Blood tests link MMR to autism

DNA blood tests carried out by Professor John O’Leary, a world authority on autism and possible links with MMR vaccines, suggest a Scots child may have become autistic months after receiving the vaccine.

The tests confirmed that Angus Kyle, 10, was suffering from a ‘persistent measles virus’ although he had never had measles.

O’Leary’s written report confirms the presence of the virus and is now with the Kyles’ lawyer who is considering action against the manufacturers of the vaccine, Germany-based MERCK Sharp Dohme.

Now the boy’s parents, Ian and Sheila Kyle, from Inverness, are campaigning for an estimated 20,000 autistic children in the UK also to be tested.

Sheila Kyle said yesterday: "As far as we know, we are the first family to have had this test done. Professor O’Leary found persistent measles virus in Angus’ blood. This is very real and tangible clinical evidence.

"We are in the process of preparing a case against the manufacturers of the vaccine."

O’Leary worked with Dr Andrew Wakefield, who first raised concerns about the controversial triple vaccine.

O’Leary used a new DNA technique to detect and identify sections of the measles virus gene at the Unigenetics Research Laboratory in Dublin.

Angus was given the mumps, measles and rubella inoculation when he was 15 months old. At the age of four he was diagnosed as suffering from "severe and profound autism".

Kyle added: "We also know Angus did not have measles before his MMR vaccine. The only contact he had with the infection is through the vaccine.

"This blood test can indicate the presence and strain of measles in a child’s body and must now be offered on the NHS to all children who have developed autism since the introduction of MMR.

"As responsible parents, Ian and I agreed to our son being given the MMR vaccine, believing it was right for his health and that of the wider community. Now we do not know what impact the presence of persistent measles virus in Angus’ blood will have on his long term health."

The Kyles, who have two other children, Alistair, seven, and Andrew, five, and are both teachers, are convinced their oldest son’s autism is directly linked to the MMR vaccine.

The Kyles say until he was 15 months old, Angus was a perfectly normal, healthy baby . Within two months of being given the jab, he began to display classic symptoms of autism.

Sheila Kyle said: "Suddenly he began to regress. He became incontinent, lost his ability to draw, run, jump and feed himself. He lost all interest in his toys and retreated to a corner of a room to endlessly feed a piece of string through his hands."

Bill Welsh, chairman of Action Against Autism, said: "News of this test, which shows the virus in autistic children, is excellent. Every autistic child in the country must be tested. The results would be astonishing because, despite what the medical profession claim, there is an autism epidemic." The government’s own Medical Research Council figures spoke for themselves, he added.

In the past, autism affected one in 10,000. Since the introduction of the MMR vaccine the figure had risen dramatically to one in 166 and in Britain an estimated 20,000 children now suffer from the disorder.

But the British Medical Association said it believed MMR was the safest way to protect children from potentially fatal diseases.

A spokeswoman said: "There is still overwhelming scientific research in support of the MMR vaccination. But we do have a scientific interest in evaluating new research.

"At the present time, we still believe that MMR is the safest way to protect our children from potentially fatal diseases."

Nobody from MERCK Sharp Dohme was available for comment.