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Scientists in America have
reported the first independent corroboration of the research findings
of Dr Andrew Wakefield, the specialist who has questioned the safety of
the childhood MMR vaccine.
Dr Arthur Krigsman, from New
York University School of Medicine, has observed serious intestinal inflammation
in autistic children identical to that described by the controversial
British doctor and his colleagues in a research
paper four years ago.
Dr Krigsman's discovery is
significant because it independently supports Dr Wakefield's conclusion
that a previously unidentified and devastating combination of bowel and
brain disease is afflicting young children.
Dr Wakefield has seen nearly
200 previously normal youngsters who apparently developed the combined
behavior and digestive problems after receiving the three-in-one measles,
mumps and rubella.
Pathologists at Trinity College,
Dublin, have since identified measles virus in bowel tissue samples from
75 of these children and now claim to have evidence that the virus comes
from MMR.
All the children had a definite
diagnosis of autism and had come to him because they had symptoms of serious
digestive problems, such as pain, constipation and diarrhea, for which
no explanation could be found.
"Our findings, which are
independent of Dr Wakefield's findings, completely support his explanation
and his observations of the abnormalities in the bowels of these children,"
he said.
The intestines of the children
were "not normal", he added. One 13-year-old autistic boy, who
had become so violent that his parents had wanted to institutionalise
him, had the "worst case" of inflammation of the colon the doctor
had ever seen through a fibre-optic scope.
Dr Krigsman, an experienced
consultant pediatric gastroenterologist and an assistant professor at
the university, told the committee that he did not know whether his patients'
illnesses were linked to MMR. However, he now plans to have the biopsies
he took during the examinations tested independently to check for evidence
of measles virus infection.
Dr Krigsman's research was
among presentations described as "significant findings" by Dan
Burton, an Indiana congressman chairing the Congressional committee.
Doctors in Britain and America
are recognizing more autistic children than ever. The
US National Institute of Health estimates that one American child in 250
is affected, compared with one in 10,000 a decade ago. A recent
survey by the National Autistic Society in England suggested that one
in 86 primary school pupils may have the condition.
News.Telegraph.Co.Uk
June 23, 2002
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