ROCHESTER, NY – In what was internationally hailed as a medical first, doctors at Mount Saint Mary Mercy Hospital announced they are confident a child has survived the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine without suffering any adverse effects.
Doctors announced that the patient, later identified as 5-year-old Michael Watson, was followed for 4 years after receiving his first MMR shot. To date, Michael has not been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
“I am besides myself!” his father, John, declared to journalists gathered at a news conference announcing the results. “We were initially very skeptical. We educated ourselves on the dangers of MMR by reading a 2-decades-old issue of the Lancet. We are very smart people; my wife’s third-cousin is a nurse. We were not ready to take any risks, but doctors convinced us with the promise of intensive follow-up and counseling after receiving the vaccine.”
The journey to this point was not easy. “We had quite a few scares along the way,” his father insisted. “One time, we found him arranging his toy soldiers in a row,” the father recounted with visible shakiness in his voice. “But it turned he was just a really neat kid.”
The promising case report appears in this month’s edition of the New England Journal of Medical Breakthroughs (NEJMB). Lead author, Dr. Vinjy Patelajahagh, has already been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Medicine for this breakthrough.
The parents ended the news conference by stating they are relieved by the outcome and look forward to having Michael enjoy a healthy, gluten-free childhood.
