Autism/vaccine link study exposed as a fraud

[BJJ-Blue]

"LONDON – The first study to link a childhood vaccine to autism was based on doctored information about the children involved, according to a new report on the widely discredited research.

The conclusions of the 1998 paper by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues was renounced by 10 of its 13 authors and later retracted by the medical journal Lancet, where it was published. Still, the suggestion the MMR shot was connected to autism spooked parents worldwide and immunization rates for measles, mumps and rubella have never fully recovered.

A new examination found, by comparing the reported diagnoses in the paper to hospital records, that Wakefield and colleagues altered facts about patients in their study.

The analysis, by British journalist Brian Deer, found that despite the claim in Wakefield's paper that the 12 children studied were normal until they had the MMR shot, five had previously documented developmental problems. Deer also found that all the cases were somehow misrepresented when he compared data from medical records and the children's parents.

Wakefield could not be reached for comment despite repeated calls and requests to the publisher of his recent book, which claims there is a connection between vaccines and autism that has been ignored by the medical establishment. Wakefield now lives in the U.S. where he enjoys a vocal following including celebrity supporters like Jenny McCarthy.

Deer's article was paid for by the Sunday Times of London and Britain's Channel 4 television network. It was published online Thursday in the medical journal, BMJ.

In an accompanying editorial, BMJ editor Fiona Godlee and colleagues called Wakefield's study "an elaborate fraud." They said Wakefield's work in other journals should be examined to see if it should be retracted.

Last May, Wakefield was stripped of his right to practice medicine in Britain. Many other published studies have shown no connection between the MMR vaccination and autism.

But measles has surged since Wakefield's paper was published and there are sporadic outbreaks in Europe and the U.S. In 2008, measles was deemed endemic in England and Wales."

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110106/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_autism_fraud

And this guy fooled Jenny McCarthy! That's amazing, because we all know people from Hollywood are usually the best experts on anything and everything they speak about.

He really should be charged criminally, as his hoax directly resulted in an epidemic of measles.

First global warming and now this. It's really been bad times recently for frauds and hoaxes. ;)

[MasterKiller]

People just won't accept that God wants them to be Autistic.

[sanjuro_ronin]

This is old news for those that have actually followed the many studies that have been done, but it's good to see it getting more publicity.
Of course it won't mean anything for those that "KNOW THE TRUTH!!!!"

[SoCo KungFu]

The fact most of his colleagues removed themselves from the publication of the paper before this was even completed a decade ago should have been the first indication. But no we have a whole slew of nobodies that think a couple yahoo articles provides them with enough information, without even having the basic understanding, to dismiss those with years of work into research of a given field. Sorta like climate change....

Anybody that was educated on the matter, pretty much knew his work was crap to begin with.

[mooyingmantis]

I can't speak for the MMR shot. However, I personally know two persons who developed seizures a few hours after taking the DPT shot as infants. The one was given phenobarbital till age six and has never had another seizure. The other is in his early 50s and still suffers from seizures if not on medication.

[SoCo KungFu]

I can't speak for the MMR shot. However, I personally know two persons who developed seizures a few hours after taking the DPT shot as infants. The one was given phenobarbital till age six and has never had another seizure. The other is in his early 50s and still suffers from seizures if not on medication.

Seizures aren't autism and DPT isn't MMR. Sounds pretty obvious right? Except that the majority of the populace have no idea what the difference is and tend to make uninformed decisions.

Pertussis has long been know to be one of the most (actually probably the most) risky vaccination you can get. Its using a killed whole form or fragment of the the microbe (B. pertussis). There's always the risk that the recipient can have an adverse reaction. Although there are new vaccines out for this that are more safe.

MMR is an attenuated vaccine. Its a live organism that's lost its virulence (or been weakened). Usually through selective culturing of mutated strain. There is here always the risk that it could backmutate to its virulent form, however, these are generally safer than whole-cell vaccines.

