Another study finds no MMR-autism link

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK | Mon Jan 4, 2010 12:04pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study provides further evidence that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of autism.

This latest study included 96 Polish children ages 2 to 15 who had been diagnosed with autism. Researchers compared each child with two healthy children the same age and sex who had been treated by the same doctor.

Some of the children had received the MMR vaccine, while others had not been vaccinated at all or had received a vaccine against measles only.

Poland has been slower to introduce the MMR than other European countries, but over the past decade, the vaccine has slowly been replacing the measles-only shot.

Overall, the study found, children who had received the MMR vaccine actually had a lower risk of autism than their unvaccinated peers. Nor was there any evidence of an increased autism risk with the measles-only vaccine.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60330220100104