Research by our team has shown that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autistic spectrum disorders or inflammatory bowel disease.  We currently have two PhD students undertaking basic and translational mumps virus research (NIBSC-funded, in collaboration with Imperial College London).

MMR safety

The MMR vaccine induces an immune response simultaneously against measles, mumps and rubella infections.  Over 500 million doses of MMR have been used in over 90 countries around the world since the early 1970s.  The MMR is thus a highly effective vaccine with an outstanding safety record.  In our laboratories, we used highly sensitive molecular biology and virological methods to examine a large number of tissues and blood samples from patients with inflammatory bowel diseases and children with autistic spectrum disorders.  We found no evidence of an association between the MMR vaccine or persistent measles virus infection and any of these conditions.

Mumps virus research

Mumps virus is a negative-stranded RNA virus that belongs to the Paramyxoviridae family.  It is a human pathogen, which usually causes a mild childhood disease characterised by parotid swelling and pain.  However, the virus can also infect adults and in all age groups, the clinical manifestations of mumps can range from asymptomatic to severe, with complications such as deafness, orchitis or meningitis.  Mumps is a re-emerging disease in the UK and in other countries.  We are currently working on:

• The mechanisms of mumps vaccine failure and a better understanding how mumps vaccines work.

• Evaluation of different cell substrates for mumps viruses and models for mumps disease.