MMR and autism have become indelibly linked in the public consciousness.
What about MMR and asthma?
A study in the December 1st American Journal of Epidemiology asks if there is an association between receiving the MMR vaccine and asthma in early childhood. 871,234 children were examined; researchers Anders Hviid and Mads Melbye looked at rates of hospitalization in those with asthma diagnoses and (for a subset of the cohort) the use of anti-asthma medications. Significantly larger numbers of children who had received the MMR vaccine were less often hospitalized with an asthma diagnosis and also used anti-asthma medication less than unvaccinated children. …read more

Here’s what readers have been saying in a very busy week in which we learned, or learned again, that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism:
Norah on whether the term “mild autism” is still in use and Larry on the “pop psychology typical of wired [magazine].”
Ongoing discussion about stem cell therapy as an autism treatment, and about the death of Shirley Meade at a camp after being given the wrong medication.
Jaz on what it’s been like in Illinois on a 49-year-old younger brother who was “on a waiting list for a home for 20 years after contacting an advocate he …read more

Sometimes I think this blog is in danger of becoming a vaccine blog, as vaccines are so frequently a topic here. There’s what some refer to as their right to vaccinate or not. There’ve been recent outbreaks of measles and mumps, with many cases among unvaccinated persons. There’s the fear that vaccines or something in vaccines might be connected to autism.
Indeed, it’s “fear of autism” that is the reason for the continued talk about vaccines and autism. Anti-vaccine/pro-vaccine-safety advocates say that they want to “change the schedule” and to “make vaccines safer” to ensure that future generations of children do …read more