The United States is facing a surge in measles cases as many parents fear that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR vaccine can cause autism in children, and for that reason they are avoiding vaccinating their children. New research has rubbished any links between the vaccine and autism and stated that there was no evidence that the MMR vaccine plays any role in Autism. The reason some parents' fears persist, could be due to a 1998 British study that linked the vaccine with a subgroup of autistic children, who also had serious gastrointestinal problems and the study reported that measles virus was lingering in the children's bowels.

Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who led the work published in PLoS One, the online journal of the Public Library of Science said, "Although in fact there was evidence that this vaccine was safe in the bulk of the population, it had not been previously assessed with respect to kids with autism and GI complaints. We are confident there is no link between MMR and autism," Lipkin added. Co-author Dr. Larry Pickering of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added, "I feel very certain that it is a safe vaccine."

Measles is a highly infectious disease which sickened thousands of children every year and killed hundreds till the vaccine were developed. As the MMR vaccine has a bit of live virus in it and can give an inflammation of the intestines which can result in toxins leaking into the bloodstream and damaging the developing brain. This fear has kept many parents from vaccinating their children against measles. In an attempt to understand the measles vaccine, Lipkin and his team worked to answer two questions; does the measles virus really linger only in the children with both disorders and not others? Secondly, did the vaccination precede the GI complaints which in turn preceded autism? To answer these questions researchers studied 25 children who had both autism and GI disorders and 13 children who had the same GI disorders but no autism. All the children had been vaccinated earlier for MMR and their average age was 5 years. As they were all to undergo a colonoscopy their tissue samples were tested for genetic traces of the measles virus. 

The tests showed traces of the measles vaccine in one boy with autism and one without autism and the researchers feel though these results don’t prove that the virus never temporarily stayed in more children, they certainly contradict the findings of the earlier study.

Dr. Mady Hornig, associate professor of epidemiology and director of Translational Research, at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health Center for Infection and Immunity said, "We find no evidence to support a link between a measles vaccine, intestinal difficulties and autism."

The National Autism Association called the study "flawed" and said that it "fell far short of what the public needs to prove safety of the MMR vaccine."
NAA Research Committee co-chair Laura Bono said, "This is exactly the type of study we've come to expect from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], one where a sweeping conclusion is made that can't be supported by the study itself."

The research has pointed out that most of the children had the intestinal problems and signs of autism even before they received the measles vaccine. Calling the results definitive and significant Dr. Marie McCormick of the Harvard School of Public Health said, "This is the nail in the coffin. The final bit of research we were looking for to finally discredit this link between the measles vaccine and autism" is proven. Although there have been dozens of studies over the years rubbishing any link between vaccines and autism the controversy still continues.

Despite all the research many parents still remain skeptical about the vaccines safety and as a result many of them avoid vaccinating their children. There were 123 cases of measles this year out of which nearly 90 % were cases who had not been vaccinated.

Rick Rollens, a California advocate, said his son has both autism and GI disorders and though the study undertaken was good it did not eliminate vaccine concerns that also need similar studies. "No longer can mainstream medicine ignore the parents' claims of significant GI distress," he said.