According to a latest Government study, the risk of autism in children is not increased by thimerosal, which is a mercury-based preservative.

The findings revealed that kids, who receive high level of the preservative, are no more at the risk of developing autism.

Dr. Frank Destefano, who is the Director of the Immunization Safety Office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, stated that parents can now be tension free and can continue with the prescribed immunization program.

For the study, two groups were made. In one group, there were as many as 256 children, who were suffering from autism. The second group had 752 healthy children as controls. Both set of children were exposed to ethyl mercury.

It was discovered that the higher-than-average exposure of ethyl mercury was less common in the first group, as compared to the second group.

So, it was concluded from the study that there is no connection between thimerosal and autism.

Some parents are worried about the presence of thimerosal in the flu shots. The experts mention that such parents can go for another option called FluMist, which is a nasal spray and is usually given to those children who are two years in age or older.