Study: No link between measles vaccine and autism

New research further debunks any link between measles vaccine and autism, work that comes as the nation is experiencing a surge in measles cases fueled by children left unvaccinated.

Years of research with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, better known as MMR, have concluded that it doesn't cause autism. Still, some parents' fears persist, in part because of one 1998 British study that linked the vaccine with a subgroup of autistic children who also have serious gastrointestinal problems. That study reported that measles virus was lingering in the children's bowels.

Only now have researchers rigorously retested that finding, taking samples of youngsters' intestines to hunt for signs of virus with the most modern genetic technology. There is no evidence that MMR plays any role, the international team — which included researchers who first raised the issue — reported Wednesday.

"Although in fact there was evidence that this vaccine was safe in the bulk of the population, it had not been previously assessed with respect to kids with autism and GI complaints," said Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who led the work published in PLoS One, the online journal of the Public Library of Science.

Added co-author Dr. Larry Pickering of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "I feel very certain that it is a safe vaccine."

I listened to the testimony given before congress, and while I cannot address the safety of vaccination, what I did note was a disturbing consensus: that even if there is a problem, vaccination is far better than not vaccinating.

That is, a willingness to play a numbers game. A acceptable risk to a minority, to protect the majority. And that I find disturbing.

This is because, by general agreement, if the Measles/Mumps/Rubella shot is given as three different injections, the odds of harm are thought to be much less than as a combined injection. This is because it is far less traumatic to the immune system, an astoundingly complex system, to have to respond to a single infection instead of three at the same time.

But in this testimony, it was admitted that it was extremely difficult to get even a single vaccination to all children, and the public health system cannot imagine how it could successfully administer three such injections, without missing a huge number of children.

Ironically, the end result may be a mirror image of our school systems. That is, like parents who home school or send their children to private schools, parents with concern about MMR vaccinations will arrange with their private doctor or as a group to have them given as separate vaccinations over a period of time. But the vast majority will still have their children in public school, and get the MMR.

I will leave whether MMR presents a tangible risk of autism to be discerned in the future, but I note that the Japanese have just discovered that by discontinuing a vaccination for tuberculosis, they reduced their high incidence of diabetes by 50%:

http://myturl.com/0pceJ

There is still a very great deal we do not know about the human immune system, and how even a lack of disease might be more harmful to us than the disease itself.

I was unaware of any controversy surrounding Dr. Classen, but I note the source I used cited him. Since there is a problem, I would withdraw that supporting point from my original argument, but my basic point remains: that we will probably move to a situation where the majority of parents will accept whatever risk is inherent in vaccination, and the minority will be able to get three separate vaccinations for their children.

While this doesn’t address whether or not there are risks associated with a multiple disease vaccination, it does provide some alternative to parents who are disturbed by the possibility, yet still accomplishes the goal of the most students being vaccinated, even if a tiny minority are harmed in any way.

This should not be discouraged by the health authorities, as their mission is to get universal vaccination, which is not dependent on how that is done.

I would note that there are some individuals who are firm believers that the process of universality is more important than the goal. This actually works against the mission of universal vaccination.

They hold similar beliefs that having socialized medicine as a system is far more important than actually providing quality health care. This is an inherent flaw in their belief system that tends to inhibit any mission oriented goal they attempt. In this case, it is most definitely the ends that matter, not the means to those ends.

Dr. Classen, as a web search reveals, worked for NIH for a time but has never actually practiced medicine. He started his own company that has received some patents but has done little else.
Classen’s studies are the only ones that support his contention that the timing of immunization has anything to do with diabetes. A large number of studies show the opposite and some are cited here:

“Current Evidence - No Link Between Vaccination and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus
Web site: December 1999
Prescriber Update No.19:25-27

Medsafe Editorial Team

On the basis of a postulated infectious mechanism for the development of type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus, several studies have investigated the possibility of an association with vaccination. To date support has not been obtained for associations between type 1 diabetes mellitus and BCG, MMR, pertussis or Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines.

