IN THE CLEAR?: A new study shows that the MMR vaccine is not associated with the onset of autism--a concern over the last decade.
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You've probably heard the news: Measles, once banished, is back in a big way.
The reason, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): children are increasingly not being vaccinated against the highly contagious virus because of fears that ingredients in the injection may cause autism, a mysterious neurological disorder that affects one out of 150 children born each year in the U.S.
But new research by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health did not find a connection. "We are confident that there is no link between [the measles vaccine] and autism," says lead study author W. Ian Lipkin, an epidemiologist.
The researchers hope their findings, published in the journal PLoS ONE, will put the issue to rest and persuade parents to vaccinate their children—a move that could stop measles and other, previously controlled serious illnesses such as mumps and whooping cough from making comebacks.
"We need to ensure the vaccine recommendations are followed to not only protect those who are immunized," says CDC researcher Larry Pickering," but to also provide herd protection for people in the United States and throughout the world who may not be able to receive the vaccine because of their age or respond to the vaccine because of an underlying immunodeficiency."
The CDC confirmed 131 measles cases in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1 of this year, more than double the number of cases reported annually between 2001 and 2007. Measles causes symptoms including an extremely itchy rash, high fever, runny nose and red eyes. Children generally receive their first vaccine against it at around 15 months old. Physicians started giving the vaccine in 1963; prior to that, the virus struck three to four million Americans per year and killed 400 to 500.
The CDC says that 91 percent of the current measles sufferers did not receive the shot or have evidence that they had gotten it. The major reason parents are nixing it: some studies since 1998 have indicated a possible link between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism as well as gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. Rubella has similar symptoms to measles, but is generally milder although it can cause birth defects in fetuses of pregnant women with the disease; mumps causes high fever and painful swelling on one or both sides of the face.
One 1998 study found remnants of the measles virus in the intestines of children suffering from both autism and GI problems—estimated to be up to a quarter of the autistic population. Researchers hypothesized that the weakened measles virus used in the vaccine gathered and grew in the intestines, causing the immune system to attack, in the process damaging normal cells lining the bowels resulting in some seepage.
Such leakage could cause problems, such as abdominal pain and gastroesophageal reflux, which makes it difficult to digest food, and clear the way for the virus to enter the blood stream and travel to the brain.
The new study examined children, an average of five years of age, suffering from both autism and GI problems. "Although in fact there was evidence that this vaccine was safe in the bulk of the population," Lipkin says, "it had not been previously assessed with respect to kids with autism and GI complaints."
Researchers examined cells in biopsies (from 25 children with both autism and GI problems and 13 with just GI disturbances) to determine whether they contained genetic sequences of the measles virus. They only found a detectable amount of the virus remnants in one child in each group (4 percent of the autism and GI kids, 8 percent of the GI-only tykes). This indicates that autism is not related to the MMR vaccine or to the presence of measles sequences in the intestinal tract, says Columbia epidemiologist Mady Hornig, adding that the results were replicated in three different labs.
She notes that only 20 percent of the children with autism received the MMR shot before suffering GI problems and subsequent autism symptoms.
"From my standpoint, [this study is] just another brick in the wall to validate the vaccine safety issue," says Walnut Creek, Calf.-based pediatrician Rahul Parikh, who often counsels worried parents about the importance of vaccinating their children. "We still have parents coming in with a lot of concerns."
Rick Rollens, who has an autistic son who suffers from a "horrible bowel disorder," called the new research sound science and praised it for calling attention to an underserved subset of the autism spectrum: those children who also suffer from GI problems. But he insists that it does not give the all clear to all vaccines.
"I'm totally convinced that a vaccine caused the autism my child suffers from," Rollens says. "This study by itself does not exonerate the role of all vaccines"—only the MMR.
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16 Comments
Add CommentThanks for covering this. I think that Autism speaks has made an excellent statement based on this research:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this""This really puts this issue to bed," said Andy Shih, vice president for scientific affairs of "Autism Speaks," an advocacy group."
Rick Rollens was part of what looks like a cover up (with the help of the UC Davis MIND Institute) of data that showed that measles didn't cause autism. What was he doing there for that press conference? There were no UCD scientists participating in that study. He was only there to keep the myth of vaccine caused autism alive. The man is in denial that his own genes and his wife's made their kid autistic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy is Scientific America even bothering to include anecdotal/emotional responses? Wow, someone who's child has autism isn't convinced of the safety of vaccines. Are they a scientist, do they even have the basics of a scientific education? If not, then how is it apporpriate to include their views in a respected scientific magazine? Come on people this isn't New Scientist!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe study has all the same inherent problems as the Wakefield study and provides no additional information. The sample size was 25. The average age of ASD patients being diagnosed is 13.5 months which leads to incorrect diagnosis bias. The information concerning GI and MMR information is from interview increasing the risk of recall bias. Both the control and ASD populations had GI issues leading to population bias in the design of the study. A majority of ASD individuals had GI issues before diagnosis of ASD.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis study has all the same problems as the original Wakefield study.
This study does not have the same problems as the original Wakefield study (or the Uhlman et al. study, which is the closer match to this one). It does not have the contamination issues or the problems with the PCR technique, as noted by Bustin.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Original study used multiple test sites (two) and the Hornig study used three. However, Dr. Wakefield ignored the results from the second site--his own hospital (See the Chadwick testimony for the Omnibus), which indicated that the results were negative. In the current study, Hornig et al,, all three sites agreed on the results. It is a much stronger study.
The fact that a majority of the ASD individuals had GI issues before diagnosis of Autism is a *result*, not a limitation. It indicates that the MMR is not causal in the development of the GI issues, and, thus, the MMR-->GI-->autism claim is not substantiated.
