MMR

Introduction

The MMR jab is a combined vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. It became controversial in February 1998, when a research team headed by Dr Andrew Wakefield suggested that it might be linked to an increased risk of autism and bowel disorders.

Dr Wakefield claimed:

• ‘This is a genuinely new syndrome and urgent further research is needed to determine whether MMR may give rise to this complication in a small number of people.’

• The combination of the three virus strains in the vaccine may overwork the body's immune system and cause the bowel disorder to develop.

MMR Studies

In March 1998, the Medical Research Council set up a panel of experts, headed by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, to examine the claims. They concluded there was ‘no evidence to indicate any link’ between MMR jab and bowel disease or autism in children.

A 14-year study by Finnish scientists concluded in April 1998, claiming to find no danger associated with the MMR vaccine.

In April 2000, ‘Dr Wakefield and Professor John O'Leary, director of pathology at Coombe Women's Hospital in Dublin, claimed there was ‘compelling evidence’ of a link between autism and MMR. However, it did not ‘confirm that the virus causes autism, or even that the source of the virus found is the MMR vaccination, which contains "dead" versions of the measles and mumps viruses.’ The Department of Health claimed the claims were ‘unverifiable by usual scientific means.’

In January 2001, Dr Wakefield renews announced that the vaccine had never undergone proper safety tests. The study was published in the journal Adverse Drug Reactions and Toxicology Review. The Department of Health rejected the claim again.

In February 2001, the British Medical Journal published a major statistical analysis concluding the soaring rate of autism in recent years was almost certainly not due to the MMR injection.

In September 2001, researchers from St George's Hospital in London and the Institute for Child Health gave the vaccine ‘the all-clear after examining all the studies into MMR that have been carried out.’ The research is published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

In December 2001, the Medical Research Council announced the results of its research which was commissioned by the Department of Health. They found no link between the vaccine and autism.

In February 2002, Dr Wakefield and Professor O'Leary publish a paper in the journal Molecular Pathology. It suggested a possible link between the measles virus and bowel disease in children with developmental disorders.

In February 2002, a team from the Royal Free Hospital published a study on the British Medical Journal website saying there is no link between MMR and autism.

In March 2005, researchers at the Yokohama Rehabilitation Center and the Institute of Psychiatry in Japan said they had strong evidence that the MMR vaccination is not linked to a rise in autism after they found a rise in the incidence of autism after the withdrawal of the measles, mumps and rubella jab in their country in 1993.

However, in Japan, the MMR was replaced by single vaccines, containing similar ingredients to the MMR - albeit that they are given separately. The Japanese study shows that MMR is no more likely to cause autism than single vaccines - but it does not exclude the possibility that both the MMR and the single vaccines may cause autism.

The rationale behind giving single vaccines is that they are less likely to overwhelm the child's immune system. But this is an assumption that is not proven. As of 2009, according to Dr David Haslam (chairman of the college of the council of the Royal College of GPs and a supporter of MMR), there is no proof that single vaccines are safer than combined vaccines, and there are fewer studies of single vaccines.

Dr Viera Scheibner, a long-term researcher and critic of vaccinations, issues the following caution about Andrew Wakefield's backing for single vaccines in an article co-authored with Bronwyn Hancock:

researchers ... and parents, particularly in the United Kingdom, are calling for the three vaccines (measles, mumps and rubella) to be administered individually as if this were the solution to the problem. However it is not just the combined vaccines, such as MMR or DPT that cause autism, and therefore the separate administration of the vaccines will NOT resolve the problem. In fact we know of cases of autism occurring after the individual vaccines. Indeed, the risk may, to the contrary, be even increased. Dr Wakefield has not referred to ANY research that has looked into the relative risk of developing autism after the separate vaccines as opposed to the combined MMR (and we are not aware of any), so there is no basis for such a recommendation.

Critics of Scheibner point to her lack of medical training. But what appears to be beyond doubt is that there is no research on possible links between autism and single vaccines.

In May 2006, Dr Stephen Walker in America reported that they had found measles virus in the guts of autistic children with bowel disease. He claimed the finding did not show that the MMR vaccine caused the condition.

In February 2008, ‘a team led by London's Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital looked at any differences in the immune response from the MMR jab to see if that could have triggered autism. They found no difference between children with autism and those without, and concluded the study showed there was no link.’

MMR and freedom of information

In January 2009 the Daily Mail reported on a Freedom of Information ruling on MMR data:

Confidential documents on the introduction of the MMR vaccine should be released by the Department of Health, says the Information Commissioner. Richard Thomas ruled that their release was in the public interest, despite months of foot-dragging by officials.

He said minutes from three committee meetings before the introduction of the Measles Mumps and Rubella jab in 1988 should be published under the Freedom of Information Act.

The article says the information is expected to include data from the pre-licensing studies of MMR before the nationwide immunisation began in 1988. Jackie Fletcher, who runs the vaccine awareness group Jabs, said parents who believed their children were damaged by MMR, want to know the basis on which the vaccine was originally approved.