But see, people don't do their homework and they don't understand these types of differences. They don't understand that the flu vaccine they should get every season only accounts for 3 potential strains, of the numerous that are out there. You really can't vaccinate for anymore than 3 as the vaccine begins to lose effectiveness beyond that. So you basically have to monitor trends and predict what the population is most at risk for in a given flu season. But due to the mobility people have in modern days, its inevitable that someone will carry a particular case of flu and travel to a region that was not vaccinated for that specific case and sure enough people get sick. Sometimes they get the predictions right, sometimes they don't. But people don't bother to educate themselves on this and you have people making uninformed decisions not to vaccinate, or worse yammering against the government or their work trying to claim nonsense and conspiracy (like some have here).

And the whole vaccine to autism thing is just ridiculous. Autism is now known to be a major genetic condition and begins prior to birth.

Furthermore, on the case of pertussis, its unfortunate for those who have had adverse reactions to the whole-cell vaccines but the gains by far outweigh the risks. A few will have issues (often seizures) but that's better than risking a disease which prior to the 40's effected about half the child population by the time they were in school. A disease which would cause them to cough so violently they could crack their own ribs.

[mooyingmantis]

Seizures aren't autism and DPT isn't MMR. Sounds pretty obvious right? Except that the majority of the populace have no idea what the difference is and tend to make uninformed decisions.

Yes, I am quite aware that they are two different things. I work in the medical field. However, since we are on the subject of immunizations, I thought I would bring up the dangers of pertussis. One of the person that I mentioned affected was my daughter. It was a sad sight twenty-six years ago to find our baby seizing in her bed. We had not been informed of the possible side-effects by our pediatrician.


Furthermore, on the case of pertussis, its unfortunate for those who have had adverse reactions to the whole-cell vaccines but the gains by far outweigh the risks.

Yes, it is very unfortunate! Especially for the parents of the 1 in 14,000 children (according to the Centers for Disease Control) who have reactions that can result in seizures, coma, brain damage, or death.

[SoCo KungFu]

Yes, I am quite aware that they are two different things. I work in the medical field. However, since we are on the subject of immunizations, I thought I would bring up the dangers of pertussis. One of the person that I mentioned affected was my daughter. It was a sad sight twenty-six years ago to find our baby seizing in her bed. We had not been informed of the possible side-effects by our pediatrician.


Bringing it up is fine but to do so without noting the differences is negligent and depending on the reason, unethical. This is how we have masses of uninformed crying foul on things that aren't related, they don't know the difference but they grab one little tidbit of information and neglect the rest.


Yes, it is very unfortunate! Especially for the parents of the 1 in 14,000 children (according to the Centers for Disease Control) who have reactions that can result in seizures, coma, brain damage, or death.

Like I said, its unfortunate for your daughter but 1 in 14,000 is better than the 1 in 2 that would have been hit with a potentially dangerous disease that can result in severe lung infection, pneumonia, seizures, encephalopathy, broken/cracked ribs or in some cases death (up to 9000 a year in prevaccine era according to CDC).

Medically its pretty obvious that the gains outweigh the risks and that its far more beneficial and less risky to vaccinate than to choose not to. As for the pediatrician that's a fault on their part but not the practice of vaccination and not the vaccine.

And this isn't against you, but just people in general. But anyone that takes a medicine, a vaccine, an anything...and doesn't inquire about potential side effects is doing themselves a disservice and the fault is on them. You have to ask. It doesn't matter what you are putting in your body and where it comes from be it pharmaceuticals, alternative, dietary, straight food itself, whatever. Anything you put in your body will have an effect, positive or negative. Why people think turning our bodies into chemistry experiments won't have consequences is beyond me. Its always a matter of the positives outweighing the negatives. Now I can't speak for 26 years ago but these days you can't take a medication without having a short book being thrown at you on just what that med does. And doctors have become much more proactive about making sure people are informed. In this day, if someone takes a shot, a pill, a vaccine and doesn't know all about it, its their own fault for not paying attention.

Anyways that's my rant. I'm going outside.