The vaccination-autism debate arose from the studies of a British medical researcher named Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield had claimed to have discovered a link between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and the development of autism and gastrointestinal illnesses in young children. (Hansen) He published his findings in a British medical journal, which sparked great controversy among many scientists, doctors and citizens throughout Europe. Many of them insist there is no link between the disease and vaccination while others strongly support Wakefield's beliefs. This dilemma soon extends from the United Kingdom across the ocean to North America. Deciding whether or not to vaccinate their child has become a very difficult decision for many parents with conflicting opinions on the issue. As medical researchers continued to study the topic, many came to the conclusion that the link between vaccinations and autism and bowel disease was false. At the same time, many were convinced that the link was so clear that no child should be exposed to the vaccine. It was soon discovered that the data Wakefield used in his study was fabricated and that there was in fact no link between vaccinations and autism in young children. After years of debate, many strong believers in the topic will not accept that the information they trusted was a lie. The sources I used in my research on the debate include different newspapers such as The Times, Sunday Times, US Newswire, The Guardian, The Week, Salon, USA Today, CBS News and Pittsburgh Post-Gauzzette. I also used the online news channel CNN. The search terms I used during my investigation varied from things like sp...... middle of paper ......m, 30% were not sure and 18% were sure that They were related, released a poll taken after the CNN article. (Gardner)The myth that vaccinations cause autism in children was created by a British man for a small profit, then quickly escalated into a global debate. The science behind his theory was presented to the general public through many forms of media, primarily through newspapers, and caused many parents to fear vaccinating their children against potentially fatal diseases. This is a clear downside to the debate and puts many children at risk of getting sick or even dying from widely published misinformation. Even after everything was fixed, much of the public reaction was disbelief and they no longer trusted science or government and wanted to think that vaccination is actually linked to autism and disease intestinal..