Lewin Group – A new study carried out on more than 95,000 children has revealed that measles, mumps, and rubella do not pose increased risk of autism. This was established by a research team led by Dr. Anjali Jain of the Lewin Group, after comparing siblings of autistic children who were vaccinated to those who were not. The results were that vaccinated children were not likely to develop the disorder.
A previous research had indicated that children with older brothers or sisters with autism had increased the risk of becoming autistic. Hence, more attention was paid to these kinds of children and to those who had ASD.
According to some parents, their older offspring’s autism was related to vaccinations such as the MMR vaccine and the reason they were not willing to have their younger children immunized.
Anjali Jain, who is a pediatrician at the Lewin Group and worked on the study, has since clarified the misconception. He has stated that there is no evidence of any harmful association identified between the receipt of the MMR vaccine and the autism spectrum disorder development.
There have been dozens of measles-related cases in the recent months whose unfounded fears have linked them to vaccines and autism. However, there is a lot of research going on to prove these unfounded fears wrong.
The study which was funded by National Institutes of Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was intended to relieve off fear in many parents who have autistic offspring. Another significant part of the study is that the data accumulated would act as a major health insurance computer database that would put more emphasizes on the independence and objectiveness of the research.
This myth about a link between vaccines and autism is said to have been propagated by a small but vocal group of anti-vaccine activists. An individual doctor had also published a discredited study in the British medical journal. However, the same doctor was stripped off his license.
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