Lastly, I don't know where you are getting the idea that the age of diagnosis was 13.5 months. That is the age of onset, likely the age of regression. The diagnoses were almost certainly made at a later age. If you would like to quote where in the paper they note the age of diagnosis, I'd appreciate it.
This study provides a heck of a lot more information than Wakefield et al. or Uhlman et al..
The real question is whether Wakefield actually offered any real information on the idea of causality. The authors credit Dr. Wakefield with bringing the subpopulation of children with autism and GI issues to the public eye. In the end, we must conclude that Wakefield et al. and Uhlman et al. provided false information. According to the paper, there are 20 studies following Dr. Wakefield's announcement, plus this new one.
I wish we had the researcher money and time back. We could know something real, not just "Dr. Wakefield was wrong".
Just because the study provides any more information then Wakefield doesn't mean that it is any better then Wakefield or can be applied to a broader population. It provides medical information about 25 participants that may also have been picked due to sampling bias.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisResearchers should firstly make sure the way they devised could be applied to determine whether vaccine correlates with autism or not, which did not mentioned above. Sometimes, obviated direction wastes time and misleads people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think it's interesting that there was no reference to the Japanese study conducted a few years ago. I don't remember who did it, but I believe it was government funded. They have vaccination requirements, and tracked a portion of the general population after vaccination with MMR and another portion that did not receive MMR. They found that the rate of ASDs was similar in both groups, both of which consisted of thousands.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrom Randy Crawford, 3701 Second St. #10, Coralville, Iowa 52241 (319)400-2837. To alleviate chemically-induced autoimmune disease, I have been using dozens and dozens of MMR injections since 2005, including 1 or 2 injections daily for weeks at a time. I have thus used MMR alone and in combination with other vaccines, and with wild-type live viruses derived from human nose and throat infections (viz. common cold). Alone and in combination, my experience over the years is that Merck's MMR-II vaccine is entirely safe and effective for alleviating autoimmune disease via immunodistraction. The few children who have unfortunately acquired autism (with or without MMR injections chronologically perchance coincident) undoubtedly acquired their autism for some other reason, and MMR had as much causative effect as sunspots or the phases of the moon. Those who look to blame vaccines are most likely looking for deep pockets to fund their misplaced anxieties. If they wish to help their children, they need to find the real cause of the problem, and quit pointing the finger at innocent vaccines. --END-- Randy Crawford
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDosen't that mark anybody a little suspicious? I mean, first they said vaccines do cause autism, but now they're saying they aren't. This could be the works of drug companies trying to put forward their argument.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAutism is a type of brain abnormality people, something causes this disorder, human beings are most likely the cause of problems, but then they try to fix things up later.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am the father of a healthy 20 month year girl. I am not a doctor or health researcher. I discussed my concerns about the vaccines and autism link with someone who is a respected expert at working with children with severe handicaps. What she told me was very interesting. She questions whether the rate of autism is increasing. She has a theory that a great deal of government funding is available for cases of autism that is not available for other diseases. In cases where a fine line exists, some health professionals may give a diagnosis of autism over a less funded disease thus benefiting the family and the medical community. She added that autism is generally diagnosed about the time that vaccines are given. Many parents therefore assume the two are related. The medical researcher's ideas are hypothesis only but may lend some rationale as to why so many people ignore the real facts that say vaccines are safe.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's upsetting that some people don't let the truth/facts stand in the way of what they want to do. They do the wrong thing anyway. You don't need a study to see that it runs in families.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOur neighbor has two sons, 18 and 10. Different fathers, same mother. Both have autism. She knew it runs in her family, but she said she thought it was unlikely that she would have two children with it. Both very aggressive, can't live in the same house. She wishes it never happened. It's a bit late now.
How long will it take people to understand that autism - or most autistic traits- are most likely caused by using pitocin at birth? Children are born with a lack of oxygen to the brain. After birth, the babies are deprived of being held, and this causes furture failure to thrive. It is a mixture of western birth practices in combination with normative abuse. This is why autism rates are much lower in cultures where co-sleeping and natural births are prevalent.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisParanoia feeds on itself. My comments are from my own research exclusively.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou would think Merck would have helped me out, to sell more vaccines and expand their market. No way-- Merck is terrified of lawsuits and nutcases who are paranoid about vaccines suing them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact, I went in person to Merck corporate headquarters in Pennsylvania, and their research facility in Rahway, NJ, and neither would lift a finger to help me get more vaccines more easily. A fellow alumnus of my college who is a bigshot in their corporate vaccine research programs wouldn't pull any strings to help me get more MMR vaccine more easily. Nor would any politicians help, nor would the FDA's Center for Biologics Research and Evaluation in Rockville, Maryland help whether I called, wrote, or went there in person. [CBER is the federal agency in charge of vaccines and vaccine safety.] CBER just laughed and said 'We know the MMR vaccine is totally harmless. You just have to find a doctor who isn't afraid of lawsuits and will give it to you regularly.'
The loonies who are paranoid about vaccines, and blame them for autism, make doctors afraid of vaccines leading to malpractice lawsuits when the vaccines, even used daily for weeks at a time, are totally harmless. Who is suffering? Not the kids, who get autism from some other cause. Who is suffering IS people with autoimmune disease who could more readily be using live viruses from vaccines, to totally safely alleviate their autoimmune disease problems.
Note re science and statistics: If you have a million people say "Hello" today, a few will die of a heart attack tomorrow. But the deaths have nothing to do with saying hello. If you have a million kids get vaccines today, a few will start having autism symptoms tomorrow. But the autism has nothing to do with getting vaccines. Blaming vaccines hurts the kids with autism, since blaming vaccines distracts people from finding the true cause and cure for autism. Desperate parents blame vaccines because (a)they don't understand science & statistics, and/or (b)they are looking for deep financial pockets to give them money.