Autism and measles vaccine: no link found -- again

Suspicion that autism is triggered by childhood vaccinations -- notably the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine -- lingers on, even though studies repeatedly fail to find such a link. Another of those was published online today in the Public Library of Science ONE -- which allows full access after publication, so you can read the entire report here.

Led by scientists at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the research team took bowel tissue samples from 25 children with autism who had gut disturbances and compared it to bowel tissue of 11 children who also had such disturbances but did not have autism. The researchers screened the tissue for presence of the genetic material of the measles virus to see if the virus persisted more often in the children who had developed autism. Three labs examined the tissue independently, and no one knew which tissue came from autistic or non-autistic children until after the results were in. In all three labs, only two of the samples showed traces of the measles virus. One was from a child in the autism group and one was from a child without autism.

In other words, children with autism were no more likely to have measles virus in their tissue than ones who did not have autism, and that doesn't support a MMR-autism causal link, the authors concluded.

The scientists also investigated the temporal relationship you'd expect if the vaccine-autism theory were true.  If the vaccine caused gut symptoms/autism, you'd expect the vaccine timing to precede either of the other two. This wasn't found.

Why did the researchers do this? The MMR-autism theory stems from a 1998 report by a British surgeon,  Dr. Andrew Wakefield, that 12 children with autism and gastrointestinal disturbances had traces of the measles virus in their gut tissue. (The MMR vaccine uses a live, attenuated version of the measles virus.) Wakefield's theory was that the virus attacked the gut and caused autism. (Ten of the 13 authors of the paper, which was published in the Lancet, later retracted their authorship; you can read more about the Wakefield paper and subsequent controversy here and here.)

The researchers say they conducted the study because they saw a gap in the research that needed filling. Although many studies of populations have investigated whether kids who were vaccinated with MMR were more likely to develop autism than those who didn't -- and haven't found such a link -- no one since Wakefield has searched for the presence/absence of the viral RNA in children with autism.

Measles cases in the U.S. are at their highest rate in more than a decade, according to an August report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- a trend believed linked to vaccine fears.

But in related news, the CDC released data today reporting that vaccine rates for kids are high overall. "Childhood immunization rates remain at or near record levels, with at least 90% coverage for all but one of the individual vaccines in the recommended series for young children," the agency said. You can read all the estimates (which are from 2007) at the CDC website, as well as review the series of vaccines recommended for children. The one outlier: no, not MMR, but the last dose in a series of four for the diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine. Only 84.5% of U.S. children are estimated to have gotten that shot.

Finally, here's what some bloggers/organizations are saying about this latest MMR study (some links on this list shamelessly cribbed from the first one, Autism Vox -- many thanks!):

Autism Vox, Action for Autism, Orac, National Autism Assn., Autism Society of America, Autism Speaks, One Dad's Opinion.

-- Rosie Mestel

Comments

[JamminredheadEd]

The title of the article is misleading. The connection most strongly debated at present is the link between the vaccine preservative thermerasol and autism, not measles and autism as the article might lead one to believe. The article as presented is a surprising display of a lack of familiarity with what is the true concern of the populace.

[Amar]

JamminredheadEd,
I think it is you who is exhibiting a surprising lack of familiarity with the 'true concern of the populace'. Thimerosol is not used as a preservative for the MMR vaccine anymore. And you really should read the article. The study did not look at the connection between measles and autism but rather the connection between the measles vaccine and autism. In this case, the 'true concern of the populace' should be preventing a measles, mumps or rubella epidemic and not a fake relationship between autism and vaccines.

[Robert Brearey Jr.]

JamminredheadEd: The MMR vaccine has also come under fire for possibly causing autism. The MMR vaccine NEVER contained Thimerosal. Dr. Wakefield's study, which has put the onus on MMR, has proven lacking. There is NO link between any vaccines and autism.

[strangestudy]

This article is sorta stupid in that I have never heard any one trying to link just one virus (measles) to Autism. I think it is the 3 viruses together has always been the problem. The combo of Measles, Mumps and Rubella should be studied to find out if it effects early development. We are vaccinating our kid with individual vaccines rather than MMR.

[Phil G]

What frustrates me is eye blinder view that is taken, it is not the MMR in of it self but the body load up of all the shots in such a short time (we give too many in too short a time space) that give the child almost 4-5 YEARS load (based on choice of Mfg used in the first 14 months) of Aluminum as adjuvants and how it effects the blood-brain barrier (BBB) this is where the MMR is the last straw. Why do they keep playing plausible deniability. We have gone from 10,000:1 pre 2k to 150:1 now. Something did change, CDC schedule is what changed, much more aggressive.

