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MMR not linked to autism - major study
[Posted: Thu 03/03/2005]
By Deborah Condon
A major study of over 31,000 children has found no link between the MMR vaccine and the development of autism.
The MMR vaccine has been surrounded by controversy since 1998, when a small British study led by Dr Andrew Wakefield, which suggested a link to autism, was published in the highly respected medical journal, The Lancet.
Since then, not one epidemiological study has found any evidence of such a link. Furthermore in 2004, the editor of The Lancet, Dr Richard Horton said that Dr Wakefield's study should never have been published as it was 'flawed'.
Despite this, some parents still remain concerned about the vaccine and have called for the introduction of single vaccines to replace the MMR. Current MMR uptake levels in Ireland remain far below the recommended 95%.
In this latest study. a team of researchers examined the medical records of 31,426 children born in one area in Japan, Yokohama, between 1988 and 1996. During that period - in 1993 - the MMR vaccine was withdrawn and replaced with single vaccines. This gave the researchers an opportunity to examine rates of autism both before and after the vaccine was used.
The study found that before the vaccine was withdrawn, between 48 and 86 children per 10,000 were diagnosed with autism. After it had been withdrawn and replaced with the single vaccines, the number of children being diagnosed with autism actually rose to between 97 and 161 per 10,000.
"The findings are resoundingly negative...(the vaccine) cannot have caused autism in the many children with autism spectrum disorders in Japan who were born and grew up in the era when MMR was not available", Dr Hideo Honda of the Yokahama Rehabilitation Centre told New Scientist magazine.
Details of this study are published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
The MMR, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is given to children here between the age of 12 and 15 months and again at school entry age (4 - 5 years).
Fred(SQP25407) Posted:
04/03/2005 15:20 |
| This study doesn\'t prove that the MMR is safe. It proves that there is no differnce between MMR given in one vacine at a time. Where are the baseline results of children that have not received the vacine at all. Thanks for breaking this story. |
|
Anonymous
Posted:
10/03/2005 15:57 |
| Does this mean that single vaccines will no longer be available? |
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