Wakefield et al Lancet Summary

A study conducted in 1998 by Wakefield and Lancet found an association between gastrointestinal disease and developmental regression in a group of children reported as previously normal. This may be associated with possible environmental triggers, including the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination, as reported by the parents of the children. The test group was a group of 12 children, 11 of them boys, between the ages of 3 and 10 with an average of 6 years old. They all had a history of normal development and were then referred to a paediatric gastroenterology unit with a loss of acquired skills, including language, and diarrhea and abdominal pain. For 8 of the children, their parents or physician had identified a notable link between this vaccination and the onset of their behavioral problems. In some cases the children completely lost their language and communication skills and 10 of the children were diagnosed with autism, in some form. 5 of the children showed an early, adverse reaction to the vaccination, including convulsions, rash, delirium, and fever.  In this study the children were thoroughly assessed, ruling out a wide variety of neurological and gastrointestinal abnormalities. The intestinal abnormalities that were identified, ranging from lymphoid nodular hyperplasia to aphthoid ulceration, were fairly consistent across the test group. Wakefield and Lancet state that they prove no connection between the mumps, measles, and rubella vaccination and these problems, just that they found chronic intestinal issues (chronic enterocolitis) to be linked to neuropsychiatric dysfunction and, in most cases, this was onset after the vaccination.