MMR controversy has left parents emotionally scarred, study finds

doi:10.1136/bmj.39174.371493.DB

BMJ 2007;334:715 (7 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.39174.371493.DB

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MMR controversy has left parents emotionally scarred, study finds

Zosia Kmietowicz

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Controversy over the link between autism and the measles, mumps,and rubella (MMR) vaccine has induced stress, guilt, and frustrationamong parents of children with autism, says a new UK study.The effects on the parents are largely unappreciated by healthprofessionals, the study says.

The authors of the study, which was funded by the UK MedicalResearch Council, say that although much research has lookedat the link between the MMR vaccine, bowel disease, and autism—alink postulated by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues in 1998 (Lancet1998;351: 637)—and at the effect of the debate in general,there has been "a notable absence" of research into how it hasaffected parents of children with autism (Archives ofDiseasein Childhood 2007;92;322-7).

The authors conducted 10 focus group discussions involving 38parents whose children had been given a diagnosis of autismafter the publication of the Wakefield paper.

They . . . [Full text of this article]

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