Darius has turned 6 months old as of today, and it’s time for his next 6-in-1 vaccination jab.

By chance, I stumbled upon some websites correlating autism with vaccination for infants and there’s numerous articles from both sides of the fence. Some have argued that the MMR (combined vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination might cause an infant to become autistic while some defended that there’s no proof in such correlation.

I’m unable to determine who’s right or wrong, so I’m taking this opportunity to share with you what I’ve read and perhaps someone could help provide a better insight into this issue.

This article titled ‘Vaccines and Autism‘ contains some emails from mothers depicting change in their children’s behaviour after they have been injected with the MMR vaccination. Truths or myths? Here’s some of the emails from the site for you to decide:

• I feel that my country is letting me down. My daughter developed early with her speech at under six months old. She was such a happy baby who loved nothing more than physical contact. And then came the imminent choice of the MMR. After much deliberation, I decided to vaccinate our daughter. How I wish I could turn back time. Her speech disappeared, her early skills had also gone, and suddenly it seemed as if she had forgotten everything she once knew. It was as if someone had stolen my daughter away from me. Of course, physically she looked the same, but the baby I knew was locked inside her own mind. We are now awaiting diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder, and while the doctors are fine talking about her condition, the room falls silent at the mention of MMR. We know what that shot has done to our child. Isn’t it blatantly obvious to the rest of the world? I’ve come to the conclusion that the world has gone mad, but amongst the madness I’m focused on staying sane and being the voice of my daughter. One day our silent children will speak for themselves.

• I am the mother of a 4 1/2 year old boy who is now in the process of being tested for autism. My son was a happy and carefree little boy until he went in for his four-year well-check to receive his booster shots. My son changed — his smile, his speech regressed, he seemed withdrawn and not like the little boy I knew. I was scared and confused, so I called his doctor. We told her how our son changed suddenly and drastically after his shots. Of course, I was told that there is no link between his behavior and the vaccinations, that this is the age when children are usually diagnosed — it is just a coincidence that the vaccines that are given at his well-check is usually the time when a child is diagnosed.

There are also threads in local parenting forums discussing about vaccinating their children and whether they should vaccinate them in single or combined jabs. Reactions are mixed but as parents, we of course want the best for our children while minimising risks of any adverse side-effects.

The following article from Baby Center quotes an infectious disease expert saying that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism:

A number of other studies have compared the incidence of autism among children who received the MMR vaccine and those who didn’t, and concluded that autism isn’t more common in vaccinated children.. Ten studies performed on three continents involving tens of thousands of children have now clearly shown that MMR does not cause autism.

Most experts think that autism may be at least partly genetic, and point out that there’s no plausible way for a vaccine to trigger it. After all, there’s no known connection between measles, mumps, or rubella and autism. It doesn’t make sense that a vaccine would cause a condition that the disease itself doesn’t cause, since a vaccine is essentially a symptomless infection.

It’s also important to point out that the MMR vaccine never contained thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative that some people believe may be linked with autism. (Thimerosal has now been removed from all childhood vaccines except the flu vaccine, so it’s no longer a concern.) Nevertheless, the Centers for Disease Control continues research in this area to try and resolve the issue.

Lastly, there is this recent study that says combination vaccines are safe and effective for infants:

Thu, Jan 8, 2009 (Reuters Health) — A combination vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio and flu, which is routinely used in Canadian children, has been shown to be effective and well tolerated in a U.S. study.

 ….

Nearly 2000 infants were vaccinated at 2, 4, and 6 months of age, either with the DTaP5-IPV-Hib combination vaccine (Pentacel; Sanofi Pasteur Ltd., Toronto, Ontario) or with the DTaP5, IPV and Hib vaccines administered separately. Some babies in each group were also given fourth dose of DTaP5-IPV-Hib or of the DTaP5 and Hib vaccines as toddlers.

In the journal Pediatrics, Dr. Fernando A. Guerra of the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District in Texas and colleagues report that, compared with licensed vaccines, the combined vaccine was equally effective and produced similar or fewer reactions at the injection site and throughout the body.

After reading these articles, I’m not sure yet if we will make changes to Darius’ MMR vaccination in the future, but right now, we will still go ahead with this upcoming jab and trust that Darius’ well-being will not be compromised.

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