Consultant who linked MMR jab to autism quits after 'political pressure'

Andrew Wakefield, the hospital specialist who infuriated the medical establishment by voicing fears over the risk to children of combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations, has resigned due to "political pressure".

The consultant gastroenterologist, whose research has linked the triple vaccine with bowel disease and autism in children, claimed he had been forced out of his job at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London.

News of his departure coincided with the publication of initial findings from a US study which appeared to support his controversial views.

Scientists at Utah State University found that 90 per cent of a sample of 200 autistic children they tested suffered a reaction to the measles component of the jab. They concluded that the MMR vaccination was unsuitable for some children because of the strain it placed on the immune system.

Dr Wakefield, who has called for the Government to offer an alternative to the MMR jab, said his ideas had annoyed ministers. He told a Sunday newspaper: "I have been asked to go because my research results are unpopular. I did not wish to leave but I have agreed to stand down in the hope that my going will take the political pressure off my colleagues and allow them to get on with the job of looking after the many sick children we have seen.

"They have not sacked me," he added. "They cannot; I have not done anything wrong. I have no intention of stopping my investigations."

He left his £50,000-a-year job on Friday after 14 years, having been told that his ideas were unwelcome at University College London (UCL), which controls the Royal Free. UCL said in a statement: "Dr Andrew Wakefield has resigned from his post at the Royal Free and University College Medical School. Dr Wakefield's research was no longer in line with the department of medicine's research strategy and he left the university by mutual agreement."

Dr Wakefield has been testing the theory that the measles virus from the MMR vaccine can colonise the bowels of susceptible children, producing inflammatory bowel disease which, via a disruption in the chemical balance in the body and the brain, leads to autism. Although he admits he has not published proof, he has angered ministers by suggesting that the three component vaccines should be given separately.

Repeated reassurances by the Government of the safety of the vaccine have not quelled the concerns of parents or some doctors. The Department of Health launched a £3m newspaper and television publicity campaign in January to reassure parents about the safety of the MMR vaccine.

Child experts have said that by choosing single vaccinations, parents may be putting their children at greater risk. Some single mumps vaccines carry a small increased risk of children contracting meningitis and another fails to provide adequate protection, according to research based on all available MMR evidence and published in September by Professor David Elliman, of St George's Hospital, south London, and Dr Helen Bedford, of the Institute of Child Health in London.