A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A little false knowledge is even worse. Which is why it is a good thing that the Lancet has finally and fully withdrawn the study which claimed a link between autism and MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella ) vaccine. In 1998 British physician Andrew Wakefield published a study which claimed a link between the onset of autism, the MMR vaccine and particular gastrointestinal disease.
"Originally posted at Squarestate.net"
Since that time we have seen a huge controversy as parents of autism spectrum children have claimed that there was an environmental change that triggered their children’s altered metal processing. This has lead to an intense backlash against vaccination for children. Over the last 12 years, there have been other studies but the findings of Dr. Wakefield have not been confirmed or reproduced.
The real problem is of course the failure to vaccinate children. It is completely understandable that adults who are not really up on the science of vaccination would worry about what it might do to their children. The thought of having one of your children by irrevocably altered by your actions is one that must keep every parent up from time to time . The fact of this supposed link to something as hard to deal with as autism only made things worse.
In England, they are effectively ended measles. In the panic (that is really the only word that can describe the reaction in the UK) over the MMR vaccine, many parents did not have their children vaccinated. This has lead to a vulnerability in the population there and now there are outbreaks of this disease every year. While there have been very few deaths from measles (it only kills about 2 in 1000) the increase in cases is very worrying as it also indicates a higher level of parents not getting the free vaccinations provided by the English Health Services.
This is also true here in the US. In 2008 (most current year records are available).91% of the cases of measles were from unvaccinated children. This is, admittedly a small number, but the point is still valid. The case for the MMR vaccine being a trigger to autism has been effectively disproved. Yet 8% of the US kids are not being vaccinated for with MMR. This leads them to be vulnerable to these three viruses. It also makes it more likely that they will not be vaccinated at all and that leaves them open to everything from polio to the Swine flu.
10 of the original 13 Doctors who co-authored the study with Dr. Wakefield have since taken their names off the work and disavowed it. The research was so bad and ethically flawed that the New York Times Reports:
Last week, Britain's General Medical Council ruled that Wakefield had shown a ''callous disregard'' for the children used in his study and acted unethically. Wakefield and the two colleagues who have not renounced the study face being stripped of their right to practice medicine in Britain.
The practice of science includes false starts. It also requires that results be able to be reproduced independently for them to become accepted. Further, there is always the need to go back as new tests and techniques become available to re-confirm what we think we know. It is the relentless pursuit and refinement of knowledge, and sometimes it defines the truth. That Dr. Wakefield’s work was pounced on by parents desperate to understand an inexplicable change in their precious children is not unexpected, but it should not be repeated.
There is no way for anyone who does not have an autism spectrum child to really understand what these parents are going through. With all the good will in the world, we are all doomed to fail. Still it is important that we don’t allow the fear of something like autism to push us to the point of doing something harmful like not vaccinating our own children. Yes there is a need to watch the medical science, but when we are talking about vaccination where the adverse effects are on the order of 1 in 100,000 it is not something that should preoccupy us.
The chances of dying from measles are 1000 times greater than the chance of any adverse reaction to the vaccine (reactions that include fever, swelling and soreness but very rarely anything else). Any time in life that you can reduce you chances of something to nearly zero with a 1 in 100,000 chance of a adverse outcome, you should take it.
Hopefully the withdrawal of the Lancet paper will bring a little more clarity to this argument. We all want all children to grow up healthily and happy. We all would like to reduce the number of children with autism spectrum to as close to zero as possible. However we don’t achieve these goals by only listening to the science we like or the science that makes the most sense to us emotionally. We have to follow all the science and take the best chance that it offers.
The floor is yours.