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A new US study has found no
evidence that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine
and other vaccines containing the measles virus raise
the risk of inflammatory bowel disease.
The researchers matched each person who
developed inflammatory bowel disease to five "controls"
-- healthy people of the same age and sex who did not have
bowel disease and received care in the same HMO.
Based on 142 cases of inflammatory bowel
disease and the corresponding controls without the disease,
the authors report that being
vaccinated with MMR or other measles-containing vaccines did
not increase the risk of the inflammatory bowel diseases
such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Both conditions
are characterized by diarrhea, cramping, and inflammation
and destruction of parts of the intestine.
Measles kills almost a million children
around the world each year.
Archives
of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
2001;155:354-359
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