The discovery of a biological association between a measles virus and inflammatory bowel disease in a small number of autistic children "in no way" implies that the MMR vaccine causes autism, the head of the research team that made the discovery said yesterday.
Prof John J. O'Leary and his research team at Trinity College Dublin called on parents to immunise their children against measles, mumps and rubella and said it would be wrong of parents not to do so.
His team has been researching autistic children who have a novel form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
"Our research findings have demonstrated a biological association between the presence of measles virus and new variant IBD in the setting of autism," he said in a statement.
"This does in no way imply biological causation and it is incorrect for people to draw this erroneous conclusion. Indeed measles virus can be identified in normal control children." The children with the novel form of IBD "represent only a minute fraction of children with autistic spectrum disorder", he said.
Reports in British Sunday newspapers which concluded that the TCD team had found a link between the MMR vaccine and autism "are misleading, erroneous and are causing unnecessary concern to parents", he said.
"I wish to make it clear that I and my research team have consistently advocated immunisation and the use of MMR to protect the nation's children from measles," he said.