The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7186 p233-237
23 February 2002

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£2.5m for research into autism

The Government has given the Medical Research Council an additional £2.5m for its research on the epidemiology and causes of autism.

Health Minister Jacqui Smith announced the new funding on 15 February. The MRC published a report on autism spectrum disorders on 13 December 2001. It recommended that further research be carried out on the definition of autism, especially in adults, and on the long-term effects of autism.

Suggested links between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism will not form part of the work.

Meanwhile, the Committee on Safety of Medicines has supported the MMR vaccine saying that the latest research (PJ, 16 February, p198) does not support a causal link between MMR vaccination and autism or bowel disease.

The Public Health Laboratory Service says that 33 confirmed cases of measles seen during the first four weeks of 2002 reflect a small number of local outbreaks rather than a more generalised national increase in cases. Of the 33 cases, 29 were in London and around half of those were in the Lambeth area.

Dr Mary Ramsay of the PHLS said: "The vast majority of parents are still having their children immunised with MMR, and so we are not talking here about the possibility of national epidemics of disease such as those we saw before immunisation was introduced. But we have been concerned that where there are local pockets of low vaccine uptake, outbreaks can occur."