No evidence of link between MMR and autism, doctors find

An analysis of 2,000 research studies concluded yesterday that there is no evidence that the triple MMR jab or the single measles vaccine is linked to autism in children or inflammatory bowel disease.

Doctors who carried out the most extensive review of all the scientific literature to date said they could reassure parents about the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

Dr Vivek Muthu, a clinical epidemiologist who spent five months on the study, said: "I am convinced now that there is no link between MMR and autism. I do feel it is definitive. It is quite clear cut.

"If I had children of my own, I would have no hesitation about giving them the MMR vaccine or recommending it to other parents."

The analysis was commissioned by the British Medical Journal publishing group in response to the MMR controversy, which caused a temporary but dramatic fall in the number of parents immunising their children last year.

The results, to be published in the journal Clinical Evidence, mirror the findings of a similar review carried out by America's Institute of Medicine last year, which found no link between autism and MMR.

The British scientists assessed 2,000 studies worldwide for the reliability of their methods and then conducted a full analysis of the results and conclusions of about 40 which were found to be robust.

Dr Muthu said that the study by Dr Andrew Wakefield in 1998, which triggered the scare over MMR, would not usually have been included because the research was so scientifically unreliable.

"It was a study of 12 children from families who were contacted up to eight years after the onset of their symptoms," Dr Muthu said. "Dr Wakefield selected the cases of children with a developmental or bowel disorder and then asked the parents whether they felt there was a link with MMR. In eight of the 12 cases, the parents felt there was a link."

The study was mentioned in the review "purely because it was the sole study that seems to have caused the furore over MMR", Dr Muthu said.

His research team concludes: "We found that the study does not establish MMR as a cause of inflammatory bowel disease, autism or developmental regression and that its hypothesis has been satisfactorily tested by scientifically reliable studies."

After the MMR controversy erupted, the national MMR vaccination rate fell to 84 per cent of children under two in autumn last year, compared with a government target of 95 per cent. In some areas, the rate fell to 73 per cent.

The review, conducted by the independent clinical research company Bazian Ltd, drew four main conclusions about the MMR vaccine, which has been given to more than 500 million children in at least 90 countries.

The research team found no evidence that MMR or single measles vaccines were associated with autism or inflammatory bowel disease.

There was, however, strong evidence that both MMR and single measles vaccination virtually eliminated the risk of measles and measles complications, which can result in permanent neurological damage or death.

There was "consistent evidence" that MMR and single measles vaccines were associated with small, similar risks of self-limiting fever within three weeks of vaccination. But measles itself causes acute fever in all infected children. The researchers added that MMR protects against mumps and rubella, which can cause serious complications including deafness, congenital abnormalities, heart defects, brain damage and stillbirth.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "This review confirms earlier studies that the scientific evidence finds no link between MMR and autism or inflammatory bowel disease.

"We hope that parents are encouraged by these latest conclusions on the safety of this vaccine. MMR remains the best way to protect children against measles, mumps and rubella."