MMR & Autism: The Books Were Cooked
Yesterday, a brief story appeared in the Times Online (UK) about how the data was fixed in the MMR/Autism study that sparked the current controversy.
The Sunday Times, along with the General Medical Council (our AMA), investigated into the claims made by Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 study. In the original study, 8 of 12 families at one clinic blamed the MMR shot for their child’s autism. The Times reviewed medical documents and witnesses from the original study, and they have discovered that Dr. Wakefield changed and manipulated the patients’ data. In fact, in many cases, medical concerns regarding the child had been raised before the shot was administered.
If this one little study doesn’t sound like a big deal, here is an alarming fact from the article:
Despite involving just a dozen children, the 1998 paper’s impact was extraordinary. After its publication, rates of inoculation fell from 92% to below 80%. Populations acquire “herd immunity” from measles when more than 95% of people have been vaccinated.
Last week official figures showed that 1,348 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales were reported last year, compared with 56 in 1998. Two children have died of the disease.
It will be interesting to see if the anti-vaccinators acknowledge this new information, or if they continue to gloss over the facts.
Please, please, please…vaccinate your kids.
Julie Said,
February 9, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
Glad you posted this one, Jodi. I couldn’t get to it today. Crazy news. I wonder if this will finally convince people.
Erica Said,
February 9, 2009 @ 3:11 pm
I can understand those who delay shots especially with premature babies, but I don’t see any reason to forgo them altogether. I run into various mommy sites that are deathly afraid of all shots even though the preservative that was supposed to be the evil culprit was removed about ten years ago and they know it – I don’t get that.
Thanks for this post. I’ve passed this post around on twitter and facebook.
Siamang Said,
February 10, 2009 @ 10:37 am
http://scienceblogs.com/ is covering this today.
Here are some factoids:
Statistic
1,348 The number of cases of measels (one of the M’s in MMR) in the UK last year, according to the Health Protection Agency.
56 The number of cases of measels in 1998, the year Wakefield’s initial study was published.
That is frankly alarming.
They’ve got a lot of stories covering various aspects of the case.
Tara Smith writes on her blog Aetiology:
“This is truly incredible. Even being familiar with Wakefield’s statements over the past decade about his research, and his complete denial about studies that have contradicted his own findings, it’s still pretty shocking that he completely made up data, and then pushed it for ten years as children around the world became ill and even died in light of his research. It’s even more disgusting in light of the fact that I doubt this new information will change many minds when it comes to vaccination–the meme has already spread too far to let a little thing like atrocious scientific misconduct rein it in now.”
http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2009/02/vaccines_and_autism–can_we_st.php
And Mike Dunford writes on the blog “The Questionable Authority”:
“Sadly, as Phil Plait already pointed out, it’s not likely that these latest revelations about Wakefield’s research practices will have any effect on most of the MMR causes autism proponents. Simply put, their belief in the perils of vaccination has reached almost religious levels. The existence of a large number of (better) studies that fail to demonstrate a link have not dissuaded them, and it’s unlikely that a revelation that the one article that supports their beliefs is fraudulent will change their minds.”
http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2009/02/scientific_misconduct_and_the.php
Brian Deer Discusses Andrew Wakefield in the Sunday Times: Many Updates « Holford Watch: Patrick Holford, nutritionism and bad science Said,
February 11, 2009 @ 3:36 am
[...] of Rational Moms links to the story: MMR & Autism: The Books Were Cooked. If this one little study doesn’t sound like a big deal, here is an alarming fact from the [...]
Julie Said,
February 11, 2009 @ 8:04 pm
Well, let’s see how it goes. I just posted the link on my two mom support groups. I am really curious to see if my post–purely informational–sparks any vitriol.
molly Said,
February 12, 2009 @ 10:10 am
@Julie good luck! I peeked at That One Huge Forum I Know You’re Thinking Of, and the story was mentioned….but quickly buried under gems like “Measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox are not diseases, but normal developmental stages.” Anyway I hope your messages spark curiosity and second thoughts rather than vitriol!
Jodi Said,
February 12, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
Thanks, Siamang, for that great info. And I agree about this issue reaching almost religious proportions. The believers are zealots who are unwilling to listen to the evidence. I once attended a mommy play group where they were speculating that sonograms caused autism. Everyone is grasping at straws for an explanation and, unfortunately, vaccinations are an easy target.
Julie, good luck! Let us know what feedback you get.
As a follow up, this story was online today:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/12/autism.vaccines/index.html
A special vaccine court ruled that, in the case of three children, there was not enough evidence to support the claim that the MMR vaccine had caused autism. But there will be more court decisions to come. From the article:
“Since 2001, thousands of parents of autistic children have filed petitions seeking compensation from the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program at Health and Human Services.
By mid-2008, more than 5,300 cases had been filed in the program — and 5,000 of those were still awaiting adjudication, according to the agency. “