MMR Vaccine

Because of a study done in 1997, many parents now worry about the links between MMR and autism. The MMR vaccine is given to infants between twelve and fifteen months old in order to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella (the German measles). After this study was published by a British researcher named Andrew Wakefield, many parents were coming forward and claiming that their children’s sudden changes in behavior were from the vaccine. Wakefield claimed that the vaccine caused an inflammation in the gut which allowed unspecified toxins to enter the bloodstream, ultimately leading to the brain. In my opinion, from a scientific point of view, this makes perfect sense, but when further researched, scientists still say that there is no link between MMR and autism. A very important reason why I do not agree with the theory that there is a link between the MMR vaccine and autism has to do with a chronological point of view. The MMR vaccine was developed in 1963 and began being used for child immunizations in 1971. Autism rates only began to increase in the past twenty years or so, leading me to question how they could be related. How can a vaccine that has been used for over forty years in infants only show an increase in autism in a different group of patients in the last twenty years or so?

Source: http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/advice_from_doctors/your_childs_health/mmr_vaccine_and_autism