The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7185 p197-203
16 February 2002

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British Medical Journal (www.bmj.com)

Study shows no link between MMR launch date and new form of autism

The proportion of autistic children with developmental regression or bowel problems did not change between 1979 and 1998, a period that saw the introduction of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to the United Kingdom, a new population study shows. The study did show an association between bowel problems and regression, but not between these factors and vaccination with the MMR vaccine.

Researchers at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, and the Public Health Laboratory Service identified 473 autistic children born between 1979 and 1998. Bowel problems and the onset of developmental regression were documented from case records and linked to computerised vaccination records.

They found that the proportion of children with regression (25 per cent overall) or bowel symptoms (17 per cent) did not change during the 20 years from 1979 (P=0.5 and 0.47 for each trend, respectively). For the 31 children with bowel symptoms and regression, there was no association with either MMR vaccination (P=0.2) or with the year of birth (P=0.79).

The researchers point out that a review of each child's health record showed that the history given by parents changed after publicity about the MMR vaccine and autism. "Before the publicity the parents often reported concerns early in their child's life, usually before their first birthday; the current history for the same children recorded symptoms as developing only after MMR vaccination." The researchers add that this bias means that care should be taken when interpreting self-controlled case series analyses.

They conclude that the findings provide no support for an MMR-associated new variant form of autism. The study is published on the BMJ website (www.bmj.com).

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