WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine community faculty member and Providence Swedish physician Frank Bell, MD, talked recent headlines about autism, acetaminophen, and childhood vaccines to provide clarity for patients and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Bell is a pediatric infectious disease expert and vice president of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In an article for Swedish, he discussed how extensive research in the past decade has found no evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy causes autism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Doctors want parents to know that we are cautious and careful. We do not make a recommendation without an assessment that the benefits are likely to outweigh the risks, and we would always say take the smallest amount for the shortest period, consistent with what we hope to achieve from taking that medicine,” Dr. Bell noted in the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also underscored the safety and importance of on-schedule early childhood vaccinations, including for hepatitis B; mumps, measles, rubella (MMR); and diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We evolved over millennia to develop a very sophisticated immune system trained to identify things that are a threat to us. Newborn babies come into the world with almost no exposure to infection,” Dr. Bell said. “The timing of vaccines is a careful balance between an assessment of the child’s ability to make a good protective immune response and the threat of infection.”<\/p>\n\n\n