DNA Test Links Autism to MMR
DNA test links autism to MMR
Sunday Herald - 25th. August
2002, The measles virus has been found in the blood of autistic children, fuelling fears that their lifelong condition was caused by the controversial MMR vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella. One of the autistic children whose blood has tested positive for the measles virus is Angus Kyle, from Inverness, who is part of the legal case against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine. Angus's blood was analysed using a new DNA test at the laboratory of Professor John O'Leary, at the Coombe Women's Hospital in Dublin. The blood test is called TaqMan PCR and can detect sections of the measles virus gene. Professor O'Leary, a molecular pathologist, published a paper earlier this year suggesting a link between the measles virus, autism and a related bowel disorder. He found fragments of the strain of measles from the MMR vaccine in the guts of 12 autistic children who had received the triple injection. The measles virus in Angus's blood has not yet been identified as the vaccine strain but as the 10-year-old has never suffered from the disease, it is suspected that it came from the MMR jab. In a letter to Angus's mother, Dr Andrew Wakefield -- the consultant who first raised fears of a link between the MMR vaccine, autism and bowel disease -- suggests the virus has moved from the gut into the bloodstream. He says Angus is suffering from a condition called 'persistent measles virus'. The letter states: 'This test was done to detect measles virus that may be being released into the blood from a site of infection somewhere in the body, such as lymph nodes in the gut. 'Immune cells that can harbour measles virus are continuously being exchanged between the intestine and the blood, so measles virus found in these blood cells would imply that it is being slowly replicated at the site of chronic infection, and released into the blood. 'In the peripheral blood sample taken from Angus, measles virus was found. The implications for Angus's health are uncertain. Angus's parents, Sheila and Ian Kyle, paid £230 for the test to be carried out privately. The couple are now campaigning for an estimated 20,000 autistic children in the UK to be given the same test on the NHS. A story about Daniel.
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