Mental Health Update | As the data becomes more available and interpreted, researchers want to know the impact of getting ASD from receiving MMR vaccines.
The answers to tough questions as this are always going to be challenged, that is one of our core aspects of being human. ASD studies have recently revealed:
Receipt of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), even in children already at a higher risk for Autism, according to a new study published in JAMAnetwork.com. Here is a deeper look at how they got there:
Anjali Jain, MD, of the Lewin Group in Falls Church, VA, and colleagues reviewed data on 95,727 children who have older siblings with and without ASD from an administration claims database associated with a large commercial health plan.
- Children were eligible if they were continuously enrolled in the health plan from birth to at least 5 years of age from 2001–2012 and had an older sibling continuously enrolled for at least six months from 1997–2012.
- MMR vaccine receipt between birth and 5 years of age and date of administration of the trivalent MMR (or the last-administered component of monovalent vaccines) were also assessed.
- About 2% of the children had an older sibling with an ASD diagnosis and approximately 1% of children received an ASD diagnosis during follow-up. In the children who had an older sibling with ASD, 6.9% were also diagnosed with ASD vs. the 0.9% diagnosed with ASD that had unaffected siblings.
- The MMR vaccination rate (one or more doses) for the children with unaffected siblings was 84% at age 2 years and 92% at age 5 years; the MMR vaccination rates for children with older siblings with ASD was 73% at age 2 years and 86% at age 5 years.
Bottom Line autism studies: No association between MMR vaccination and increased ASD risk was observed among the study participants, regardless of whether the older siblings had an ASD diagnosis.
As more data becomes available (the world is always in need for improvement), prescribers will have improved ways for applying this information to specific populations, it is a positive sign that research indicates no harm between MMR vaccines and ASD, even in those children already at a high risk.
