Dr. Stephen Walker on MMR: No link 2
On Friday, June 2nd, I quoted Dr. Stephen Walker’s statements in the Winston-Salem Journal in which he said that an actual link between the MMR vaccine and “regressive autism” is “tough to prove”:
“The conclusion will be simply that there is measles virus in the gut of a large number of children who have regressive autism and bowel disease. We haven’t done anything to demonstrate that the measles virus is causing autism.”
Dr. Walker’s research on the MMR vaccine and regressive autism was presented as a poster presentation at last week’s International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR). Despite Dr. Walker’s own disavowal of a link between the MMR vaccine and “regressive autism,” this is the first paragraph of an article entitled “New fears over MMR jab take-up” on today’s Wales.co.uk:
New evidence suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine and autism could undermine newfound confidence in the jab, Welsh experts last night said.
The Wales.co.uk article quotes Dr. Walker:
Dr Stephen Walker, the team’s leader, said, “Of the handful of results we have in so far, all are vaccine strains and none are wild measles.
“This research proves that in the gastrointestinal tract of a number of children who have been diagnosed with regressive autism, there is evidence of measles virus.”
Due to the controversy surrounding the MMR vaccine-autism theory, it would seem that Dr. Walker and his research team ought to inform the media sources which have referred to his research that there is “no link.”
Or rather, it is necessary that they alert the many media sources that there is “no link.”
1 opinion for Dr. Stephen Walker on MMR: No link 2
Autism Vox » Making the world a better place for autism
Jun 28, 2006 at 11:01 am
[…] The editorial further notes, in rather alarmist language, that “more and more of our children falling victim to autism every year” and that, indeed, “too many parents are biting their nails to see whether their toddler develops this devastating disability.” In the context of mentioning a possible MMR vaccine/autism link, the editorial highlights the divide between parents and medical professionals: During the course of working on this story, it seemed too often to be the case that the parents and the medical community saw each other as being at odds, when the two stakeholder groups in this crisis really need to be working together to find some answers. […]
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