Anti-vaxxer Pete Evans says Australia should flatten the curve of AUTISM

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Anti-vaxxer Pete Evans says Australia should flatten the curve of AUTISM instead of coronavirus – after falsely claiming a link between vaccines and behavioural issues in children

By Jo Scrimshire For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

Anti-vaxxer and former My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans has compared flattening the curve of COVID-19 to ‘flattening the curve of autism’.

The 47-year-old celebrity chef reposted a meme from the anti-vaccine Facebook page Truth is Terrorism to his Instagram account over the weekend that suggested the two conditions were comparable.

The post, a variant of the Dr Evil Air Quotes meme, shows the Austin Powers villain telling his minions they should flatten the curve for coronavirus but not for ‘obesity, diabetes, cancer, autism and chronic illness’.

‘The curve we’ll flatten is the one that involves their freedom,’ it concludes.

Unscientific: Anti-vaxxer and former My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans (pictured) has compared flattening the curve of COVID-19 to ‘flattening the curve of autism’

The meme falsely implies that lawmakers have an ulterior motive for enforcing lockdowns and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far killed more than 370,000 people. 

The post also suggests that governments should focus instead on trying to limit the number of autism cases in children.

Autism is a developmental disorder the spread of which cannot be limited by measures such as social distancing because, unlike coronavirus, it is not contagious.

Conspiracy theory: The meme falsely implies that lawmakers have an ulterior motive for enforcing lockdowns and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Conspiracy theory: The meme falsely implies that lawmakers have an ulterior motive for enforcing lockdowns and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

False equivalent: The post suggests governments should focus instead on trying to limit the number of autism cases in children. Autism is a developmental disorder the spread of which can'yt be limited by measures such as social distancing because, unlike coronavirus, it is not contagious

False equivalent: Pete suggested governments should focus instead on limiting the number of autism cases in children. Autism is a developmental disorder the spread of which cannot be limited by measures like social distancing because, unlike COVID-19, it is not contagious

To suggest it’s possible to flatten the curve of autism makes no sense because autism is caused by genetic factors in the majority of cases.

Research suggests that some environmental factors may cause autism in children, including advanced parental age at conception and a mother’s mental and physical health. (A peer-reviewed scientific article on the subject is available here.)

But it’s more likely that Evans was implying, as he has done before, that behavioural changes in children are caused by vaccinations.

WHY VACCINES ARE IMPORTANT

Immunisation is a simple, safe and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases before they come into contact with them.

Immunisation not only protects individuals, but also others in the community, by reducing the spread of preventable diseases.

Research and testing is an essential part of developing safe and effective vaccines.

In Australia, vaccines must pass strict safety testing before the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) will register them for use. Approval of vaccines can take up to 10 years.

Before vaccines become available to the public, large clinical trials test them on thousands of people.

High-quality studies over many years have compared the health of large numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Medical information from nearly 1.5 million children around the world have confirmed that vaccination does not cause autism.

People first became concerned about autism and immunisation after the medical journal The Lancet published a paper in 1998. This paper claimed there was a link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. Since then, scientists have completely discredited this paper. The Lancet withdrew it in 2010 and printed an apology. The UK’s General Medical Council struck the author off the medical register for misconduct and dishonesty.

Source: Australian Department of Health 

Last month, he was given a platform on The Kyle and Jackie O Show to peddle a disproved theory linking vaccinations with behavioural changes in children.

Pete, who has no medical training and is seeking to profit from alternative health treatments, said: ‘I’ve met so many mothers and their children and they tell me, “Hey Pete, my boy or girl was a healthy, functioning beautiful child – and they’re still a beautiful child – but something happened when they got a shot one day.”

‘And within two hours, 12 hours, 24, 48 hours, that little boy or girl completely changed their behaviour. And certainly changed their nature.’

There is no evidence that vaccines can cause such changes in children.

The supposed link between the MMR vaccine and autism, which was first proposed by discredited ex-physician Andrew Wakefield in 1998, was exposed as a fraud years later.