New research from the United States will hopefully settle once and for all the controversial debate about a link between the measles vaccine and autism.
A study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield, then of Britain's Royal Free Hospital, published in the Lancet medical journal in 1998, suggested the vaccine was linked to autism and gastrointestinal problems (GI).
Wakefield is currently subject to disciplinary action for professional misconduct by Britain's General Medical Council and 10 of his collaborators on the study have formally withdrawn their original Lancet study.
But the damage was done and thousands of parents then refused to have their children vaccinated, with the result that outbreaks of measles have become an issue in both the UK and the U.S. with the highest numbers of cases being reported for many years.
Measles is responsible for the deaths of 250,000 people a year worldwide, mostly children in poor nations.
However scientists who recently attempted to replicate Dr. Wakefield's study have been unable to find any link between the measles vaccine and autism.
It is hoped the study will restore parents confidence and prompt them to vaccinate their children to combat a spate of measles outbreaks.
The study will bolster reassurances from public health officials that the combined measles-mumps-rubella, or MMR, shot and other childhood vaccines is safe and will not cause autism or other problems.
Regardless of numerous studies and research from scientists around the world, showing no connection between autism and any vaccinations, many are still suspicious of the safety of childhood vaccines and despite the U.S. Institute of Medicine publishing several definitive reports showing no connection between autism and any vaccinations.
For the study scientists at Columbia University in New York and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) looked for evidence of genetic material from the measles virus in intestinal tissue samples taken from 25 children with autism who also had GI problems.
They then compared these to samples from 13 children of similar ages who had GI problems but no autism.