The mumps, measles and rubella vaccine does not increase a child's risk of developing autism, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
For the study, researchers followed 657,461 children born in Denmark from 1999 to 2010. They stopped tracking children in August 2013. Researchers also used Danish population registries for information on vaccination histories, autism diagnoses and risk factors.
Three study findings:
1. Researchers found 6,517 of the children were diagnosed with autism. Kids who received the MMR vaccine were 7 percent less likely to develop autism, according to NBC News.
2. Children who did not receive any childhood vaccines were 17 percent more likely to have an autism diagnosis.
3. Children with siblings who had autism were nearly eight times more likely to be diagnosed with the disorder than those with no family history.
"The study strongly supports that MMR vaccination does not increase the risk for autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination," researchers concluded.