By Denis Campbell
The Observer UK
Sunday 08 July 2007
Experts "concerned" by dramatic rise. Questions over
triple jab for children.
The number of children in Britain with autism is far
higher than previously thought, according to dramatic new
evidence by the country's leading experts in the field.
A study, as yet unpublished, shows that as many as one in
58 children may have some form of the condition, a lifelong
disability that leads to many sufferers becoming isolated
because they have trouble making friends and often display
obsessional behaviour.
Seven academics at Cambridge University, six of them from
its renowned Autism Research Centre, undertook the research by
studying children at local primary schools. Two of the
academics, leaders in their field, privately believe that the
surprisingly high figure may be linked to the use of the
controversial MMR vaccine. That view is rejected by the rest of
the team, including its leader, the renowned autism expert,
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.
The team found that one in 58 children has either autism
or a related autistic spectrum disorder. Nationwide, that could
be as many as 210,000 children under 16. The research is
significant because that figure is well above the existing
estimate of one in 100, which specialist bodies such as the
National Autistic Society have until now accepted as correct. It
is also significantly more than the previous highest estimate of
one in 86, which was reported in research published last year in
the Lancet.
Some experts who previously explained the rise in autism
as the result of better diagnosis and a broader definition of
the condition now believe the upward trend revealed by studies
such as this indicates that there has been a real rise in the
numbers of children who are affected by it. Although the new
research is purely statistical and does not examine possible
explanations for the rise, two of the authors believe that the
MMR jab, which babies receive at 12 to 15 months, might be
partly to blame. Dr Fiona Scott and Dr Carol Stott both say it
could be a factor in small numbers of children.
Professor Baron-Cohen,
director of the centre and the country's foremost authority on
the condition, said he did not believe there was any link
between the three-in-one vaccination and autism. Genetics,
better recognition of the condition, environmental factors such
as chemicals and children's exposure to hormones in the womb,
especially testosterone, were more likely to be the cause, he
commented. 'As for MMR, at this point one can conclude that
evidence does not support the idea that the MMR causes autism.'
Baron-Cohen and his team studied the incidence of autism
and autistic spectrum disorders among some 12,000 children at
primary school in Cambridgeshire between 2001 and 2004. He was
so concerned by the one in 58 figure that last year he proposed
informing public health officials in the county.
Controversy over the MMR jab erupted in 1998 after Dr
Andrew Wakefield, a gastroenterologist at the Royal Free
Hospital in north London, said he no longer believed it was safe
and might cause autism and inflammatory bowel disease in
children. Many parents panicked and MMR take-up fell
dramatically. More families opted to have their child immunised
privately through three separate injections to avoid the
possibility of their immune system being overloaded by the MMR
jab, thus leaving them at greater risk of infections.
The medical and scientific establishment denied
Wakefield's claim, described research he had co-authored as 'bad
science', and sought to reassure the public, with limited
success. Wakefield and two former Royal Free colleagues are due
to appear before the General Medical Council next week to answer
charges relating to the 1998 research. The trio could be struck
off.
The doctors' disciplinary body claims that Wakefield
acted 'dishonestly and 'irresponsibly' in dealings with the
Lancet, was 'misleading' in the way he sought research funding
from the Legal Aid Board, and 'acted unethically and abused his
position of trust as a medical practitioner' by taking blood
from children after offering them money.
A book to be published this month by Dr Richard
Halvorsen, a London GP who provides single vaccines privately to
babies of parents concerned about MMR, will fuel the
controversy. It will present new evidence of children allegedly
being damaged by vaccinations and linking increased autism to
MMR.
But Dr David Salisbury, national director for vaccines
and immunisation at the Department of Health, said last night:
'The evidence is absolutely clear. No published study has ever
shown a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. It is absolute
nonsense to suggest otherwise.'