Andrew Wakefield and the Mmr Autism Fraud

ANDREW WAKEFIELD AND THE MMR AUTISM FRAUD In February 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist, promulgated a research paper in which he coupled autism and bowel disease to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinum creating a public health crisis in England and raising questions about vaccine safety in North America. extra stu stalls keep since shown that the data presented was fraudulent, and after ten years of controversy and investigation, Dr. Wakefield was discredited, his licence revoked and his research discarded.The damage, however, had been done inoculation rates in the industrialized world are down to such an extent that it has brought back diseases that have not been seen for decades. The article in the British medical journal The fizgig claimed that the collar-in-one measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) was causing inflammatory bowel syndrome and brain damage in youngsterren. The five-page paper, which was backed by a condense conference, provoked substantial media interest. Dr.Wakefield reported on twelve cases of children with what he called regressive autism, who had been admitted to the Royal Free infirmary in Hampstead (London) between July 1996 and February 1997, all within 14 days of receiving the MMR vaccine. These previously healthy children, the study claimed, on the spur of the moment lost basic language and communication skills. Wakefield theorized that the three vaccines, given together, can alter a childs immune system, allowing the measles virus in the vaccine to infiltrate the intestines certain proteins, escaping from the intestines, could then give and harm neurons in the brain. Its a moral geld for me, he announced at the 1998 press conference, where he advocated breaking up the terzetto MMR vaccine into single measles, mumps and rubella shots, to be given at yearly intervals. I cant support the continued use of these three vaccines, given in combination, he said, until this issue has been reso lved. As the doctor campaigned, vaccination rates in the UK and Ireland dropped sharply. Wakefield supporters even involved Prime Minister Tony Blair by suggesting that his youngest son was not vaccinated with MMR.Although at the time, Mr. Blair declined to discuss the issue for privacy reasons, he did say that, For the record, Cherie and I both entirely support the advice, as we have consistently said. It is not true that we believe the MMR vaccine to be dangerous or believe that it is better to have separate injections, or believe that it is linked to autism. On the contrary, the vaccine, which is used throughout the world, helps prevent the spread of diseases that can, if contracted, cause very serious damage to children. It was afterwards confirmed that Leo Blair had been inoculated. In November 2000, Wakefield appeared on CBS 60 Minutes, linking the epidemic of autism to the MMR vaccine. This set off a turbinate of theories that all vaccines are suspect any due to their c ontent, or because children receive too many of them at the same time. The US movement attracted celebrities such as actress Jenny McCarthy, who blamed MMR for her own sons autism. In 1983 the shot schedule was ten. Thats when autism was one in 10,000. Now theres 36, and autism is one in 150, she argued. All arrows charge to one direction. Although the number of children diagnosed with autism has increased dramatically over the last twenty years, it is difficult to say if this is due to improved diagnostic practices or an actual increased prevalence of the disease. Several major studies, however, have command out a link with vaccines The October 2004 edition of Vaccine published a meta review that looked at one hundred twenty studies to assess potential side effects of the MMR vaccine. The authors concluded that a connection between MMR and autism is unlikely. A 2005 study compared autism rates in Japan before and after 1993, when the triple MMR vaccine was broken into three sep arate vaccines that are administered at different times. It was found that autism is still on the rise. In October 2005, the Cochrance Library published a review of 31 scientific studies, none of which found a link between MMR and either autism or bowel disease. Similarly, a 2007 review of independent studies performed after Wakefields publication in the Lancet demonstrated overwhelming evidence against the hypothesis of associating MMR with autism.In addition to the overwhelming scientific evidence contradicting Wakefields claims, British journalist Brian Deer observed that in fact, the research had been funded to create evidence against the MMR vaccine. Wakefield had concealed, misreported and changed information about the children in his study. It turned out that two years before embarking on his research, he had been hired by a lawyer who planned to make big money from several class action lawsuits against companies manufacturing the triple MMR vaccine. I have mentioned to you before hat the prime objective is to produce unassailable evidence in court so as to convince a court that these vaccines are dangerous, the lawyer reminded the doctor in a confidential letter, six months before the Lancet report. The Sunday measure investigation also discovered that in June 1997, Wakefield had filed for a patent on a single measles vaccine for the success of which he needed to discredit the triple MMR. After the fraud came to light in February 2004, the Lancet retracted the polish section of the report (they would eventually retract the whole article in 2010).From July 2007 to May 2010, the General checkup Council conducted the longest ever professional misconduct hearing. Eventually, they revoked Dr. Wakefields medical licence, citing medical, scientific and ethical misconduct. So why do parents still believe in Wakefields hypothesis? Probably because anecdotes are more square(a) than scientific methodology, and the media are very good at telling the naughty story and very bad at telling the real story. In the UK and Ireland, fueled by sensationalist media coverage, MMR uptake levels between 1998 and 2008 dropped from 92 portion to 73 percent. 5 percent vaccine uptake levels are required for herd electric resistance (i. e. , the point when diseases cannot spread in a population). In 2008, measles was declare endemic again in the UK. There were a total of 1,348 cases that year, up 36 per cent from the previous year and up a staggering 2,400 per cent from 1998, when there were just 56 cases. In 2006 a 13-year-old boy became the first somebody to die of measles in Britain since 1992, with a second child dying in 2008. In the join States, the herd immunity is crumbling as states make it easier for parents to opt out of the vaccinations that are usually required to go in in school.A study published in the journal Pediatrics (2010) by researchers from the University of Michigan showed that 12 percent of parents have refused at least one recommended vaccine for their children. As a result, diseases such as whooping coughing and measles are making a comeback. In 2010, 9,500 cases of whooping cough were reported in California, the most in 65 years. Ten patients died, all of them infants too young to be vaccinated. And even though measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, 2011 saw the highest number of measles cases in 15 years. None of these cases resulted in death, but one out of three people had to be hospitalized.This then is Andrew Wakefields legacy an calculate hoax for financial gain that has set back the medical clock 100 years for millions of children whose parents refuse to accept overwhelming and sound scientific evidence and would rather expose them to the very real dangers of septic disease. Another casualty, ironically, is autism itself. Significant time, energy and financial resources were wasted that could have been spent on research and ontogenesis new treatments. Mr. Wakefield has taken u p residence in an affluent suburb of Austin, Texas. Although not allowed to practice medicine, he still lectures to an adoring audience. To our community, Andrew Wakefield is Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ rolled up into one, according to J. B. Handley of Generation Rescue. The WHO estimates that 380 people die of measles every day. ? SOURCES Ahmed, Kamal. Blair Baby Has Had MMR Jab. The Guardian 23 December 2001. Asaithambi, Rathi. Time to Get Tough on Vaccine Refusal. Baltimore Sun 11 April 2012. Chivers, Tom. MMR Autism Scare So, Farewell Then, Dr Andrew Wakefield. The Telegraph 24 May 2010. Deer, Brian. MMR The Truth throne the Crisis. The Sunday Times 14 November 2004. Deer, Brian. Revealed MMR Research Scandal. The Sunday Times 22 February 2004. DeStefano, F. Vaccines and Autism Evidence Does Not meet a Causal Association. Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics December 2007 756-759. Dominus, Susan. The Crash and Burn of an Autism Guru. The New York Times 20 April 201 1. Freeper, Berlin. The Autism Vaccine Hoax. The Wall Street Journal 8 January 2011. Mascarelli, Amanda. Vaccine Opt-Outs Causing Breaks in Herd Immunity. Los Angeles Times 5 August 2011. Sifferlin, Alexandria. Measles 2011 Was the Worst in the U. S. in 15 Years. Time 19 April 2012.