[Steve D]

StrangeStudy -
First off, there has been ongoing controversy for years over specifically the measles virus, delivered by vaccine, causing "leaky gut" resulting in autism. You need to brush up on the history a bit.
Second, all vaccines undergo rigorous concomitant (in combination with other vaccines) studies prior to release. They are then monitored post-marketing via three separate systems which are designed to detect infinitesimal amounts of reported problems. Point being, they have been studied together.

[Bob]

There are too many reported cases of autism "magically" occurring after childhood vaccinations. If the link isn't related to MMR in the gut tissue, then money needs to be spent to find exactly where the link is, because it does exist. Pharmaceutical companies are willing to spend millions to protect their multi-million dollar investment in vaccines. Just take a look at the commercials on TV.... parents are crucified if they choose not to vaccinate. I won't take the chance with my children... PARENTS, PLEASE INFORM YOURSELF ON THE DANGERS OF INFANT VACCINES!!! Do not be forced into something you know nothing about. Educate yourself and you will find the truth.

[Phil G]

One last note, China has gone back to the 1983 CDC schedule and Autism has drastically dropped. Netherlands also don't use the current CDC and they don't have the same issues. There is more than meets the eye with the data that is selectively used to protect the dollar stream.

[Steve D]

Phil G -
There is not a single study, nor any scientific evidence at all, that supports your assertion of "too many, too soon", which is today's mantra of the anti-vaccine movement.
Your aluminum calculation is predicated on a child receiving several hundred vaccines every day, as it compares safe levels in a vaccine to safe levels in drinking water. In truth, a vaccine contains less aluminum than a bottle of baby formula.
And yes, something did change to cause the shift in #'s you are describing - what changed is what is included in the diagnosis of autism. in 1994, Autism Spectrum Disorder was defined in the DSM-IV, effectively bringing PDD and Asperger's Syndrome under the Autism umbrella. Further, IDEA changes required schools and other data gatherers to report autism as a category instead of lumping it in with MR or other LD's. Real prevalence may be up, but no epidemic exists.

Apologies to the blog author, as you seem to have drawn some ill-informed anti-vaccine types with this post. This always happens when people write in support of vaccines.

[Steve D]

Bob -
Autism, by definition, is diagnosed by age 3. Childhood vaccines largely are done prior to age 3. No magic must exist for a temporal relationship to exist. However, correlation does not equal causation, and numerous real studies have failed to provide even the first shred of evidence that this hypothesized causal relationship exists.
Falling back on con$piracy theories does not a strong argument make.
And parents are not crucified if they do not vaccinate, in most states they have a right to object and abstain for a number of reasons. They can be very selective about which vaccines are administered. If only killer diseases were selective about their victims, we wouldn't have to worry so much about it.

[Strange study]

Steve D.

I have read studies confirming that viruses due effect early brain developement. As far as the measles virus tell me the last time it was given as an individual vaccine. I think about how much crap you are pumping into a infant that weighs less than most peoples fat heads.

[Steve D]

Phil G -
Really? Do you think we have good data on China - a country over over a billion people, largely rural and well outside the reach of public health authorities? A country that does not use the DSM-IV to diagnose as we do (granted, the ICD is similar). Since we don;t have the ability to reliably compare autism prevalence state-to-state, why on Earth would you believe that we can compare data reliably with China or Holland?
Perhaps you could direct us to a link that verifies your assertion that China has "gone back" to the 1983 CDC schedule. Does this mean they don't vaccinate for Rotavirus, which kills tens of thousands per year in developing nations?

[JBarnes]

Thank you, Steve D, for defending vaccination. I am worried about the dangers of these diseases becoming widespread as parents avoid vaccinating their children. It is far too easy to disregard science in favor of hearsay 'evidence' on blogs. I am proudly vaccinating my own children.

[Sullivan]

"Perhaps you could direct us to a link that verifies your assertion that China has "gone back" to the 1983 CDC schedule."

Steve, you will find the China vaccine schedule here: http://www.who.int/vaccines/globalsummary/immunization/countryprofileresult.cfm?C=%27CHN%27

The China schedule does not resemble the 1980 US schedule at all. At present, they do not seem to be adopting the Rotavirus vaccine. That appears to be a shame, since China is one country losing thousands to the disease.

