At this point most people have heard someone say that vaccines cause autism. But have you ever wondered where this (very false) claim came from? In 1998, former doctor Andrew Wakefield published a study in the Lancet suggesting that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is linked to developmental disorders, including autism, in children. The study consisted of a small sample size of 11 boys and 1 girl, who had been referred to a pediatric gastroenterology unit for abdominal pain and diarrhea along with loss of acquired skills, including language. Wakefield reported an association between gastrointestinal diseases and developmental regression in these children, 8 of who had received the MMR vaccine. The study was uncontrolled and the claims made were merely speculations.
Despite the flawed science (read more here), this paper received wild publicity that led to a drop in MMR vaccination rates due to parents fear of their children developing autism as a result of the vaccine. It wasn’t long before multiple studies were published refuting the link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Soon after, 10 out of the 12 co-authors of the study retracted the interpretation of the data, claiming the data was insufficient. This came with a report a from the Lancet that Wakefield had failed to disclose financial interests. Wakefield had been funded by lawyers who were representing parents in lawsuits against vaccine producing companies. In 2010, the paper was retracted completely. Wakefield and his colleagues were found guilty of ethical violations and scientific misrepresentation. Wakefield was found guilty of deliberate fraud for financial gain, including falsifying facts and only picking data that suited the case.
Although this paper was retracted and multiple studies have proven no link between vaccines and autism, many parents are still wary of vaccinating their children and this paper is often still cited by members of the anti-vaxx movement. In the past few years, the anti-vaxx movement has lead to serious outbreaks of diseases that had been nearly eradicated in the United States. According to the CDC, in 2019, the greatest number of measles cases were reported since 1992. The majority of these cases had occurred in unvaccinated people. The fear of vaccines has lead to illness and deaths have could have been easily prevented. Moral of the story: be wary of bad science and vaccinate your kids.
Microbiology by Madeline 