University of Sydney – Researchers at the University have found no link between autism and vaccines, the Guardian newspaper report.
The results published in the journal Vaccine, gathered information on all studies carried out on links between autism and vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, as well as MMR.
The data covered more than 1.25 million children from the US, UK, Japan and Denmark.
The research found no risk of autism associated with any of the vaccines tested.
Associate professor Guy Eslick, who led the research, said:
“The findings were saying nothing. The odds ratio came up null, null, null. That means there’s no connection,” . “You can’t get better than that.”
Andrew Wakefield first sparked fears that autism was linked to childhood vaccination in 1998, however his study was subsequently retracted.
The Guardian reports that immunisation coverage in Australia is high:
‘but about 75,000 children are still not fully vaccinated. About 15,000 of these children have been registered by their parents as conscientious objectors.’
The original article by Michael Safi in The Guardian can be read here