(Natural News) The measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine controversy started with the 1998 publication of a research paper in the medical journal The Lancet. Former gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his team found a link between the MMR vaccine and inflammatory bowel disease. The paper was eventually retracted under the weight of an organized vaccine industry assault, and Dr.Wakefield was meticulously disparaged as a scientist and doctor.

Ever since, Dr. Wakefield has been labeled a fraud while vaccine activists keep reassuring the public that vaccines are safe, preventing millions of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths among American kids. However, a new rigorous peer-reviewed study comparing the health outcomes of vaccinated versus unvaccinated children found the opposite to be true.

The study, published in the Journal of Translational Science by epidemiologists from the School of Public Health at the Jackson State University, reported no reductions in the incidence of measles, mumps, rubella, influenza, or rotavirus among vaccinated children. Furthermore, the team of scientists, led by the renowned epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Mawson, concluded that vaccines may be the culprit of the dramatic rise of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and chronic illnesses such as allergies, autism, and ADHD.

Fully vaccinated children are trading the prevention of certain acute illnesses for chronic illnesses

For their study, the Jackson State scientists analyzed data from Homeschool organizations in four states. They compared the incidence of a broad range of diseases in more than 650 children, 39 percent of whom were unvaccinated.

Compared to unvaccinated children, vaccinated children had an increased risk of autism (4.2 times), ADHD (4.2 times), learning disabilities (5.2 times), eczema (2.9 times), and allergic rhinitis (30 times), reported the researchers. Though vaccinated children had a lower likelihood of two vaccine-preventable illnesses (chicken pox and pertussis), they found NO reduction of other vaccine-preventable illnesses such as hepatitis A or B, measles, mumps, rubella, influenza, meningitis, or rotavirus.

Furthermore, they noted that preterm birth itself is not associated with NDDs. However, when preterm birth is combined with vaccination, they found a 6.6-fold increased risk of NDDs. As noted by the authors of the study, fully vaccinated children may be trading the prevention of certain acute illnesses (chicken pox and pertussis) for chronic illnesses and NDDs such as ADHD and autism.