Irish expert advises parents to get MMR jabs for children

An Irish autism expert has advised Irish parents to get their children vaccinated with the MMR jab after a study in Britain found no evidence that the vaccine was linked to autism.

The study contradicted previous findings published in 1998 which highlighted an alleged link between the three-in-one vaccine and autism.

However, Michael Fitzgerald, professor of child psychiatry at Dublin’s Trinity College, said: “I’ve seen over 900 children and adults in Ireland with autism and I have never found a direct link.

“I think it’s a tragedy that that idea ever got out, because it has meant that the vaccination programmes have been severely damaged in both Ireland and England and children are left unvaccinated becuase of this unwarranted scare.”