JapEnc 8 months; 2 years; Part of country
[or 8 months (x2); 2, 6 years;]
Measles 8, 18-24 months;
MenA 6-18 months (x2); Part of country
MenAC 2, 6 years; Part of country
MMR 18-24 months; Part of country
MR 8 months; Part of country
OPV 2, 3, 4 months; 4 years;
BCG birth;
DT 6 years;
DTaP 3, 4, 5, 18-24 months; Part of country
DTwP 3, 4, 5, 18-24 months;
HepA 18, 18-30 months; Part of country
HepB birth; 1, 6 months;

[Sullivan]

PhilG demonstrates the misinformation campaign that follows vaccines around. If he has good data on the incidence of autism over time in China, I for one would love to see it. Given that there isn't even good data (yet) for Korea, a much more developed Asian country, the idea of there good data in China is a stretch. As SteveD points out, we don't even have good enough data in the US to clearly show that the autism rate is changing or stable.

[TedC]

It's a cumulative effect, or total weight and it's about bombarding immature immune systems with multiple vaccines at once. It not about "no vaccines", but rather safety in vaccination. The DSM is outdated. So much arrogance substituting for knowledge; I only see more of the same here. Vaccines are not what people think they are and we are only now beginning to understand the cumulative effect on young developing immune systems.

[mike stanton]

Steve D,
please accept my thanks as well. I am from the UK and the vaccine-autism hoax seems to have started in my country (sorry about that) with the hypothesis that MMR causes autism.

As I understand it this new study is an attempt to replicate the findings of the 1998 study by Andrew Wakefield et al at the Royal Free Hospital in London that started the MMR-autism scare. In the past all the academic studies that have exonerated the MMR vaccine and have failed to support Wakefield have been criticized because they did not test for measles RNA in biopsies from autistic children with GI disorders.

Well that is just what this study did. And it could not replicate Wakefield's findings. More to the point, one of the labs that was used in this study was also used by Wakefield. Its findings then were ruled invalid because of cross contamination and technical errors which failed to detect this. Presumably they have solved those problems by now. And guess what? When they repeat the experiment they, along with two other independent research laboratories, fail to replicate their earlier results. That seems like conclusive evidence to me that this study is on the money.

[Laure]

People really need to read up on the controversy behind the original study by Dr. Wakefield, and why not subsequent studies have been able to support any MMR-autism link. Dr. Wakefield was paid almost $1 million by attorneys trying to find someone to sue for their clients' autism. This was on top of the money officially given to him for the study. The $1 million was never disclosed, but it was eventually found out.

It is amazing how much was made out of a study that was so suspicious to begin with, and which most of the co-authors later said was wrong.

Also, when people talking about autism rates rising, don't forget that we screen for this much more than before, and the spectrum has been broadened. What I mean by that is, there are kids on the low level of the autism scale (Asperger's, etc.) that would have never been classified as autistic in the past.

[Pete]

This is just the medical (a.k.a. the drug) industry using bogus research to protect its abhorent bahavior again from litigation.

[youSoWrong]

TedC
FYI "young and immature immune cells" are capable of engulfing and presenting/educating the immune system with much more (100-1000 fold more by weight) foreign bodies than mature immune dendritic cells. Inexperienced immune systems are the strongest immune systems and this is when they need to be taught. The scary thing is these diseases will become more prevalent because people associate correlations as cause and effect.

[EnuffsEnuff]

Why do ppl insist drug companies are covering this up? Does anyone honestly believe they'd be interested in protecting their bottom line if they know they are going to end up paying more than they are profiting from settlements? What's scary is children have already died because of this correlation...i.e. parents have treated their children with metal chelating agents i.e. EDTA to bind up all the harmful metals in the system problem is it bound up the helpful ones to...i.e. ones the heart needs to beat...end result = death

[Ed]

JBarnes,

If you and your children are "proudly" vaccinated then why are you "worried about the dangers of these diseases becoming widespread" If we(the rest of us) don't want to risk our children becoming vegetables from getting pumped full of chemicals every 2 months after birth then so be it. We will be the ones to suffer. I just hope your proudly vaccinated children don't ever come down with autism or other learning disabilities before they do find out what is causing the obvious boom in childhood learning disabilities.
So they say we are having an "OUTBREAK" of measles in the US. Why is it covered so little in the media? Because there is no "OUTBREAK"
The measles outbreaks this year have infected 131 children thus far and continue to spread; 91% of the children infected were not vaccinated. The Wall Street Journal reports.
131 kids in the entire US? and 12 of them were indeed vaccinated. Most diseases in the US were already trending downward before vaccines came about. Read up some more about diseases and vaccines and their histories before worrying what everyone else is doing and falling into the Pharmaceutical companies trap. It has gotten ridiculous the vaccines people think they need. Do we really need chickenpox vaccines. COME ON.

