In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in
each blank.
Claims have been made that vaccines are responsible for certain (1)__________ health conditions, particularly autism, speech disorders
and inflammatory bowel disease. Some of those claims focused on thimerosal, a mercury-containing compound used as a
preservative in vaccines. Some people believed that autism (2)__________ a form of mercury poisoning, caused specifically by
thimerosal in childhood vaccines. Those claims have been discredited. Still, misinformation and fear generated by false claims about
associations (3)__________ autism and vaccines had a significant impact on individuals’ perceptions about vaccine safety.
(4)__________, most individuals in countries where vaccination is widespread have never personally experienced vaccine-preventable
disease. Thus, the focus of concern for some people shifted from the negative effects of vaccine-preventable disease to the possible
negative effects of the vaccines (5)__________.