Yet Another Study Shows There ’s No Link Between the Measles Vaccine and Autism

In this study, the scientists addressed some potential criticisms of how previous studies were designed in order to provide additional evidence to inform concerned parents. “We see vaccine skepticism growing,” says the study’s lead author Anders Hviid, an investigator at the Statens Serum Institut, the national public health organization in Denmark. “So we thought it was a good idea to revisit the hypothesis and try to get scientific answers to the different criticisms from skeptics of the original study.” Hviid and his colleagues analyzed data involving more than 650,000 children born in Denmark between 1999 and 2010, and followed them for up to 13 years. Because Danish identification records include detailed health information, the team could link MMR immunizations and autism diagnoses. Overall, the children vaccinated with MMR did not develop autism at a significantly different rate than those who were not vaccinated. The researchers also separately analyzed children who might be at higher risk of developing the disorder, including those from families with other siblings with autism, or children with risk factors for autism. They found no higher rate of autism among these children. The researchers also looked at the timing of autism diagnoses and found that they did not cluster soon after an MMR vaccination. They found no higher rate of autism among kids who received other childhood vaccinations. Hviid and his colleagues published similar wor...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized public health Source Type: news