[Open_Minded]

I am always amazed how confident people can be when there is no way to really have all the facts. Each side seems to blindly beleive all the "facts" they read and then regurgitate bits and peices to fit their argument. I have a 1 and 3 year old. I have done all the vaccines up till now. Based on the recent case the FDA settled, and on my doctor's advice, I have decided to go with individual shots rather than the MMR or MMRV. I have also decided to gradually do them over a longer schedule than recommended by the CDC. Hopefully my children will be vacciniated and suffer no side effects. I don't see how you all can be so thickheaded that you can't seem to compromise.

[mike stanton]

thermerasol or thimerosal? ( or thiomersal if you live anywhere except the USA.)
effects or affects?
due effect or do affect?
abhorent bahavior or abhorrent behavior? (or abhorrent behaviour if you speak the Queen's English.)

Not to be too picky, but all these spelling mistakes in the posts from the anti-vaxers suggest to me either a common ignorance or else a common disregard for their readers.

[Mark]

Dear Vaccine Defenders,

You cannot reason with people who willfully ignore reason. The people who have concluded that vaccines cause autism have done so without any meaningful evidence. They are therefore unlikely to allow evidence to sway their opinion.

I hate to be so cynical, but I think for most adults, it is too late for an education in science. In the long term, let's teach our kids how to gather and evaluate data for themselves, and hopefully they won't be suckered in by snake oil salesmen peddling an easy (and dangerous) answer.

[Ryan]

Scientific and it only included 25 samples?

Amazing! No wonder people don't always believe scientific studies. I'd like this group of scientists to have their certifications and diplomas revoked for being a hindrance to science.

[J Allen]

I would feel more comfortable with vaccinations if the drug companies that made them were willing to provide detailed analysis of the contents and corresponding concentrations of those contents in each vaccination. You cry patent infringement? Give me a break. No studies will be effective until we know what changes have been made in formulations both past and present, and then conduct research independent of drug company "contributions"

[Warren Dew]

Thanks to those who discussed different vaccination schedules. I hadn't realized they had changed so much since I was a kid. Now I wish I'd investigated more before accepting the currently standard set of shots for my 2 month old daughter. Compared to her tiny baby thighs, those shots are huge; how would you like shots from syringes as long as your thighs?

I have to say I find vaccinations for things that are not life threatening in the U.S., like mumps and rotavirus, to be questionable. Meanwhile, vaccines like smallpox are no longer available. Think smallpox isn't a threat? Anthrax got out of the government labs a few years back; if it had been smallpox, it would have torn through the unvaccinated population like wildfire rather than just killing the few people who came into direct contact with it.

[Steve D]

Hi Ryan -
The sample size was limited by ethical considerations. You see, since the PCR test required gut biopsies obtained via colonoscopy, the researchers only could include subjects whose GI problems had already merited the need for such an invasive procedure - they essentially piggybacked on existing scheduled tests. The sample size, therefore, was extremely difficult to expand. Perhaps you'd like to listen to the entire audio from the press conference, as linked on my blog. Then you'd not sound so pompous and, well, wrong.
Or perhaps we should take your opinion over that of the peer reviewers.

[Sharon]

Ed: Many people rely on others being vaccinated for their protection from vaccine-preventable diseases. These include those too young to be vaccinated (some vaccines can't be given during the first year of life, for instance); those with medical contraindications such as allergies; and those who have been vaccinated but whose immune systems did not respond sufficiently to create immunity. It is never claimed that vaccines are 100% effective; we rely on herd immunity to protect those who are, knowingly or unknowingly, still vulnerable. That's why it is the responsibility of everyone who can be vaccinated to become so.

This year's measles outbreaks are concerning because they represent at least twice as many cases as are typically seen in the U.S. annually, and because they come after measles was declared non-endemic in the United States. The chains of transmission will only grow longer if more parents refuse MMR vaccination for their children, and we will inevitably return to a state of measles endemicity. That would be a sad and shameful development.

If your child was one of the 100 or so in the U.S. who died of chickenpox and its complications every year before the vaccine, I bet you wouldn't dismiss it as unnecessary.

Ryan, perhaps you have more wisdom in study design than the crowd of MD's and PhD's who designed the Columbia study, but somehow I doubt it. There is such a thing as a power calculation and you can be sure that it was done and was sufficient.

J Allen, vaccine ingredients are not a secret.

