Doctors give measles vaccine all-clear

There is no evidence that measles vaccination increases the risk of bowel disease, and fears about the safety of the injections may have been overplayed, scientists say.

Alarm about measles vaccination has grown in recent years because of concern that it may lead to ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease - both inflammatory diseases of the bowel - in later life. A 1995 study, published in the Lancet, by doctors from the Royal Free Hospital in London, suggested there could be a link, which led to some parents refusing the vaccine for their children.

In a new study, published in tomorrow's Lancet, Dr Mark Feeney and colleagues at Poole Hospital, Dorset, studied 140 patients with inflammatory bowel diseases born since 1968 and found they were no more likely to have had measles vaccination than 280 healthy patients matched for age and sex.

A separate analysis of patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis again revealed no significant difference in measles vaccination rates.

"Our results show no evidence of a link between live attenuated measles vaccination in early childhood and the subsequent risk of developing either [disease]," the authors write.

Experts say the risks of the measles vaccine are outweighed by the risks of the disease it prevents, which can cause brain damage and death.