Immunization Study

Many people who belong with the anti-vaccine movement are individuals who blame MMR (mumps-measles-rubella) vaccine for autism. It has now been found through several studies, that vaccines do not cause autism (Taylor, 2006). “In 2011 the vaccine-autism connection was described as “the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years”

Although there is no scientific proof that vaccines cause autism, proponents still believe that they do. The theory that vaccines cause autism were based on unproven facts and falsified information (DeStefano 81). In an article called CNS Drugs, the author writes about how a man named AJ Wakefield stun the public with a theory that the MMR vaccine may cause autism and how enterocolitis (bowel dysfunction) and MMR vaccine may be linked to autism (DeStefano 831). Even though Wakefield falsified information and his theories were proven to be discredited many people still

The controversy over the MMR vaccine started in the late 1990’s when Andrew Wakefield suggested that there was a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism in a scientific paper which he had published with several other co-authors. Although there has not been a proven fact that the MMR vaccine is the causation to autism it has brought concerns to parents and has caused a major drop in immunization rates. For example, Dannetun et al., 2005 states that, “Fear of side effects and beliefs

Martin Kramer, a spokesman for the Health Resources and Services Administration, said “There is no reliable scientific evidence that vaccines cause autism even in cases where an acute encephalopathy, brain damage, following vaccination has occurred” (Udesky 3). Since the researchers have been coming up with no reliable scientific evidence to prove that vaccines cause autism and the controversy has been going on and on, it is very complicated to believe in Wakefield’s study. Thus, I would agree with the majority of the researchers.

Still, though, there are people that still believe MMR vaccinations cause autism. Andrew Wakefield is one of those individuals that believe that MMR vaccinations cause autism. Wakefield has been found guilty of fraud and dishonesty. Thus, causing him to lose his credentials. Wakefield still denies that he was wrong and he denies the allegations of fraud (Godlee et al., 2011). The GMC (General Medicine Counsel), the organization that removed Wakefield’s credentials; furthermore the GMC has asked him to either reproduce the results or say he was wrong. Wakefield has neglected to do either. One of the worst things about this is five years after being retracted one out of four Americans will not get their children vaccinated because they believe that MMR vaccinations cause autism. Vaccination rates are higher than they were ten years ago, but they are still not high enough. In the United States of America, MMR vaccination rates are at 92% and in the UK they are at 90%. These percentages are pretty good considering that in the UK rates dropped below 75% and below 58% in some areas (Kolodziejski, 2014. p.165), (Burgess et al,. 2006. p.3921). The numbers are improving, but it is still not high enough it should be around

Doctor Andrew Wakefield’s study, published the 28th of February, 1998 in the scientific magazine The Lancet, is constantly cited as being the catalyst for the ongoing debate on whether or not vaccinations have any connections to autism. In the case of Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s study on the connections between autism and the M.M.R. (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, proper scientific experimental procedures were not seen to, such as his not including a control group. That is to say, in an act transgressing scientific integrity, he documented the cases

In fact, The BMJ, or the British Medical Journal, chimed in on Wakefield’s paper. “By the time the paper was finally retracted 12 years later, after forensic dissection at the General Medical Council’s (GMC) longest ever fitness to practise hearing, few people could deny that it was fatally flawed both scientifically and ethically” (Godlee, “Wakefield’s”). Furthermore, Wakefield’s license to practice medicine was stripped away by Britain’s General Medical Council because of misconduct, including the time Wakefield paid his son’s friends £5 each to take blood samples during his son’s birthday party (Burns, “British”). More recent studies also prove that the vaccine-autism link is nonexistent. One study, performed by the Journal of Pediatrics, found that, “ … of MCO members, increasing exposure to antibody-stimulating proteins and polysaccharides in vaccines during the first 2 years of life was not related to the risk of developing an ASD” (Destefano, “Increasing”). In other words, having a young child exposed to the ingredients of vaccines does not result in the child developing autism (Destefano, “Increasing”).

The whole MMR vaccination and Autism inspiration was first brought about by three key points. In the book “The Everything Parent 's Guide To Vaccines: Balanced, Professional Advice To Help You Make The Best Decision For Your Child” the author told what they were in an authentic way. It stated “The first was an observation that the number of children diagnosed with Autism increased dramatically right around the same time the MMR combination vaccine became introduced in the United States and Great Britain. The second was based on a study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in 1998 Published in the respected scientific journal Lancet. The third is based on the fact that children with Autism were first diagnosed with the condition right after they received the MMR vaccine.” (Leslie 67). However, these three points didn’t gain an exceptional start since Dr. Wakefield was later found not credible, and his license is under legal indictment (Leslie 69). Since Dr. Wakefield did not follow through with a credible study, it severely damaged his followers opinions and did not help the theory that Autism and vaccinations are linked.

