Anti-vaxxers accidentally fund a study proving there is no link between vaccines and autism.

Not a great look.

Despite clear evidence from doctors, researchers and health organisations that there is no link between vaccinations and autism, anti-vaxxers remain convinced.

So desperate to show there is a link, an anti-vaccination group called SafeMinds recently decided to invest $250,000 in a study which would hopefully prove the link, and thus justify their decisions not to vaccinate their own children and encourage hundreds of parents not to vaccinate theirs either.

But when the results of the very expensive study came back, it found vaccines were perfectly safe and not linked to the developmental condition.

Safe and not linked to autism. Science says so.

The study,  published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examined 79 infant monkeys – some vaccinated and others not – over the course of six years.

Two groups of monkeys were given vaccines containing thimerosal (a component recently removed from vaccines), two groups were given the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (which is often blamed for causing autism) and then last two were given saline as a control measure.

The researchers concluded that none of the vaccines altered the monkeys’ behaviour or contributed to any shrinkage of any region of the brain, which has been associated with autism in the past, Newsweek reported.

Whoops.

The authors wrote: “No behavioral changes were observed in the vaccinated animals, nor were there neuropathological changes in the cerebellum, hippocampus, or amygdala.”

“This study does not support the hypothesis that thimerosal-containing vaccines and/or MMR vaccine play a role in the etiology of autism.”

Seems pretty clear, right?

Not according to SafeMinds.

“SafeMinds has concerns about changes in the study design protocol and analysis that may have led to these contradictory results,” a statement released by the group said, according to Medical Daily.

“We are in the process of collecting and reviewing additional information regarding this study.”

Because why believe the science?