Table 7. Specific association of variant autism and the MMR vaccine.
GI: gastrointestinal; ASD: autistic spectrum disorder; MMR: Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine; OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval [4]
| Source | Analysis | Findings |
| Peltola et al. [12] 1998 | Case series: conducted follow-up of 31 vaccinated children reported to have Gl tract symptoms (of about 3 million vaccine doses) | No cases of ASD in these children (after a mean follow-up of nine years and three months) |
| Fombonne and Chakrabarti et al. [18] 2001 | Cross-sectional study: compared rates of the developmental regression in samples of autistic children before and after the introduction of the MMR vaccine. The compared mean interval from MMR to parental concern in autistic children with and without regression. Determined rates of childhood disintegrative disorder after the introduction of the MMR vaccine sample | Rate of any developmental regression reported in post-MMR sample = 15.6%; in pre-MMR sample = 18.4% (p > 0.15) Mean interval in patients with ASD and regression, 248 days: in patients with ASD who did not have regression, 272 days (p > 0.05). Low incidence of childhood disintegrative disorder in the epidemiological sample after MMR vaccination (0.6/10,000) |
| Taylor et al. [19] 2002 | Time-series: identified if there was an increasing percentage of children with ASD and either Gl tract symptoms or regression between 1979 and 1998 (MMR vaccine introduced in 1998). Case series: determined whether MMR vaccine was received before the development of parental concern, after the development of concern, or not at all in autistic children with Gl tract symptoms or developmental regression | No increase in percentages of children with ASD who had either bowel symptoms (OR = 0.98; 95% Cl = 0.93-1.04; p = 0.50) or who had regression (OR = 0.98; Cl = 0.93-1.03; p = 0.47) over the entire period of Gl tract symptoms: 19% received MMR vaccine before parental concern, 15% after concern, and 16% did not receive MMR vaccine (p = 0.48). Regression: 26% received MMR vaccine before parental concern, 26% after concern, 30% did not receive MMR vaccine (p = 0.83) |
| Makela et al. [21] 2002 | Retrospective cohort: determined if any recipients of MMR vaccines hospitalized with autism were also hospitalized with inflammatory bowel disease | No hospital visits for inflammatory bowel disease among 309 children hospitalized with autism |