Autism Vaccine Debate

The notion that vaccines cause autism has triggered heated debate. Now one expert says, for the safety of our children, it's time to move on.
Pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit said blaming vaccines for autism only puts children in more danger, "Because not vaccinating them, not, doesn't lessen the risk of autism, it only increases the risk of vaccine preventable disease and it's enough. It's got to stop."
He believes people are exploiting the disease and misleading families looking desperately for a cure.
"I think there's a lot of profiteering and a lot of quackery frankly that surrounds this and these to me are the false prophets of autism," said Dr. Offit.
One breakthrough study suggests a strong genetic component.
Researchers found that a mutation in a gene involved in brain cell communication increases the risk for autism.
"We hope it's the start of finding a lot more genes and getting a better description of what causes autism. The genes give you proteins and we gotta' know those proteins to really understand the disease," said Molecular Geneticist Dr. Gerry Schellenberg.
Autism occurs in about one out of every 150 children.
Over 35 billion dollars is spent each year for therapy, education and care of children and adults with autism.