Autism group says vaccines don't cause autism

The best known group of advocates for people with autism says it's time to get children vaccinated amid a measles outbreak.

The chief science officer of Autism Speaks released a statement on Friday stressing vaccines do not cause autism.

"Over the last two decades, extensive research has asked whether there is any link between childhood vaccinations and autism," said Autism Speaks' Rob Ring. "The results of this research are clear: Vaccines do not cause autism. We urge that all children be fully vaccinated."

The alleged link between vaccines and autism was a now-discredited 1998 study in the British Medical Journal. It claimed the MMR vaccine - measles, mumps, rubella - was connected to the development of autism in children. The journal retracted the study in 2010, calling the research fraudulent.

A measles outbreak in the United States has so far infected more than 100 people in 14 states.