Although many people think that this shouldn’t be a question at all, there are still many people who are afraid to vaccinate their children. For many, the fear began after Andrew Wakefield, a man who has since lost his medical licence, published a study that suggested that children who received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine showed behavioral and developmental regression. It launched much of the world into a frenzy, as scientists worldwide were publishing studies that argued against his proposed link between autism and vaccination. He had an extremely small sample size of 12 and all 12 were patients that had been medically referred to he and his colleagues in the department pediatric gastroenterology. Even some of his colleagues who helped with the research, 10 out of 12 of them to be exact, argued against his claim and retracted their interpretation of the data after publication. They agreed that “no causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient”. Wakefield et. al were all faced with multiple charges of scientific misconduct and ethical violations, as it was eventually found out that part of the publication was done for financial gain, following the publication and the publication’s retraction. However, because of the publicity this publication received, most of the damage had already been done. People began to believe and spread the idea that vaccinating their children could cause autism.
“No causal link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient”
-10 out of 12 of Wakefield’s colleagues on his original study
While there are many benefits of having an ever-increasing field of technology and communication, there are also a few drawbacks. We may love the fact that important information can be spread globally very quickly, but what happens when the information is incorrect? This was the case with the idea that the MMR vaccine could potentially cause autism. Through seeing Wakefield’s original publication, and the publicity it got afterwards, the world began to talk about this idea. However, despite there being many people, including the original publisher, that proved and explained how this link was not supported, many people still believed that the MMR vaccine could cause autism. These people became very vocal about their new distrust in vaccines, and some even went as far as to stop vaccinating their children and trying to get others to stop vaccinating their children as well. This group of people have since become part of a larger group of people known as anti-vaxxers.
“By the end of 2019, we as a nation had seen more cases of the measles in a year since 1992”
Thus, over the course of time since Wakefield’s publication two opposite groups have formed: those who are pro-vaccination and those who are anti-vaccination. Or, it could be argued, those who are founded in science and those who are founded in fear. But unfortunately, fear is often a great motivator for action, or in this case a lack thereof. By the end of 2019, we as a nation had seen more cases of the measles in a year since 1992. The CDC noted that the majority of the people who got the measles were those who were not vaccinated, and that it spread the most in communities where groups of people weren’t vaccinated. 1,282 individual cases had been confirmed across the United States. And with the risks this poses to herd immunity, there has certainly been a lot of push back from those who are pro-vaccination, from Facebook all the way to Washington D.C.. Only time will tell what happens with the pro vs. anti-vaccination debate, but one thing is certain. Andrew Wakefield never had any scientific evidence to suggest vaccines cause autism in the first place.
Erika Bell's MCRO 251 Blog 