One such factor helping to manifest these large-scale epidemics is a study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that there was a direct link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine (Smith 1). As a result, many parents refused to vaccinate their children out of fear, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles began reappearing more in both America and Britain, the place where Wakefield conducted his study (Cohen 2). Although a later investigation by the British Medical Journal discovered that Wakefield had distorted or altered the medical records of all twelve of the study’s participants and that he had been paid $674,000 USD by lawyers attempting to sue vaccine manufacturers, the atmosphere of apprehension surrounding vaccines is still strong among many individuals, and especially parents (Cohen 1-2). But despite all the controversy and the scientifically unsupported arguments of anti-vaccine sympathizers,

The autism scare started 17 years ago, in the year 1998, when a paper was published in the British medical journal called The Lancet. Andrew Wakefield, M.D., a British gastroenterologist, and his colleagues were the authors of this paper which started the scare of immunizations causing autism. "Wakefield had a case study of eight children who had received the MMR and then developed symptoms of autism, says Paul Offit, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at the Children 's Hospital of Philadelphia. He also believed they had abnormal intestinal tracts and proposed a syndrome -- linking intestinal inflammation from receiving the MMR with the development of autism.” (Rope)

The whole MMR vaccination and Autism inspiration was first brought about by a three key points. In the book “The Everything Parent 's Guide To Vaccines: Balanced, Professional Advice To Help You Make The Best Decision For Your Child” the author told what they were in a very pleasant way. It stated “The first was an observation that the number of children diagnosed with Autism increased dramatically right around the same time the MMR combination vaccine was introduced in the United States and Great Britain. The second was based on a study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in 1998 Published in the respected scientific journal Lancet. The third is based on the fact that children with Autism were first diagnosed with the condition right after they received the MMR vaccine.” (Leslie 67). However, these three points didn’t get a exceptional start because Dr. Wakefield was later found not credible and his license is under legal indictment. (Leslie 69) Since Dr. Wakefield as found uncredible it severely damaged his followers opinions, and did not help the theory that Autism and vaccinations are linked.

There are thousands of parents out there that believe vaccines cause autism, all because of Wakefield’s study. Even though his study was considered fraudulent, there are still studies performed finding his results to be true and parents are believing it.

According to NBC News, 1 in 4 parents believe that vaccines can cause autism in healthy children. The CDC has refuted this claim time and time again, but despite this, parents still believe that inoculation is the culprit for America’s increasing autism rate. While many blogs and books have been written regarding the correlation between the two, the hoax really took off in 1998, when former medical researcher Andrew Wakefield published a fraudulent article about the results from his unethical experiment, where he examined 12 children who had exhibited signs of autism and bowel issues after receiving MMR vaccines. The problem with his tests, however, was that he meddled with the numbers, in order to have them better fit his theory. In reality, only eight out of the twelve kids developed autistic symptoms, and even so, in seven of those cases, the medical records and general practitioner records proved that the autistic symptoms were never present, and that Wakefield had fabricated most of his Lancet reports. The repercussions of this faulty journalism have been destructive, to say the

Live Science Contributor, Stephanie Pappas tell us that, “Wakefield was getting money from lawyers planning on suing vaccine makers, and he owned a patent on an alternative to the MMR (measles) vaccines,” [2] this statement is clear evidence of fraudulent activity and proves that Wakefield had corrupt reasons for undergoing this study in the first place. The second flaw to Wakefield's paper was the questionable practises of his study, for starters he based his study on twelve children that he “cherry picked,” and “although the paper claimed that cognitive problems developed a few days after the MMR vaccine, a simple investigation of hospital records revealed that wasnt so; and in several cases parents reported problems before the vaccine,” [2]. In summary, the investigation was sloppy and provided no tangible evidence that links autism to the MMR vaccine. Furthermore, it should be noted that the the link between autism and vaccines is purely coincidental, the symptoms of autism typically appear at around the age that vaccines are administered, in fact director of the Vaccine Education Centre at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Dr Paul Offit confirms this says, “Children get their first dose of the MMR vaccine at 12 to 15 months, the age at which autism symptoms typically

The CDC has as of late experienced harsh criticism in light of the fact that numerous concerned folks around the country have been persuaded that the immunizations the CDC orders have created they 're kids to create Autism. This was a stunning disclosure, that folks unknowingly brought