Bowel virus, autism and MMR

  • The Daily Mail (1) reported that a study has detected a viral infection in the bowels of children who 'became autistic' after the MMR jab.

  • The research (2), published in November 2003, was an in vitro laboratory study in which biopsy specimens of the bowel were obtained from 131 children undergoing investigation for gastrointestinal symptoms. Of these children, 52 had autistic spectrum disorder and 79 were developmentally normal and formed a control group. Of the 79, 25 had normal and 54 had abnormal histological findings. The study found evidence of a distinct pattern of immune system response in children with autism compared to those in the control group.

  • The research did not investigate links between MMR and bowel disease. There was no record in the paper of whether the children had received MMR and no information to suggest that the children had developed autism after vaccination.

Systematic reviews

Information staff at CRD searched for systematic reviews relevant to this topic. Systematic reviews are valuable sources of evidence as they locate, appraise and synthesize all available evidence on a particular topic.

There were no related systematic reviews identified on the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), although there is one review which is currently being completed and will be available in the future (3). No related systematic reviews were found on the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE).

This report has been prepared for the National electronic Library for Health by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, based at the University of York

References and resources

1. Bowel virus found in autistic children who had MMR jab. Daily Mail, 13 January 2004, p16.

2. Ashwood P, Murch S, Anthony A, et al. Intestinal lymphocyte populations in children with regressive autism: evidence for extensive mucosal immunopathology. Journal of Clinical Immunology 2003;23:504-517.

3. Bianco E, Price D, Jefferson T, Demicheli V. Vaccines for measles mumps and rubella in children (Protocol for a Cochrane Review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4, 2003. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Consumer information

NHS - MMR The Facts

Health Education Board for Scotland (HEBS) - MMR Information Centre

Department of Health - Measles Mumps Rubella vaccine