PHILADELPHIA — Most Americans do not believe childhood vaccines cause autism, according to a new national survey, though the share rejecting the debunked claim remains lower than it was five years ago and many people are unsure where Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stands on measles vaccination.

About 68% of U.S. adults surveyed by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center said it is false that "vaccines given to children for diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella cause autism." Thirteen percent said the statement was true, and 19% said they were not sure.

Those figures are statistically unchanged since 2022. But in June 2021, a significantly larger share, 74%, said it was false to claim a link between vaccines and autism.

The survey was conducted Aug. 4-17 among 1,904 U.S. adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

Small shift on autism beliefs

The poll found modest movement on a related question. Just over half of respondents, 52%, said fully vaccinated children are "about as likely" to show signs of autism as children who are not fully vaccinated. Nine percent said vaccinated children are "more likely" to show signs of autism, down from 12% in February. Twelve percent said they are "less likely," and 28% were unsure.

"This small decrease in endorsing a link between vaccination and autism is good news in our survey data," said Ken Winneg, the policy center's managing director of survey research.

Winneg cautioned, however, that when researchers tracked the same people over time, they found no........

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