Researcher from study alleging link between MMR and autism warns of measles epidemic

The dangers of complications associated with measles and rubella in unvaccinated children outweigh any concerns about the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, argued one of the authors of the study that first raised the question of a link between MMR and autism, in a letter published last week.

In a letter to the Lancet (2003;362:1498-9), Dr Simon Murch, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, warned that a recent report of encephalitis associated with measles in immunosuppressed children ( Lancet 2003 ;362: 832) emphasised the grave risk posed by children not having …