By Brian Carnell

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Well, here comes the latest round in the MMR vaccine hysteria. A study published in International Pediatrics reports that the MMR vaccine is associated with an increase in neurological disorders. But the study falls apart like tissue paper upon closer examination.

The primary problem with the study is its very design. The study compared estimates of adverse reactions among children after they were given MMR to adverse reactions after the administration of the DTP shot. But the problem here should be obvious -- the MMR is given significantly later in life, so of course more children will be diagnosed with neurological disorders after receiving the MMR than the DTP.

Specifically, the DTP is given at 2, 4 and 6 months of age, whereas the MMR is typically given somewhere in the 15-18th month of life. As Dr. Mary Ramsay of the UK's Health Protection Agency told the BBC,

The authors have estimated the rate of reported adverse reactions following MMR (given at 15-18 months of age) and compared this to the estimated rates of the same conditions reported following DTP vaccination (given at 2, 4 and 6 months) of age.

Regardless of the other weaknesses of the data, the failure to compare children of the same age is enough to explain the apparent excess of cases reported in the MMR group.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that in 2002 there were 310 cases of measles in the UK -- the most in a single year since the 1988 introduction of the MMR vaccine, so the vaccine hysteria is accomplishing something at least.

Source:

Concern over MMR safety study. The BBC, May 19, 2003.

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