Postulated autoimmune mechanism for suggested link with vaccines
No difference in rate of BCG vaccination between cases and controls
No association with MMR, pertussis or H. Influenzae type b
References

Postulated autoimmune mechanism for suggested link with vaccines
Several researchers have postulated that type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes mellitus may develop secondary to an abnormal immune response to some viral infections. The possibility that childhood vaccination may also be associated either negatively or positively has also been considered. The steady increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes mellitus in children in several countries1,2 has lent some credence to the possibility of a positive association. Studies in diabetic mice have found that Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has interrupted the development of diabetes mellitus.3 However, most studies in humans published to date have not supported the postulated negative association with BCG vaccine or the positive association with other vaccines, but rather have found evidence for no association.

No difference in rate of BCG vaccination between cases and controls
Classen and Classen4 studied the incidence of diabetes and the immunisation schedule in a number of developed countries and found that the countries with the lowest rates of diabetes were those with pertussis vaccine in the vaccination programme and in which infants received BCG vaccine before 2 months of age. However, 2 of the areas where neither pertussis nor BCG were part of the schedule had among the lowest annual incidence rates (Lazio and Lombardi regions of Italy with 6.5 and 6.8 cases/100,000, respectively). Further, the study did not include Finland which has the highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in children under 15 years (35.3/100,000 for 1987-89)5 and where BCG has been given at birth for several decades.1

A study6 conducted in Québec found no difference in the overall rate of BCG vaccination in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus compared with the control group in either of 2 case series. However, in one case series, BCG vaccination did appear to delay the onset of diabetes (12.2 ± 3.5 years for vaccinated compared with 9.2 ± 4.5 years for nonvaccinated) and vaccination at birth reduced the incidence.

No association with MMR, pertussis or H. Influenzae type b
Other studies have not found an association between childhood diabetes and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR),7 pertussis,8 or Haemophilus influenzae type b9 vaccines. In the study of MMR vaccine, IgG class mumps antibodies were lower in the case group with diabetes than in the controls, but the significance of this difference in antibody levels was unknown. One study10 observed a protective effect from measles vaccination and an increase in risk of type 1 diabetes with increasing load of infections.

A review by the Cochrane Collaboration Vaccines Field5 concluded that “the papers that explored the relation between vaccination and type 1 diabetes mellitus either did not find evidence of the causal link or found evidence against such a link.” Another recent review3 was in support of this conclusion. Further studies investigating this possible association are currently being conducted.11

References
Gardner SG, Bingley PJ, Sawtell PA, et al. Rising incidence of insulin dependent diabetes in children aged under 5 years in the Oxford region: time trend analysis. BMJ 1997;315:713-7.
Dokheel TM, for the Pittsburgh Diabetes Epidemiology Research Group. An epidemic of childhood diabetes in the United States? Diabetes Care 1993;16:1606-11.
Hiltunen M, Lönnrot M, Hyöty H. Immunisation and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Drug Safety 1999;20:207-12.
Classen DC, Classen JB. The timing of pediatric immunisation and the risk of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Infectious Dis Clin Practice 1997;6:449-54.
Jefferson T, Demicheli V. No evidence that vaccines cause insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. J Epidemiol Community Health 1998;52:674-5.
Parent M-E, Siemiatycki J, Menzies R. Bacille Calmette-Guérin vaccination and incidence of IDDM in Montreal, Canada. Diabetes Care 1997;20:767-72.
Hyöty H, Hiltunen M, Reunanen A, et al. Decline of mumps antibodies in Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic children and a plateau in the rising incidence of Type 1 diabetes after introduction of the mumps-measles-rubella vaccine in Finland. Diabetologia 1993;36:1303-8.
Heijbel H, Chen RT, Dahlquist G. Cumulative incidence of childhood-onset IDDM is unaffected by pertussis immunization. Diabetes Care 1997;20:173-5.
Karvonen M, Cepaitis Z, Tuomiehto J. Association between type 1 diabetes and Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination: birth cohort study. BMJ 1999;318:1169-72.
Blom L, Nyström L, Dahlquist G. The Swedish childhood diabetes study. Diabetologia 1991;34:176-81.
T Jefferson. Vaccination and its adverse effects: real or perceived. BMJ 1998;317:159-60.”

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