Island's autism cases prove link say parents.
http://www.record-mail.co.uk/shtml/NEWS/P26S1.shtml   2000

      DOCTORS have found a cluster of autism cases on a Scots island which
parents claim are linked to childhood vaccinations.
      Ten children on Lewis have developed autism and parents are blaming
the controversial triple MMR vaccine for mumps, measles and rubella.
      Nine boys and one girl - all under 12 - have been diagnosed with the
condition which leaves victims withdrawn and unable to communicate properly.
      It means one in every 220 boys born on Lewis in the past 12 years has
the condition and one in every 2000 girls.
      One of Scotland's leading autism campaigners claimed the cluster
proved the link between autism and the MMR.
      Bill Welsh, of Action Against Autism, said: "The figures on Lewis
reflect the growing numbers of cases - most of which parents believe are
linked to the MMR."
      Two mothers on Lewis claimed their children went from happy youngsters
to withdrawn shells after receiving the MMR.
      Dolly McDonald, 35, decided her four-year-old son Craig would have the
vaccine when he was 13 months old.
      She said: "Before he received the jab Craig was a happy child. In the
months after being injected he became quiet and withdrawn and seemed to
regress.
      "He was then diagnosed autistic and I am convinced the MMR was
responsible."
      Mum-of-two Alison Murray, 38, said her son Lewis Jamieson, four, also
started to show signs of withdrawing a few months after receiving the
vaccine at 13 months.
      She said: "I believe kids with a pre-disposition to autism are at risk
when they receive the vaccine."
      Last week a US team of scientists claimed to have proof the triple jag
can cause autism in children.
      Experiments on autistic children showed the vaccine triggers an immune
reaction which damages protein in the brain, causing the condition.

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