[Steve D]

Sharon, thanks for addressing the concern of J Allen, who wondered about availability of content analysis.
Every vaccine is packaged with an "insert" that has all the information J Allen requires.

Warren Dew -
It may surprise you to realize that the length of the needle has no correlation to the "danger factor" of the vaccine. Heh.

[Laure]

Mark, thank you! You have summed up my thoughts completely. I love the title of this article, and how it ended with the word "again". There have been so many studies, all showing that vaccines are safe. Also, most of these studies were NOT performed by the drug companies.

This is an example of how poor our scientific education in the US is. People don't trust science because they don't understand it. I am a scientist, and I have yet to meet one scientist that did not give their kids all the vaccinations.

Ryan, you complain about the small sample size? The original "study", by Dr. Wakefield, which was shown to be highly compromised (he was bribed) only had 12 as a sample size, yet this is what all the anti-vaccine folks cling to.

[Laure]

Ryan, I forgot to add one thing. Anti-vaccine people are the last people who should complain about sample size. Up to this point, there are been thousands of points of data showing vaccines are safe. As I said earlier, the only "data" showing otherwise is Dr. Wakefield's compromised study of 12 data points. (Which 10 out of 13 of his fellow researchers later said was not good data.)

[Bob]

Ok, so this 1 study "definitively" proves no correlation? If 1 study is able to do this, then that means that the 1 study showed ketchup causes cancer (per a study performed 5 years ago) is "definitive."

[Laure]

Bob, I don't see the word "definitively" used anywhere in the article. Why are you using quotation marks?

[Sullivan]

"Compared to her tiny baby thighs, those shots are huge; how would you like shots from syringes as long as your thighs?"

Your doctor uses much bigger syringes than mine. Given a 0.5ml or 1ml dose, I don't see the volume as that big a deal.

What matters is whether they work and if there are any side effects. If you ant to compare quantity, then consider that the number of antigens in the vaccine schedule over time. It's been going down. A lot.

[Julie Crane]

Ed,
Look into what chicken pox can do to an adult or a pregnant woman and her unborn baby. Chicken Pox is very dangerous in adults. I am grateful that I was able to take the vaccine as an adult before I started teaching. You might also want to look into the life long disabilities caused by vaccine preventable diseases. I have two relatives that lost most of their hearing due to diseases now under control thanks to vaccines. I think Dr. Wakefield did a huge disservice to all the families who have children with ASD, who now are either scarred to give their children vaccines or afraid that their choice to permit vaccines for their children caused the ASD. What a horrible burden for families who already have quite enough to deal with......

[Mary]

Wow. So many critics, one possible solution: Create a study with volunteers to adopt a different vaccination schedule. Maybe two different path: same vaccine schedule delayed by 3-4 years and another schedule that spreads out all the vaccines from birth to age 5-6. Have all childern fully vaccinated by age 5-6, so no one will cry about epidemics, etc. Compare autism rates and the age when signs of autism first developed of the two groups vs the rest of the population. It's a sound, relatively low-cost study. My guess is there are enough parents with autism fears based in the "too much, too soon" category to get plenty of volunteers. It will either pimp out the vaccines as a cause or clear up the "too much too soon" cause.

[Smantha Chauncey]

The question is not whether vaccines cause autism in everyone, (obviously they don't) but whether they can cause autism in some people. I am a biologists and a soon to be mother and I have read these publications. They do not disprove the potential that certain vaccines may cause and or trigger autism in some individuals. It is just like with the influenza vaccines that can cause flu-like symptoms in some people and nothing in others, except that we are talking about a life-changing and life-long disease. As a parent and a scientist, I am not convinced!

[Cathy]

Last year I read an article explaining that children with autism lack a gene that helps with detoxifying the body. Thus injections of therimosal from vaccines would cause effects on the little bodies that are developing so rapidly. I am not for or against vaccines. I am undecided. I believe more research needs to be done. The above article does not prove that vaccines do not cause autism.

I do believe there is a link between vaccines and autism. It is too coincidental that parents notice "different" behaviours in their children often after the vaccine is given. If there was no support for the therimosal causing toxic effects in the body, then therimosal would never have been pulled from vaccines. I believe it was in the year 2000 or 2001 that therimosal was not being used anymore. However, after this date some of the vaccines that contained the therimosal were still around and still being used.

Either stance you take, you can google and find information and "studies" that try to argue either way. Perhaps the proper studies are not being done. Unfortunately the drug companies will not support a kind of study that could potentially put them to blame.

Cathy