MMR vaccine not linked to autism, even in high-risk kids
For years, skeptical parents have claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism – a small but vocal group who refuse to vaccinate their kids based on a now discredited study linking vaccines to autism.
The study was published in a British Medical Journal in 1998, and the doctor has since been stripped of his license.
Now, a new study published Tuesday is just the latest piece of research to debunk the myth associating the MMR vaccine with autism.
And this one is big.
It followed more than 95,000 children over 11 years. Researchers paid particular attention to children who had older siblings with autism, or autism spectrum disorder, which puts them at higher genetic risk of developing autism.
Researchers say they found no harmful association between the vaccine and the development of an autism spectrum disorder.
The study also found that children who had an older sibling with autism were about 10 percent less likely to get the measles vaccination.