Dhaka: A new decade-long study of more than half a million people found that the measles vaccine does not increase the risk of autism, further reinforcing what the medical community has long been saying about preventative shots, reports USA TODAY.

Researchers from Denmark looked at a Danish population registry of 657,461 children, some that were vaccinated with the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and some who were not. After over a decade of follow-up, 6,517 were diagnosed with autism. There was no increased risk of autism in children who had the MMR vaccine and no evidence that it triggered autism in susceptible children.

The study contributes to past studies that have found the same. It also reflects a well-known consensus among the medical community that widely encourages children receive vaccines.

An editorial that accompanied the study published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine called the report “one of the largest studies to date” on the topic.

People choosing not to vaccinate have become a global health threat in 2019, WHO reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized that the number of children who aren’t being vaccinated by 24 months old has been gradually increasing.

The autism-vaccine link has long been discredited, as official groups including the CDC reported even before this research that there is no proven link between vaccines and autism and no ingredients in vaccines that could cause autism. Still a minority of parents have chosen not to vaccinate their children. And, legislation continues to be introduced in favor of the anti-vaxx movement.