For pediatrician Dr. Tadgy Stacy, autism is not just a professional issue. It’s a personal one.

Stacy has an autistic nephew.

“And despite that, I immunized my children. My sister continued to immunize my autistic nephew. And I continue to recommend immunizations for all of my patients because I believe that immunizations are safe,” Stacy said. “I think there is good evidence out there that there is no link between autism and vaccines.

Pediatricians are fielding hard questions daily from parents about whether autism could be linked to immunizations. The physicians, as a group, said they feel strongly that there is no evidence of a link. And they are wary of the possible consequences coming from the fear they see in parents who don’t want to immunize their children because of it.

“We are going to see worse disease and childhood deaths, worse than what we already had,” said Dr. Thomas Kuhls, a pediatric infectious disease specialist.

Kuhls said he’s not passionate about immunizations. For Kuhls, it’s more of a scientific decision.

“I give vaccines because it’s the best medicine. It prevents diseases,” he said. “And if the United States stops giving vaccines, we’re going to have the same problems as they have overseas. And it’s happened (already) in small areas in the United States.”

Pediatrician Dr. Victor Wilson said more than half of parents quiz him about immunizations when they come into his office. But only a small minority opt out of having immunizations, after he educates them on the risks of childhood diseases.

“I don’t find it to be a very productive policy,” Wilson said, of some pediatricians’ policies of not seeing patients who don’t get immunizations. “It gives me the opportunity to start working on them. I at least have the opportunity to talk to them.”

He said even when parents opt out of getting immunizations, the vast majority of parents eventually make the decision to have their children immunized. Wilson said with the current climate of some parents becoming afraid to give their children vaccines, it’s a matter of time before there is an outbreak of highly contagious measles. Another threat is pertussis, also known as whooping cough.

“We’ve been very lucky,” said Wilson, about disease outbreaks.

He said it’s extremely unfortunate that some parents are more afraid of the unproven link with autism than they are of the diseases.

Thimerisol, a mercury-based additive formerly blamed for autism, was discontinued in childhood immunizations in 2001. It is still used in some flu vaccines. It has since been discredited as a possible source for autism.

“We haven’t had mercury in vaccine since 2001,” Stacy said. “Argentina still uses thimerisol in their vaccines and they have lower incidences of autism.”

Stacy said she believes the increased autism numbers are a result of better diagnosis.