Determinants of Autism – Dr. Peter McCullough

This was a presentation titled “Determinants of Autism” by Dr. Peter McCullough on April 11, 2025 at the Autism Health Summit in San Diego.

Autism is a “complex” problem and widely considered a multifactorial risk problem, meaning it's likely caused by a combination of many different variables, like environmental factors, water, food, air and industrial exposure and of course, there has always been the debate about whether our “healthcare” system is a contributor.

It is a presentation on attempting to determine the risk factors for ASD – Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Dr. McCullough explains that determinants or risk factors do not necessarily mean “the cause” but can mean contributors to Autism.

Determinants such as immune dysfunction, age of parents, preterm babies and the to the good stuff, the vaccines.

On October 27, 2025 the McCullough Foundation released new information that pretty much links vaccines to autism.

***HUGE BLOCKBUSTER STUDY JUST RELEASED by the McCullough Foundation on 10/27/2025 that contradicts the Narrative that there is no link between Vaccines and Autism.

Title: “Determinants of Autism Spectrum Disorder”

The evidence indicates that combination and early-timed routine childhood vaccination constitutes the MOST SIGNIFICANT modifiable risk factor for ASD.

This study is supported by convergent mechanistic, clinical, and epidemiologic findings, and characterized by intensified use, the clustering of multiple doses during critical neurodevelopmental windows, and the lack of research on the cumulative safety of the full pediatric schedule.

These conclusions highlight the urgent need for independent, longitudinal studies assessing the safety of the full cumulative pediatric vaccine schedule and should guide future research and policy decisions aimed at mitigating the growing autism burden.

BUT - Doesn't this contrast with "Peer-Reviewed" studies from the WHO, CDC, NIH and IOM that find "No Causal Relationship with Vaccines and Autism Spectrum Disorder?

There has NEVER been a study dismissing the Vaccine-Autism Connection that examined Vaccine Records and Children together along with verifying vaccine records and also interviewing the parents.

Taken together, the available literature reporting no link between routine childhood vaccination and ASD remains highly fragmented and methodologically constrained.

• Most published analyses have focused on a narrow subset of the vaccine schedule—typically individual products such as MMR, thimerosal-containing formulations, or aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines—rather than the full, cumulative series administered under the CDC childhood program.

• As a result, a small fraction of the total vaccine exposure experienced by children has ever been systematically evaluated for associations with ASD or other NDDs.

• Moreover, most of the studies reporting no association between childhood vaccination and ASD relied on registry or administrative datasets rather than direct parental interviews or verification of vaccine records.

• Only a small subset of case–control studies confirmed vaccination status using medical documentation or parent-held cards, and few incorporated independent clinical assessments to validate ASD diagnoses.

• None employed a formal non-inferiority framework to evaluate ASD as a vaccine safety endpoint.

Abstract of the Study:

Abstract Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is now estimated to affect more than 1 in 31 children in the United States, with prevalence rising sharply over the past two decades and posing an increasing burden to families and public health systems. Most of the literature on ASD characterizes it as a complex neurodevelopmental condition shaped by multiple determinants, including genetic liability, immune dysregulation, perinatal stressors, and environmental toxicants. Since 1996, the possible role of childhood vaccination has also been discussed and debated. This review synthesizes the full range of evidence to clarify both vaccine-related and non-vaccine contributors to ASD risk. Methods: We comprehensively examined epidemiologic, clinical, and mechanistic studies evaluating potential ASD risk factors, assessing outcomes, exposure quantification, strength and independence of associations, temporal relationships, internal and external validity, overall cohesiveness, and biological plausibility.

Results: We found potential determinants of new onset ASD before the age of 9 years old to include: older parents (>35 years mother, >40 years father), premature delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, common genetic variants, siblings with autism, maternal immune activation, in utero drug exposure, environmental toxicants, gut-brain axis alterations and combination routine childhood vaccination. These diverse genetic, environmental, and iatrogenic factors appear to intersect through shared pathways of immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroinflammation, culminating in neurodevelopmental injury and regression in susceptible children. Of 136 studies examining childhood vaccines or their excipients, 29 found neutral risks or no association, while 107 inferred a possible link between immunization or vaccine components and ASD or other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), based on findings spanning epidemiologic, clinical, mechanistic, neuropathologic, and case-report evidence of developmental regression. 12 studies comparing routinely immunized versus completely unvaccinated children or young adults consistently demonstrated superior overall health outcomes among the unvaccinated, including significantly lower risks of chronic medical problems and neuropsychiatric disorders such as ASD. The neutral association papers were undermined by absence of a genuinely unvaccinated control group—with partial or unverified immunization even among those classified as unvaccinated—alongside registry misclassification, ecological confounding, and averaged estimates that obscure effects within vulnerable subgroups. Only a few case–control studies verified vaccination through medical records or parent-held cards, and none performed independent clinical assessments of the children for ASD. In contrast, the positive association studies found both population signals (ecologic, cohort, case–control, dose–response, and temporal clustering) and mechanistic findings converging on biologic plausibility: antigen, preservative, and adjuvant (ethyl mercury and aluminum) induced mitochondrial and neuroimmune dysfunction, central nervous system injury, and resultant incipient phenotypic expression of ASD. Clustered vaccine dosing and earlier timing of exposure during critical neurodevelopmental windows appeared to increase the risk of ASD. These findings parallel strong, consistent increases in cumulative vaccine exposure during early childhood and the reported prevalence of autism across successive birth cohorts. To date, no study has evaluated the safety of the entire cumulative pediatric vaccine schedule for neurodevelopmental outcomes through age 9 or 18 years. Nearly all existing research has focused on a narrow subset of individual vaccines or components—primarily MMR, thimerosal-containing, or aluminum-adjuvanted products—meaning that only a small fraction of total childhood vaccine exposure has ever been assessed for associations with ASD or other NDDs.

Conclusion: The totality of evidence supports a multifactorial model of ASD in which genetic predisposition, neuroimmune biology, environmental toxicants, perinatal stressors, and iatrogenic exposures converge to produce the phenotype of a post-encephalitic state. Combination and early-timed routine childhood vaccination constitutes the most significant modifiable risk factor for ASD, supported by convergent mechanistic, clinical, and epidemiologic findings, and characterized by intensified use, the clustering of multiple doses during critical neurodevelopmental windows, and the lack of research on the cumulative safety of the full pediatric schedule. As ASD prevalence continues to rise at an unprecedented pace, clarifying the risks associated with cumulative vaccine dosing and timing remains an urgent public health priority.

Sources: Focal Points – Dr. Peter McCullough, April 12, 2025 -- https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/determinants-of-autism

1. Nicolas Hulscher, MPH, et al. McCullough Foundation Report: Determinants of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Zenodo, 27 Oct. 2025, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17451259. *NOtes: The Autism Study by the Peter McCullough Foundation. The evidence indicates that combination and early-timed routine childhood vaccination constitutes the MOST SIGNIFICANT modifiable risk factor for ASD.

11/1/2025 – 3:00 PM
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