Vaccination saves children’s lives and does not cause autism, – pediatrician
18 December 2025 12:30
There is still a widespread belief among some parents that vaccination can provoke the development of autism in children. Due to fears and distrust of vaccinations, some families deliberately refuse immunization.
Lidia Babych, a pediatrician and owner of the Pediatrics with Love network, emphasized in an interview for the "Komersant Ukrainian" YouTube channel that this myth has no scientific evidence, and refusal to vaccinate poses real risks to a child’s life.
She emphasized that autism is a genetic inborn trait.
“Autism cannot be provoked by anything. Research is still ongoing to find out what exactly is going on there, how neural connections are formed in a certain way. But autism is either there or not.
And it is correct to say autism spectrum disorder. Because it is a whole spectrum of manifestations. And there are different forms. But it cannot be provoked or caused,” Babych explained.
The pediatrician noted that fears around vaccination have arisen in all periods of medical development, but modern science has sufficient evidence of its safety. Large-scale studies on hundreds of thousands and millions of children have not found any link between vaccination and the development of autism.
“There is no evidence of the danger of vaccination. Even the opponents of vaccination tried to prove the connection between autism spectrum disorders and vaccinations and failed. This is a very big scientific work,” she noted.
Lidia Babych also warned that refusal to vaccinate is not only a personal choice of the family, but also a real threat to the health and life of children.
“It can cost the life of a child who is not vaccinated. In the case of measles, the effectiveness of vaccination reaches almost 100%. And it is impossible to provoke autism in any way,” emphasized Babych
