Vaccine-Autism Study Is Withdrawn
A look at some recent developments in vaccine research.
23 February 2010
A doctor in Washington examines a 6-year-old girl.
This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, has withdrawn a study that scared many parents and angered many experts. The study, published twelve years ago, suggested a link between autism and the vaccine against mumps, measles and rubella.
A British doctor led that study. Andrew Wakefield studied twelve children. He said eight of them showed signs of autism shortly after receiving the vaccine. Autism disorders involve problems with social and communication skills and repeated behaviors.
Other studies since then have failed to show such a link. In January, Britain's General Medical Council found that the Wakefield report was dishonest and misleading.
In other vaccine news, scientists in Britain say they have found a simple, low-cost way to store vaccines at high temperatures. Currently, most vaccines must be kept between two and eight degrees Celsius. This is a big problem in poor countries.
Scientists at Oxford University tested a new method developed by Nova Bio-Pharma Technologies. Oxford's technology transfer company is working with the inventors to market the idea.
The study involved two viruses being used in experimental vaccines. The researchers say they were able to store the vaccines for four months at forty-five degrees Celsius with no loss of quality. They say the vaccines could be kept at thirty-seven degrees for a year or more with only small losses in the amount of vaccine.
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