The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 273 No 7317 p374
18 September 2004

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Study concludes MMR vaccine “not associated with autism”

MMR vaccination is not associated with an increased risk of any pervasive developmental disorder, or, specifically, autism. So concludes a matched case control study involving data on over 5,000 children.

The work was carried out by UK and Canadian researchers using the UK general practice research database. Cases were people born in 1973 or later who had had a diagnosis of “pervasive developmental disorder” between 1987 and 2001. Some 1,294 cases and 4,469 controls were included.

The odds ratio for association between diagnosis and MMR was 0.86. Findings were similar, when restricted to children diagnosed with autism, to those vaccinated with MMR before the age of three or to the period before media coverage of the hypothesis linking MMR with autism.

The authors say that no significant association has been found in other rigorous studies in a range of different settings. They now call for research into the real origins of autism (Lancet 2004;364:963-69).