Study Shows Lower Autism Rate in Vaccinated Kids
A study just released claims that kids who are vaccinated against measles have a much lower autism rate.
The sudy was published in The Pediatric infectious disease journal.
the team is out of Poland:
Mrozek-Budzyn D, Kietyka A, Majewska R.
From the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Jagiellonian University, Collegium Medicum, Krakow, Poland.
Here is the abstract:
OBJECTIVE:: The first objective of the study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination and autism in children. The second objective was to examine whether the risk of autism differs between use of MMR and the single measles vaccine. DESIGN:: Case-control study. STUDY POPULATION:: The 96 cases with childhood or atypical autism, aged 2 to 15, were included into the study group. Controls consisted of 192 children individually matched to cases by year of birth, sex, and general practitioners. METHODS:: Data on autism diagnosis and vaccination history were from physicians. Data on the other probable autism risk factors were collected from mothers. Logistic conditional regression was used to assess the risk of autism resulting from vaccination. Assessment was made for children vaccinated (1) Before diagnosis of autism, and (2) Before first symptoms of autism onset. Odds ratios were adjusted to mother’s age, medication during pregnancy, gestation time, perinatal injury and Apgar score. RESULTS:: For children vaccinated before diagnosis, autism risk was lower in children vaccinated with MMR than in the nonvaccinated (OR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06-0.52) as well as to vaccinated with single measles vaccine (OR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.22-0.91). The risk for vaccinated versus nonvaccinated (independent of vaccine type) was 0.28 (95% CI: 0.10-0.76). The risk connected with being vaccinated before onset of first symptoms was significantly lower only for MMR versus single vaccine (OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.22-0.99). CONCLUSIONS:: The study provides evidence against the association of autism with either MMR or a single measles vaccine.
If we take these results at face value, the MMR vaccine may prevent autism. Also the single measles vaccine, recommended by Dr. Wakefield, is less “safe” than the MMR.
To be honest, I don’t think these results are consistent with previous, large population studies of MMR and autism. An odds ratio of 0.17 (meaning you are six times more likely to be autistic if you didn’t get the MMR) should have been picked up.
I look forward to reading the full study. Somehow I doubt it will be posted to the Generation Rescue or SafeMinds websites!
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The British journal that originally published the Wakefield horror, has publicly announced that it has withdrawn its support for the findings. It now unequivocally states that there is causal relationship between vaccines and autism . I guess that would put closure to the issue.
This has been a sad chapter for kids . Please vaccinate them without fear.
but I did not see in the abstraact how many children with autism were vaccinated with either vaccine or unvaccinated. And if the study was comparing vaccination and autism, exactly what who was in the control group?
I know you kinda HAVE to blog about this, but IMO this type of study just obfuscates everything. My guess is that the numbers are a weird statistical boondoggle.
Wish we could avoid "dueling" headlines and research studies... all they seem to do is fuel blog comments ad infinitum.
Sigh.
Lisa Rudy
www.autism.about.com
Obfuscation was in fact the primary objective...
"To be honest, I don’t think these results are consistent with previous, large population studies of MMR and autism . An odds ratio of 0.17 (meaning you are six times more likely to be autistic if you didn’t get the MMR) should have been picked up."
To be honest? Seriously? To not not have mentioned that, which is what I was thinking before I even got to that paragraph, would have made this a press release bordering on pro-vac propoganda.
Don't get me wrong, I'm pro-vac and think Wakefield is hack with under-reported financial conflicts of interest (his MMR study was done AFTER he invented his own single measles vaccine and only "studied" 12 patients).
However, as you mentioned, an OR of 0.17 is off the charts when compared to the large pop studies. There is an anomaly here and like you said, I can't wait to read the study or atleast wait until some of the drug and/or medicine blogging doctors and scientists read and comment on this.
I'm highly skeptical of these conclusions you have drawn but I can't exactly say "You Lie!"... Sounds like typical " science reporting" though.
I think the authors didn't "pick up" what you've inferred for a reason we both have no idea about right now but the abstract flares up my curiosity centers on their results and methods.
I think this abstract shows exactly what the authors actually wrote and if what you imagine they didn't "pick up" on was true, it would mean that BOTH sides of the Autism/Vaccination debate are fundimentally wrong on a large portion of their understanding of this (pros wrong on affects of something in vaccinations, and antis ass backwards on the negative affects) which would be amazing scientifically but throw into question a large portion of our understanding of how vaccinations and their component parts may affect neural growth.
What does this all mean? I'm going to err on the side of what the scientists wrote, the only assumption I'm going to make is that the study showed the stated results and not any specific 'benefit' from MMR, and wait to here how the community digests this interesting abstract.
Any scientists or doctors here that are more closely involved with pharmacological studies? Maybe DrugMonkey (from scienceblogs.com) will have something on this soon, if not already. But I'm sure the folks at Discover, Skeptic, or Scientific American will be on top of this in a no time.
From what I have read the difference stems from the ant-vax movement. Parents with autistic children that blame vaccines for autism do not get their other children vaccinated... and as there is suspected to be a genetic component to autism those children are more likely to be autistic.