MMR VACCINE

Nature of the Analysis and Definitions of Key Terms

This paper presents an epidemiological analysis of the MMR vaccine and attendant health issues. Specifically, the report will examine whether there is any support for the recent claims that the MMR vaccine can produce serious debilitating and life-threatening consequences such as inflammatory bowel disease, autism, diabetes, and so forth.

The analysis begins by defining key terms used in the report and specifying the nature of the undertaken problem. This is followed by a delineation of the target population and a discussion of the significance of the problem. The analysis is then presented. The final section of the study presents a brief summary followed by conclusions formulated on the basis of the presented analysis.

So that the presented analysis can be fully understood, the following key terms are here defined:

Health - Based on the model of Roy (1997, p.43), the term "health" is conceptually defined as freedom from disease in general; as applied to the epidemiological analysis it is used to refer to not only freedom from disease but particularly to freedom from any lasting adverse effects of the MMR vaccine itself.

MMR Vaccine - The MMR vaccine is a "3-in-1" vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella. Although single antigen vaccines have been developed for each component of the MMR, they are not readily available an

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Petropoulous, Favot-Mayaud, Li and Waight (1999, p. 1987) examined for a relationship between MMR vaccine and autism in a sample of children with autism born since 1979. All children were identified as "special needs" children living in eight North Thames health districts, UK. Immunization data were examined for a trend in incidence or age at time of diagnosis. Clustering of onsets within defined post-vaccination periods were identified using case-series analysis methods. However, comparisons of autism rates for vaccinated children with un-vaccinated children were not significantly different. Based on these findings, it was concluded that findings did not support a causal association between the MMR vaccine and autism. In another study of the likelihood of adverse side effects following MMR vaccination, Patja, Davidkin, Jurk, Kallio, Valle and Peltola (2000, p. 1127) reported findings from their observations in Finland following the addition of MMR to the routine vaccination schedule in 1982. All children in the study had been immunized early in the second year of life and again between 4 and 6 years of age. A passive, national surveillance program was established at that time for the purpose of identifying serious adverse even
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2861
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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