CDC vaccine-autism study: right theme, wrong question

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently confirmed that it plans to study whether vaccines cause autism . The plan comes amid concerning outbreaks of measles, a highly contagious disease whose spread can be stopped by the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Between the beginning of the year and March 6, the virus infected 222 people across the country . The majority of the cases were reported among people in west Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, many of whom are unvaccinated school-age children. About 1 to 3 out of every 1,000 children infected with measles will die , according to the CDC. Over the past 2 months, two people have died from the disease: a Texas girl and an adult in New Mexico. The MMR vaccine is a medical marvel. In 2000, the US declared that it had eliminated measles , a feat accomplished largely through vaccination. But a