Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 study published in The Lancet linked the attenuated vaccine for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (also German Measles) to a gastrointestinal syndrome that was supposedly a trigger for autism. Despite great skepticism among the medical and scientific community upon the publishing of this work, and an expose published on the fraudulent nature of the study published in 2004, the article was not retracted until 2010. This article from WebMD outlines many of the issues with the study that led to retraction. Among them, a low sample size of only 12 patients who had been cherry-picked by Wakefield and his team for already being skeptical or opposed to the MMR vaccine. Furthermore, his results were immediately called into question by other doctors and scientists. Even for the 12 patients evaluated under this study, the results reported did not match the actual medical records. For example, only one of the children actually was diagnosed with regressive autism, despite the study claiming 9 out of the 12 had the diagnosis. Even beyond the fraudulent reporting, Wakefield never disclosed that he was paid by a U.K. lawyer, who was suing MMR vaccine makers, to the tune of nearly $700,000.
Despite the debunking of the link between the MMR vaccine and autism over 15 years ago, and the retraction of Wakefield’s article nearly 10 years ago, the legacy of Wakefield bringing skepticism and fear to the conversation about vaccines remains. This article from TIME outlines some of the ways immunization and disease rates have been affected in the 22 years since the Wakefield publishing and some ways to try to turn the clock back. Perhaps most alarmingly, in the U.S. where measles had been declared eliminated in 2000, a resurgence has been seen to the tune of over 2,000 cases. The article also highlights that even outside of the MMR vaccine specifically, Wakefield’s study has been influential in persuading individuals and importantly parents against vaccination in general. According to the TIME article 100-300 children under the age of five die from the flu, 85% of which were not vaccinated. The FDA has issued statements regarding their continued confidence in the MMR vaccine safety and utility to help combat this skepticism. In a 2019 statement, the agency made specific reference to large-scale studies that have demonstrated there is no link between autism and the vaccine.
Ultimately, for me, the skepticism surrounding vaccines in some circles is one of the most infuriating issues in public heath today. Not only is the argument against vaccines, and the MMR, vaccine in particular, completely lacking in terms of scientific evidence, but it also serves only to harm society at large. A common argument by anti-vaxers is that the individual should have the right to choose or not choose vaccination for themselves and their children. However, decreased vaccination rates damage herd immunity and put very young, very old, and immunocompromized individuals at great risk. Wakefield is of course not the sole reason for the anti-vaccination movement, but his study and its publication and media distribution had an undeniable effect on the modern conversation and attitude towards vaccines. To put it simply: the MMR vaccine is safe and effective. This blog is called “Victims of Virulence” for a reason–don’t be a victim if you don’t have to be one!
Victims of Virulence 