Study: No evidence childhood MMR vaccine causes autism

<br>BOSTON (AP) _ A large study from Denmark offers reassuring evidence that the widely used measles, mumps and rubella vaccine does not cause autism, as some fear. <br><br>Some have speculated that the

Wednesday, November 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

BOSTON (AP) _ A large study from Denmark offers reassuring evidence that the widely used measles, mumps and rubella vaccine does not cause autism, as some fear.

Some have speculated that the measles portion of the vaccine might trigger autism, in part because autism often becomes apparent during the second or third year of life, around the same time the shots are given.

However, several large careful studies have turned up no proof of this, and the latest of these was published in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Kreesten Meldgaard Madsen and others from the Danish Epidemiology Science Center in Aarhus reviewed the records of 537,303 children born in Denmark during the 1990s. The risk of autism was the same for those who got the vaccine and those who did not.

Autism cases have risen substantially during the past 20 years, although some speculate this is a result of better recognition of the disorder, not a true increase.

A review by Dr. Edward Campion, the journal's senior deputy editor, said the latest study is unlikely to put an end to the controversy, although ``the association of autism with MMR vaccination appears to be only a predictable coincidence.''