Is there really a link between mmr and autism?
It is one that, mostly, goes untold even in the middle of a measles outbreak when parents are being strongly urged to vaccinate their children. According to reports, huge numbers of children aged 10-15 were never vaccinated with the MMR vaccine, the result of a scare that caused panic among parents.
The belief that autism and vaccinations are linked continues to cause many parents to decide against having their children immunized. As a result there have been avoidable measles outbreaks, including one in the US last year, which began in Disneyland in California in December that led to school closures and quarantine measures.
But a major study published in one of the world’s leading medical journals has concluded that there is no link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination and autism in children.
Controversy seems to follow autism like the tail on a kite. Since the 1950s, there have been disputes over what autism actually is and more recently there is the controversy over the rise in the number of children diagnosed with what is now classified as a spectrum disorder, he writes. Each new prevalence estimate amplifies the urgency to better understand causation,” according to an editorial in the journal by Bryan H King of the University of Washington and Seattle children’s hospital.
The reluctance of some parents to vaccinate the younger siblings of children with the disorder could make it appear that there is less autism among children given the mmr shot – not more, he says.
Image Credits: bbc, thinkingmomsrevolution, wikipedia, cdc
