Quick sound bites and internet memes make the issue of vaccine safety a confusing one for many parents. Despite the now well-known information that the first published work linking autism and vaccines has been thoroughly debunked, many still have concerns about vaccine safety.
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Here are five studies looking at the impact of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and exploring whether it could be linked to autism and other health issues:
A 2013 study published in the “Journal of Pediatrics” found no link between autism and “too may vaccines too soon,” a concern that had been expressed because of exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides, the American Association of Pediatrics summarized. “There was no indication that children with autism were more likely to have been exposed to more antigens through vaccines either in a single doctor’s visit, in the first 3 months of life, the first 7 months of life, or the first 2 years of life than were children without any diagnosis of ASD, AD or ASD with regression,” the site said.
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A Finnish study of more than 500,000 children, ages 1 to 7 years old, who were vaccinated with the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine. The study searched for links to hospitalizations for autism, encephalitis, or meningitis. “We detected no clustering of hospitalizations for autism after vaccination,” the results published on the National Institutes of Health site said.
A Polish study in 2010 looked at 96 cases withchildhood or atypical autism, as well as a control group. The results: “For children vaccinated before diagnosis, autism risk was lower in children vaccinated with MMR than in the nonvaccinated as well as to vaccinated with single measles vaccine. …The study provides evidence against the association of autism with either MMR or a single measles vaccine.”
This 2010 study looked at whether the time of MMR vaccination would make a difference in neuropsychological outcomes. Done by researchers at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, the conclusion was: “Timely vaccination during infancy has no adverse effect on neuropsychological outcomes 7 to 10 years later. These data may reassure parents who are concerned that children receive too many vaccines too soon.”
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Researchers in 2005 in Japan and Britain looked at the causal relationship between the MMR vaccine and the occurrence of autism spectrum disorders by looking at about 300,000 Japanese children. “The MMR vaccination rate in the city of Yokohama declined significantly in the birth cohorts of years 1988 through 1992, and not a single vaccination was administered in 1993 or thereafter. In contrast, cumulative incidence of ASD up to age seven increased significantly in the birth cohorts of years 1988 through 1996 and most notably rose dramatically beginning with the birth cohort of 1993,”
the study said. “The significance of this finding is that MMR vaccination is most unlikely to be a main cause of ASD, that it cannot explain the rise over time in the incidence of ASD, and that withdrawal of MMR in countries where it is still being used cannot be expected to lead to a reduction in the incidence of ASD.”
This article is for information only and is not intended as medical advice. Talk with your doctor about your specific health and medical needs.