A new study of all children born in Denmark has once again debunked the claim that a link exists between the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and being diagnosed with autism.
That's according to a ten-year nationwide study conducted by researchers at the Statens Serum Institut, in Copeenhagen. Scientists say it's the largest single study on autism and vaccinations so far. Researchers followed 657,461 children between 1999 and 2010 with 95 percent of those children receiving the MMR vaccine. Of those 657,461, 6,517 were diagnosed with autism.
"It is time to bury the hypothesis that MMR causes autism," Dr. Mads Melbye, study author, professor, and director of the Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark, told Healthline.com. "The fact that we were able to study ALL Danish children forward in time, with high-quality information on who and when they were vaccinated with MMR, and then, from other independent registries, who of the children developed autism, gives high credibility to the result of this study."
The study was published last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Data from the study showed the MMR vaccine did not increase the risk of autism, nor did it trigger autism in children believed to be susceptible. In fact, researchers found that in a subgroup of girls, the MMR vaccine actually reduced the risk of autism by between 16 and 21 percent.
“Both the study we just did and the one we published in 2002 in New England Journal of Medicine, are based on very large cohorts and on register information of high validity. And both found no difference in risk of autism in those MMR-vaccinated compared to not vaccinated,” said Melbye.
Measles has made something of a comeback across the United States this year as more Americans travel to countries where the disease is more prevalent and people refuse to get vaccinated. So far in 2019, the Centers for Disease Control says there has been 704 individual cases of measles confirmed in 22 states - the largest outbreak since measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000. Experts say depending on what year you were born, you may need to get a second shot. Those born between 1957 and 1989 only received one dose of the MMR vaccine, which may not be enough to fully protect them during an outbreak.Two doses is believed to offer 97 percent protection against measles.
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