TVB pearl today 2:35pm: "MMR vs autism" (29/7)

jj06mum

name of the prog :"does MMR jab cause autism"

chanchanboy

Thanks.

smith

I missed the program.

Can anyone tell me the conclusion of the program?


SMITH

jj06mum

The conclusion favours the mainstream scientific community's view, ie MMR does not cause autism. But some parents of affected children are not convinced. the focus of the prog is on the measles virus' impact on the gut, not the mercury content. mainstream's arguments are based on epidemiologic statistics (1)denmark: comparing ASD incidence among MMR vacinated children and non-vacinated children=>no difference;2)Japan stopped MMR in 1993 but the rise of ASD still continues) and no evidence of measles virus found in blood or gut. Another important concern is on the public health, as unvacinated children may pass rubella (a very mild infection) to pregnant mothers but one that results in catastrophic damage to the feotus (eg baby born deaf and blind). Such risks are well known and proven but the link between MMR and autism is still unproven.

the parents main evidence is their own children - (onset of bowel problems and language regression shortly after vacination).

the prog appears to be from about 2005. It is from the BBC Horizon series - a long-standing popular science prog.

a few names of interest who were featured in the prog:

Dr Andrew Wakefield of Royal Free Hospital Hampstead London, who first documented the link between MMR vaccine and gut/autism in the 90s. The prog used interviews with him from 1998 and 2002 - not surprising as the prog tended to disprove his theory. Perhaps he was not interested in participating.

Dr Simon Murch, a GI specialist of the same hospital.

Dr Timothy Buie of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. a GI specialist who will be coming to the Autism Conference in hong kong on 12-13 August.