Is the MMR vaccine safe?

Curbside ConsultIs the MMR vaccine safe?Media reports in 1998 of a possible link between the combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR) and autism or bowel disease have made many parents question the vaccination.Understanding their concerns and being familiar with the current scientific evidence about the safety of MMR are important if physicians are to allay doubts about the vaccine.Many parents worry that MMR may cause autism or bowel disease.But the UK Department of Health, the World Health Organization, and UK medical establishments-such as the British Medical Association and the medical royal colleges-do not believe that MMR is linked to these conditions.They give several reasons. WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYSA study in Lancet by Wakefield and colleagues originally sparked the MMR and autism scare, 1 but the study has been criticized for 2 reasons.First, the investigation included only 12 children, 9 of whom were diagnosed as being autistic.This sample is too small to make any claims regarding a possible connection between MMR and autism.About 600,000 children per year have been given the MMR vaccine in the United Kingdom since its introduction in 1988.Second, the study had a strong selection bias.In 8 cases, the parents themselves had attributed their child's problems to MMR.Any apparent link between MMR and autism may arise because the age when MMR is first given (12-15 months) coincides with the age when autism is first recognized.2 Independent expert reviews have found no good evidence to link MMR and autism.In March 1998, a Medical Research Council seminar in the United Kingdom-comprising 37 experts in virology, epidemiology, gastroenterology, immunology, pediatrics, autism, and child psychiatry-examined published and unpublished "evidence" 3 but concluded that none supported the MMR-