The measles virus has been found in the blood of autistic children,
fuelling fears that their lifelong condition was caused by the
controversial MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella.
One of the autistic children whose blood has tested positive for
the measles virus is Angus Kyle, from Inverness, who is part of the
legal case against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine.
Angus's blood was analysed using a new DNA test at the laboratory
of Professor John O'Leary, at the Coombe Women's Hospital in Dublin.
The blood test is called TaqMan PCR and can detect sections of the
measles virus gene.
Professor O'Leary, a molecular pathologist, published a paper
earlier this year suggesting a link between the measles virus, autism
and a related bowel disorder. He found fragments of the strain of
measles from the MMR vaccine in the guts of 12 autistic children who
had received the triple injection.
The measles virus in Angus's blood has not yet been identified as
the vaccine strain but as the 10-year-old has never suffered from the
disease, it is suspected that it came from the MMR jab.
In a letter to Angus's mother, Dr Andrew Wakefield -- the
consultant who first raised fears of a link between the MMR vaccine,
autism and bowel disease -- suggests the virus has moved from the gut
into the bloodstream. He says Angus is suffering from a condition
called 'persistent measles virus'.
The letter states: 'This test was done to detect measles virus that
may be being released into the blood from a site of infection
somewhere in the body, such as lymph nodes in the gut.
'Immune cells that can harbour measles virus are continuously being
exchanged between the intestine and the blood, so measles virus found
in these blood cells would imply that it is being slowly replicated at
the site of chronic infection, and released into the blood.
'In the peripheral blood sample taken from Angus, measles virus was
found. The implications for Angus's health are uncertain.'
Angus's parents, Sheila and Ian Kyle, paid £230 for the test to be
carried out privately. The couple are now campaigning for an estimated
20,000 autistic children in the UK to be given the same test on the
NHS.
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