New research from the US replicated Dr Andrew Wakeman’s 1998 finding of severe intestinal inflammation in children with the rare condition ‘regressive autism’ (where normally developing and intelligent children unexpectedly begin to regress). When samples of intestinal lining were tested, 70 out of 82 (85%) contained the vaccine strain of measles virus.

They are preliminary findings in a study to investigate the presence of measles virus in the terminal ileum (the lowest part of the small intestine) of up to 275 autistic children.

Ed.- Welcome news, but pro-MMR scientists will use close business links between the study’s leader, Dr Arthur Krigsman, and Andrew to try to discredit it, however good the science.

The battle to spare national Governments from costly damages cases through the courts continues. Their soldiers will use anything, however dishonest or, as in this case, however irrelevant the research findings. A recent example is Afzal and colleagues’ study in the Journal of Medical Virology (2006;78:623-30). Using the most advanced techniques known, they tried but failed to find any sign of measles virus in 15 autistic children who had had MMR and displayed a positive immune response to the jab. The Department of Health and the media were unfair in presenting this study as another nail in Andrew’s coffin. The researchers only looked in the children’s blood. Andrew found fragments of measles virus in the bowel.