The Lancet article was thoroughly unconvincing even if the data behind it was sound. A study on TWELVE children was used to make broad conclusions regarding the safety of the MMR vaccine. Well, it turns out that the fundamentals of this limited study were not sound – they were exaggerations and complete fabrications.

Thanks to Wakefield and the hysteria he created, measles is a resurgent problem in the U.K. According to the Times, in 1998, when Wakefield’s “study” was published, there were 56 cases of measles in the U.K. In 2008, there were 1348. In 2006, a 13 year old boy in northwest England became the first measles DEATH reported in the U.K. in 14 years. We’re starting to have measles outbreaks here because more & more people are delaying or avoiding vaccines based on “science” from attention-seeking cretins like Wakefield.

I certainly hope that this story serves as a wake-up call, but I fear that Wakefield’s lies and their dangerous consequences will unravel far too slowly.

Hat Tip: the Pundit

She’s probably really regretting it now.  She has a post about the unfounded and extremely dangerous MYTH that autism is linked to vaccination. I, of course, went on a rant.

Vaccination is the most important thing that I do as a pediatrician. Absolutely, positively, bar none. Small pox – the disease estimated to have killed 300-500 million people in the 20th century and largely responsible for wiping out the First Nations of America in the 18th and 19th centuries – has been eliminated except for a few lab specimens. Polio, the horrific crippler of millions, is on its way to being eradicated. I’ve never seen congenital rubella or measles. Even chicken pox is now on its way to rare obscurity – I only saw 2 or 3 cases while I was in training. Vaccines are supremely effective preventative measures that have made infectious disease a relatively uncommon cause of death in this country. Thus, all of my children are vaccinated.

The only reason parents with unvaccinated children get away with it is by taking advantage of the “herd immunity” built up by everyone that has vaccinated their children. However, by not vaccinating their children, they chip away at that herd immunity and increase the risks for everyone that an outbreak will become established in the population. In other words, aside from putting their own children in jeopardy, the anti-vaccination crowd also increases the risks for everyone else. Exhibit A – the recent mumps outbreaks in Iowa and the U.K. (scroll to the end of the mumps article for discussion of recent outbreaks).

Have there been cases of vaccine-associated encephalitis (inflammation of the brain)? Yes. They are exceedingly rare … literally one in a million or less. Most were associated with the old whole-cell DPT vaccine that’s no longer in use in this country. Most vaccine side effects are mild and quite tolerable (irritability, tenderness at the site of injection, low grade fever lasting 1-2 days). The recent development of various combination vaccines has reduced the number of injections necessary. On the other hand, if you contract measles (for example), your chances of getting encephalitis with permanent neurological sequelae are 1 in 100 1 in 1000 and your chances of dieing are 1 in 1000 1-3 in 1000 (or 10-50 in 1000 if you’re malnourished or immunosuppressed).  In the most recent major measles outbreak in the United States (1989-1991), there were over 55,000 cases and 123 deaths – so 1 in 447 died despite the modern medical interventions available [italicized corrections and clarifications added 7/3/07].

One of the pediatricians I trained with in St. Louis came from a very successful, professional family. Her father was an oncologist, her mother a lawyer. She was a developmental pediatrician (specializing in the treatment of Autism, among other developmental disorders). Her siblings are all well-educated professionals, except her brother. He was the smartest one of the bunch … until he contracted measles in the pre-vaccine era and developed encephalitis. Now he is mentally retarded and will never live independently. Where do you think she stands on the vaccine debate?

One of the leading proponents of the original MMR-Autism link was a British gastroenterologist named Andrew Wakefield. To my knowledge, all the other initial proponents of that now-debunked link (based on findings in only 12 children and published in the Lancet in 1998; the actual article requires registration and login) have since recanted in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence.

Not Wakefield – he’s sticking to his guns, and profiting handsomely from it. He’s now working at an institute down in Austin, Texas. They charge $390 per hour consultation fees (not covered by insurance and not including costs of their “treatment” and lab testing) to hawk unproven mega-vitamin and detoxification regimens. They also recommend 20-40 hours per week of intensive ABA (applied behavior analysis) and other behavioral therapies that are proven to help with Autism. If the kids treated at this snake-oil institute improve, that’s why … the intensive behavioral therapy, not the thousands of dollars of vitamins and voodoo medicine that they sell to them. Feh!

There is no credible link between Autism and vaccination, the vaccine preservative thiomersal or environmental mercury. It’s all baseless, hysterical voodoo that’s dissuading thousands of Americans from participating in vaccination, one of the greatest medical miracles of the last century.