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Saturday, June 15,
2002 5:30AM EDT
EDITORIAL
Good shot
Parents
understandably will turn down a vaccine that might harm their child. But
an exhaustive study of the mumps, measles and rubella shot should
reassure parents that the vaccination doesn't cause autism or a bowel
disease, as some have feared.
The vaccine, commonly called MMR, has nearly wiped out measles in the
United States and elsewhere, and it protects kids from potentially fatal
mumps and rubella, or German measles.
A report that it triggers autism and inflammatory bowel disease has
led parents in some countries to bypass the vaccine. Immunizations among
British 2-year-olds dropped to 84 percent by this February, a rate well
below the 95 percent experts say is needed to prevent measles from
returning. Fears spread to American parents as well.
Several reputable groups, including the World Health Organization,
the U.S. Institute of Medicine and Great Britain's Medical Research
Council, now have analyzed more than 2,000 studies -- the "highest
quality studies," according to an author -- conducted across 50 years,
and found no link to autism or the bowel disorder.
Fortunately, the authors went further, reviewing the study that
raised the original questions about MMR. They noted the study's small
number of subjects -- 12 children -- and that it involved surveying
parents as long as 8 years after the vaccination was given.
It would be a shame if these serious illnesses gained a new foothold
in some countries, and weren't pushed further toward eradication in
others, out of unfounded fears. The new analysis gives parents a needed
shot in the arm toward having their children protected.
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