parents to have their children vaccinated and to establish a trusting relationship with their child’s pediatrician so they can discuss any concerns they have,” Dawson said.

In spite of this research, autism advocacy groups like Generation Rescue, still warn against vaccination.  According to their site, “Few Americans realize that children here in the U.S. are the most vaccinated in the world, averaging 36 vaccines before they are 5 versus an average of 18 vaccines for the rest of the first world.”

Schools across the county are dealing with more and more students diagnosed with autism and limited resources to adequately address the needs of autistic children.  The vaccine debate, although put to rest by disease control centers and the U.S. government, are still alive and well among parents and advocates of children with autism.