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Studies Find Autism Not Caused by Vaccinations

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 3, 2005

Autism • Victory for Autistic Children in Michigan • Federal Court: MMR Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism • Mercury Exposure, Autism Linked In Study • UCLA Researchers Find Autism Gene • Autism Fad Treatments On the Rise • CDC Study Finds Autism More Widespread than Previously Thought • Older Fathers More Likely to Have Autistic Children • Many Pediatricians Fail to Screen for Autism • Schizophrenia Drug May Be Effective in Autism • Studies Find Autism Not Caused by Vaccinations • Old Vaccines May Pose Autism Risk to Children --- • News for Parents

A comprehensive review finds that the MMR vaccine, which protects against mumps, measles and rubella or German measles, does not cause serious childhood illness like autism or inflammatory bowel disease.

That's the conclusion of a review of 31 studies involving more than 12 million children published online by the Cochrane Library.

The analysis looked at a variety of studies, including many double-blind studies in which children got fake injections or no injections at all.

Overall, the authors found that vaccinated children had fewer upper respiratory infections but more irritability, fever and joint aches right after vaccination.

The study found no association between MMR and autism or other bowel disorders that a lot of parents worry about.

This study supports the well-established position of all the major pediatric medical societies that autism starts in the womb and has no relationship to any of the childhood vaccinations.

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