My husband and I will be traveling to Kenya and Ethiopia soon with our 6 month old son. A nurse is recommending that my son have mmr, anti-malaria (in non-malaria areas) and other vaccines that I am concerned about giving my infant. I heard that a child under two who gets mmr (measles, mumps, ruebella) may exibit sypmtoms of autism. Any helpful advice?

I've never heard of MMR causing autistic symptoms. I did a little bit of research and the American Academy of Family Physicians (www.familydoctor.org) stated that there is no link between vaccines and autism. I do know that there is some evidence that the high levels of mercury in some vaccines from about 10 years ago may have caused autism in some cases, but the vaccines have been changed since then.

I would talk to your ped directly. Tell him where you are going and ask him what vaccines he definitely needs.

There is a potential link between MMR and autism. It hasn't been proven but it hasn't been disproven either. It's an unknown. The potential for harm is enough for some people to delay the MMR vax until after the 2nd birthday and under normal circumstances, the delay is totally harmless. It's not as though your average toddler comes into contact with measles, mumps, or rubella, so no problem.

You, on the other hand, are taking your child to countries where he has a high likelihood of coming into contact with diseases which are very rare in the US. in your specific case, I would say that the risk of NOT vaxing is significantly higher than the risk of vaxing and I'd get the shots.

I agree with Cekack... I would definately get the vaccine.... I think My son had the MMR Vaccine, and it hasn't harmed him... I will have to look at his book and see what he has had, but I'm pretty sure he had them!!

If I remember my science and psych classes adequately... Autism is a developmental disorder. Vaccines do not and cannot effect a child/person developmentally. The question of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism arose, not because of direct connection, but the potential that the MMR vaccine could lead to a medical condition characterized by the inability to absorb certain vitamins which could effect developmental progress. The study was performed in two sets testing a total of 25 children.
Larger studies have tried to be duplicated with negative results that there is any link.

The bottom line is the vaccine itself does not cause autism. the issue lies in the possibility though HIGHLY improbable, that the vaccine could result in a gastrointestinal condition that would prevent the absorption of certain vitamins needed for developmental progress. However, as I stated larger scaled studies do not find any link. And I recently read 10 of the 12 staff that worked on the initial study have since retracted their initial findings, stating there is no link between the MMR vaccines and Autism.

I agree with Cekack, the risk of not vaccinated your child is greater than getting him vaccinated. And I'm jealous you get to visit Africa. I hope it is an enlightening experience.

Thank you all for your helpful feedback. I really appreciate it. If you find out anything else, please let me know.