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CALLS for a public inquiry into the controversial
MMR jab have intensified after it emerged an autistic Welsh schoolboy
was infected with vaccine-strain measles.
Parents of other autistic children have joined
Oliver Loch's mother Julie in her demands for an immediate independent
investigation, despite a leading expert yesterday claiming there was no
evidence of a link between the triple vaccine and autism.
Mrs Loch believes six-year-old Oliver's form of
regressive autism was caused by the MMR injection.
Blood and tissue tests have revealed the same
strain of measles used in the vaccine is present in Oliver's body and it
is feared the disease has spread to his brain.
The Autism Research Campaign for Health last night
repeated Mrs Loch's calls for an inquiry into the links between autism
and MMR.
Member Martin Hewitt said, "There is growing
concern about MMR. This is a public issue and I think that the
Government should recognise that and set up a public inquiry. It's the
only way to quash all the differences of opinion around this issue."
But child psychiatrist Prof Christopher Gillberg
yesterday told a national autism conference he had not seen a "shred of
evidence" to link the measles, mumps and rubella vaccination to
childhood autism.
"I think this whole MMR business has taken on
proportions that have hampered research into autism. People are
concentrating so much on disputing this or finding that in relation to
MMR, when there has never been any strong evidence that this would be a
road we should be travelling." His comments coincided with the launch of
a Department of Health website dedicated to reassuring parents the MMR
vaccine is safe.
Mrs Loch, who lives near Newport, said, "The kind
of autism children like Oliver are developing is different from classic
autism which children have from birth and they don't achieve the normal
milestones. Parents know from day one.
"This group of children with regressive autism like
Oliver develop normally for years then start to regress. This used to be
rare but now we are hearing more and more about it. In some cases the
MMR vaccination is triggering autism."
Deborah Riding, of Desumo Healthcare which has
organised single-vaccine clinics in Swansea, said, "The parents of
autistic children who come to us believe very differently - their
children were developing fine until they had MMR."
The MMR vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1988
but a decade later Dr Andrew Wakefield first suggested there was a link
between it and a rise in autism and bowel disorders.
The Government's target take-up rate is 95pc but
just 82.5pc of children received it in Wales. In some areas the figure
is lower, and Welsh GPs have warned the country faces a potentially
lethal outbreak of measles if vaccine rates fall below 80pc.
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