Mayor disputes health chief’s comments on vaccine, autism link
Mayor Tom Barrett is disputing recent comments from Milwaukee’s new top health official about a possible link between some vaccines and autism.
“I’m not a scientist, but everything I’ve read is that the science is settled,” Barrett said Monday. “There is no link between the vaccinations for measles and mumps in particular and autism. This is not a question that is still unresolved. It is settled.”
Barrett’s comments, made at a news conference about flu risks, came in response to interim Health Commissioner Patricia McManus telling a radio audience last week that “the science is still out” on whether there’s a link between some vaccines and autism.
McManus, who was recently chosen by the Common Council to lead the troubled Milwaukee Health Department, was asked during a radio show Wednesday about whether the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine could cause autism in children.
“I don’t think the answer is yet there. I mean, there’s still people who believe it,” McManus said on “The Forum” talk show on WNOV-AM (860). “And so I don’t know. I think the science is still out. I think that’s a decision that these families are going to have to make on their own at this point.”
Her comments drew sharp criticism from several experts in the field, who cited research by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health.
McManus quickly clarified her comments, telling the Journal Sentinel in a Friday interview that she doesn’t personally believe vaccines cause autism.
“I wasn’t questioning the science,” she said. “I think clearly most public health people, and most doctors in general, believe that even if you have issues with it, the best thing to do is to still get the immunization.”
McManus added that she “is not going anywhere telling people not to get immunized.”
McManus, a registered nurse with a doctorate in urban studies, said her daughter received all her immunizations as a child and all her grandchildren have been immunized.
The city Health Department plays a leading role in promoting immunizations and investigates outbreaks of infectious diseases.
“The Health Department’s position for many, many years is that there is no link between autism and these vaccinations,” Barrett said. “The position of the Health Department has not changed.”
Barrett has not yet said whether he will sign off on McManus’ appointment, saying he will decide by late Thursday.
The mayor criticized the Common Council’s appointment of McManus as “unprecedented.”
“You can’t just rush something like this through,” Barrett said. “There were obviously additional questions that were not asked about this and other healthrelated things.”