THURSDAY, May 12, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine doesn't increase the risk of Crohn's disease, according to a study in this week's issue of the British Medical Journal.
The study provides strong evidence against the theory that MMR does increase the risk of Crohn's -- chronic inflammation of the intestine -- and offers further evidence that MMR is no less safe in this respect than the single measles vaccine.
In this study, Oxford University statistician Valerie Seagroatt analyzed data on hospital admissions in England for children and adolescents with Crohn's disease from April 1991 to March 2003.
She compared the rates of Crohn's disease among those born before and after the introduction of the MMR vaccine. The study found no increase in Crohn's disease associated with the introduction of the vaccine.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about the MMR vaccine.
