Scientists at the world-renowned Stanford University School of Medicine have confirmed that a measles vaccine caused a previously healthy baby to develop a fatal case of leukemia.
The team of researchers, led by Dr. Christina Costales, revealed that the infant received dose 1 of Merck’s MMR ProQuad vaccine.
The vaccine was administered during the baby girl’s 1-year well-child visit.
Just a few days later, the child was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Tragically, the baby’s condition deteriorated so aggressively that she did not survive.
The study’s paper was published in the PubMed journal.
In the “Abstract” section of the study’s paper, the researchers write:
“We report a fatal case of vaccine-associated measles encephalitis in an immunocompromised child in California, USA.
“The infection was confirmed by whole-genome RNA sequencing of the measles virus from brain tissue.
“We observed biased matrix-gene hypermutation consistent with persistent measles virus central nervous system infection.”
Explaining the baby’s reaction to the vaccine, the researchers write:
“A previously healthy infant received dose 1 of the MMR ProQuad vaccine (Merck) at her 1-year well-child visit.
“Over the following week, the patient experienced fevers, and acute myeloid leukemia was diagnosed.
“During induction chemotherapy, a diffuse morbilliform rash developed,”