Britain: New health fears over big surge in autism

Denis Campbell, health correspondent
Sunday July 8, 2007
The Observer

Experts "concerned" by dramatic rise. Questions over triple jab for children.

    The number of children in Britain with autism is far higher than
previously thought, according to dramatic new evidence by the country's
leading experts in the field.



    A study, as yet unpublished, shows that as many as one in 58
children may have some form of the condition, a lifelong disability
that leads to many sufferers becoming isolated because they have
trouble making friends and often display obsessional behaviour.



    Seven academics at Cambridge University, six of them from its
renowned Autism Research Centre, undertook the research by studying
children at local primary schools. Two of the academics, leaders in
their field, privately believe that the surprisingly high figure may be
linked to the use of the controversial MMR vaccine. That view is
rejected by the rest of the team, including its leader, the renowned
autism expert, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen.