HHS HealthBeat (October 23, 2008)

Clearing vaccination again

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Parents want kids to grow up healthy, so most parents get their youngsters immunized against diseases like measles, mumps and rubella.

But some parents were concerned that vaccinations for measles, mumps and rubella could somehow cause autism. So researchers have been investigating.

Their studies find no such risk. And one of the latest supports that, by checking whether onset of disease preceded or followed vaccination, and looking for persistent viral infection in children with autism. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health:

``Our findings indicate that the vaccine is safe. We hope that these results will persuade at least some parents who might not otherwise have done so to vaccinate their children.’’ (8 seconds)

The study in the online Public Library of Science was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October, 22 2008