Jenny McCarthy has signed a multi-year deal with Oprah's Harpo Productions despite objections from many experts and families who say McCarthy continues to fuel concern over a link between autism and vaccines. Dozens of studies and multi-governmental reports have debunked the link. McCarthy has a son with autism and has written several best-selling books wherein she has argued the autism-vaccine link.

McCarthy and her long-term partner Jim Carrey also have a website, Generation Rescue, in which they argue the link and collaborate with experts who believe that such an association exists. Perception of a link between autism and vaccinations continues to persist despite the now hundreds of studies published on the association that have found no link. The World Health Organization and the Center's for Disease Control and Prevention have come out strongly against there being any link and have argued that failing to vaccinate children due to the undue perception of a risk could eventually cause serious widespread disease and death.

In England and Wales, where the concern first began due to a study by now discredited researcher Andrew Wakefield, vaccinations have dropped to below 80% from the 92% rate that existing before publication of the Wakefield study in 1998. Since that time confirmed cases of measles have jumped by more than 2400%. In 1998 there were 56 confirmed cases of measles.  In 2008, 1,348 confirmed cases of measles were reported in England and Wales. Two children died from the disease.

The drastic rise in measles cases in England and Wales is in part due to what health professionals refer to as "herd immunity". For measles, if 95% of the population is vaccinated then the entire population is protected. As the rate goes down the risk to the entire population becomes greater.

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