Donald Trump angers scientists by falsely linking MMR jab to autism in vaccine clampdown

Donald Trump angers scientists by falsely linking MMR jab to autism in vaccine clampdown Autism charities and experts label Donald Trump’s comments that vaccines could cause the condition ‘utterly disgraceful’ as he cuts jabs available to US children Donald Trump has slashed the number of vaccines offered to US children and falsely suggested the MMR jab causes autism. Scientists have criticised the US President for repeating the baseless claim about the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and warn his remarks could lead to a resurgence of these potentially deadly diseases in the young. Trump previously made unsubstantiated claims that paracetamol taken by pregnant women causes autism. President Trump said: "Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much healthier and of course the high rates of autism now observed did not exist." The President has issued a controversial order recommending the number of childhood vaccines drop to 11 from the existing 18 recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He also suggested the MMR vaccine be split up into individual vaccines rather than given as a combined shot but experts warn this risks children going unprotected for longer or missing appointments altogether. Professor Michael Absoud, top expert in neurodevelopmental disability at King’s College London, said: “The scientific evidence does not support a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Large population studies and systematic reviews involving millions of children have found no increased risk of autism after MMR vaccination. “One reason the MMR vaccine has been wrongly suspected is that the first dose is given at around the same age when early autistic differences, including slowing or loss of skills in some children, may first become apparent to parents. The fact that autistic features may become more noticeable in the second year of life does not mean that a vaccine given around that time caused autism.” Mel Merritt, head of policy at the National Autistic Society in the UK, said: “Let’s be clear - the MMR vaccine is safe. It’s utterly disgraceful that yet again we must correct dangerous misinformation from President Donald Trump. It’s been proven for decades that vaccines are safe and a huge amount of new research has also shown there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.” Measles can cause life-threatening complications if the virus spreads to the lungs or brain including pneumonia, meningitis, blindness, seizures and inflammation of the brain known as encephalitis. Trump suggested the MMR vaccine could be "quite lethal" if given at once. When a reporter asked for evidence of the "lethal" claim, Trump said: "What I've heard is that there are some people that say it is that way." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US said there is "no published scientific evidence that shows any benefit in separating the combination MMR vaccine into three individual shots". No other country has done this. Prof Helen Bedford, of University College London, said: “MMR vaccine has been used in the USA for over 50 years since the early 1970s and in the UK since 1988. It is highly effective and has an excellent safety profile. Like all vaccines, it can give rise to mild side effects such a fever, feeling off colour and as it is a live vaccine, symptoms of mild measles, mumps and rubella; these are innocuous, short lasting and not infectious. “Occasionally side effects are more severe such a fits. The side effects of vaccines need to be balanced against the impact and complications of the diseases they prevent. We have already seen child deaths from measles this year in the UK.” There have been three deaths linked to measles in the UK so far this year. The Mirror previously reported unvaccinated children could be sent home from school if there is an outbreak locally. The NHS vaccination schedule now uses the combined measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV) vaccine which also protects against chickenpox, having replaced the standard MMR jab for infants. Older children in the UK can still receive the MMR jab. In Britain no child is called in to a GP surgery to receive only one vaccination. Single injections would involve parents bringing their children for at least eight separate appointments in the case of the MMRV jab. Prof Bedford added: “The three vaccines have never been administered as separate doses to young children as part of vaccination policy so that policy’s safety and effectiveness are unproven. However, just by delaying protection it would be a serious step backwards for protecting our children’s health.” Coverage of the MMR vaccine started to decline following a 1998 report by Andrew Wakefield which falsely linked the jab with autism. Even though the claim was discredited, and Wakefield struck off the medical register, the vaccination programme took years to recover. Now MMR vaccine coverage is the lowest it has been for more than a decade, with under 85% of youngsters having both doses of the jab before they start school aged five. The World Health Organisation says 95% should have both doses to maintain herd immunity. The move to cut down the number of child vaccinations offered in the US comes after President Trump appointed notorious antivaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr to the position of Health Secretary. His order serves as guidance but a final decision on what childhood jabs to offer is made by individual states. Autism diagnoses have seen a rapid rise across developed countries in recent decades. A UK study showed there were eight times as many new autism diagnoses in 2018 as in 1998. Experts believe this is mainly, or entirely, driven by people being diagnosed who were previously missed. Prof Absoud added: “Autism diagnoses are more common now than decades ago, but this does not mean vaccines are the cause. The increase in autism diagnosis is best understood as reflecting multiple factors, including broader diagnostic criteria, greater awareness, improved recognition in children previously missed, and changes in clinical and educational practice.” The National Autistic Society says more than one in 100 people are autistic which means there are at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. Multiple studies have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Most recently a gold standard study from Denmark in 2019 including 657,461 children concluded that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism.