BBC Verify is dedicated to examining the facts behind the stories you might see online and on your social feeds. They’ve looked at some of the claims the US President Donald Trump made recently about the rates of autism in the US, low autism rates in the Amish community and the effects of the combined MMR vaccine.
Check out the video below to see what he had to say and whether there’s any truth to the claims.
Donald Trump: It used to be 1 in 20,000. Then 1 in 10,000 and I would say that's probably 18 years ago, and now it's 1 in 31. But in some areas it's much worse than that.
Lucy Gilder: That was US President Donald Trump talking about autism rates in the US on Monday. But do his figures on the rate of autism really add up? Well, Trump is correct that the most recent estimate says 1 in 31 children in the US have autism, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and this rate has increased compared with about 18 years ago, when it was 1 in 110 children. But this difference is nowhere near as large as Trump suggested. Most experts say rising rates of autism are primarily because of changes in how the condition is diagnosed, as well as greater numbers of people being tested.
Donald Trumps claims on rates of autism in the US
US President Donald Trump spoke about the rise in autism in the US on Monday. But do his figures on the rate of autism really add up?
Trump said that autism rates have risen, from "one in 10,000…probably 18 years ago" to "one in 31" by 2025. That final statistic is correct according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and this rate has increased compared with about 18 years ago, when it was 1 in 110 children. But this difference is nowhere near as large as Trump suggested.
Donald Trump: I think I can say that there are certain groups of people that don't take vaccines and don't take any pills that have no autism. The Amish? Yeah, virtually. I hear no, I heard none.
Lucy Gilder: This was one of the claims President Trump made about autism on Monday. It's worth saying upfront that there is no evidence whatsoever that vaccines cause autism, and there's likely to be far fewer opportunities to diagnose the condition among the Amish, which could explain lower prevalence of autism in these communities. Amish people typically live remotely and refuse to adopt many features of modern life. Autism diagnosis often happens through mainstream school, whereas Amish children generally attend private schools in the community and most dropout at around 14 years old. There are very few studies on autism in Amish communities. There is at least one, though. Research carried out in 2010 by a team of geneticists suggested that autism occurred in approximately 1 in 271 Amish children.
Donald Trump's claims about low autism rates in the Amish community
Trump cited the Amish as a group within the US who have "virtually no autism" within their community.
BBC Verify say that there are far fewer opportunities to diagnose autism in the Amish community, which could explain the lower rates. Autism diagnosis often happens through mainstream school, whereas Amish children generally attend private schools in the community and most dropout at around 14 years old. There are also very few studies on autism in Amish communities.
Donald Trump: The MMR, I think should be taken separately. It seems to be that when you mix them there could be a problem.
Lucy Gilder: This was President Trump during a news conference on Monday, but there's no evidence for his claim. According to UK government advice, giving separate MMR jabs would be experimental, as there's no evidence about the impact of taking them this way. It goes on to say that single vaccines would end up less safe than MMR, because children would be left for extended periods of time without being immunised from the other diseases. It also says that if MMR vaccines are spread out in a series of single jabs, parents may be less likely to attend all the appointments and children could be less protected.
Donald Trump's claims about MMR
Another claim made by Trump was around the effects of the mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccine, suggesting that they should be taken separately rather than combined. There’s no evidence to support his claim.
According to UK government advice, giving separate MMR jabs would be experimental. It goes on to say that single vaccines would end up less safe than the combined MMR, because children would be left for extended periods of time without being immunised from the other diseases.
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