Anti-Vaxxers—You’ve Been Duped!

[Modern School]

The decade long effort to link vaccinations with autism was based on fraudulent research by British physician, Andrew Wakefield, who has since been completely discredited and banned from practicing medicine. His research, first published in The Lancet, in 1998, connected the MMR vaccine to autism and stomach ailments, setting off a worldwide hysteria that led to a dramatic drop in immunization rates in the U.S. and U.K., and a rise in Measles and other preventable diseases, including some deaths. Numerous studies followed that proved that there was no link between vaccines and autism. (See the reports from the CDC and the National Institute of Medicine).

It is shocking that a world-wide panic could be triggered by a single research paper, and even more so when one considers the serious flaws in this paper, such as the fact that it was based on the statistically insignificant sample size of 12 patients or that its findings have never been replicated. However, this was not just a case of negligent or sloppy research, but a deliberate hoax, perpetrated with the collaboration of anti-vaccination activists for the purpose of financial gain. Wakefield, himself, was paid more than 400,000 pounds (about $750,000) by lawyers to help them win their lawsuit against Aventis Pasteur, SmithKlineBeecham, and Merck, on behalf of parents of autistic children. His work for the lawyers began two years before his Lancet publication, thus creating a significant conflict of interest that biased his research.

For the rest, please visit http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2011/01/hoax-alert-autism-and-vaccine-link.html

[bbinacan]

1. You don't mean it

somebody lying and hiding behind science? All studies are now suspect in my mind.

[bemildred]

2. You just don't know who to trust anymore. nt

[HuckleB]

5. Hiding behind science?

No. Wakefield hid behind fiction.

[trotsky]

3. Sad to say, this will do nothing to the anti-vaxers except...

make them stick their heads even further in the sand. They'll spin it off as the "establishment" continuing to attack Wakefield, blah blah blah.

At least the rest of the world can see the lies their dogma is based upon.

[varkam]

4. But of course. Wakefield can do no wrong.

If Wakefield can do no wrong, then there must be some other reasonable explanation for this - namely that he's the only one who cares about parents and their autistic children whereas everyone else is just out to make a buck. See? Reasonable.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

8. That will likely happen

The anti-vax movement will continue to support Wakefield, although some will jettison him as damaged goods if they can find another anti-vax prophet.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

6. question

wouldn't massive and multiple doses of vaccines be able to destroy a small child's immune system?

The drug cos. don't even talk about all the weird stuff (strange bacteria) that has been found in vaccines.

What about anecdotal evidence of kids who become extremely non-functional and are diagnosed autistic after a slew of vaccines?

I'm just asking questions.

I'm not saying this guy's study is not fraudulent.

I'm saying the phenomenon needs to be looked at carefully.

[laconicsax]

7. It has been looked at extensively.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-2489v1

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2010/05/24/no-benefit-seen-in-delaying-infant-vaccinations.html

[semillama]

10. not to mention that a child's immune system is dealing with novel bacteria ALL THE TIME

If you think about it, you'll see what I mean.

[uppityperson]

11. All of us, including infants, are being exposed to all sorts of stuff all the time

Just because we vaccinate against only a few does not mean that we are not exposed to, and dealing with, a whole lot of viruses all the time. Kids who play outside, who are exposed to more generally have healthier immune systems than those who do not get exposed to things. In general, immune systems get more able to react to pathogens if they are already doing so.

[LeftishBrit]

13. It's been looked at carefully for a long time

E.g. the MMR vaccine was withdrawn and then reintroduced in Japan; it had no effect on autism rates.

Most autistic children don't *become* 'extremely non-functional after a slew of vaccines'. They show signs of delay from the beginning (if low-functioning); but can only be diagnosed as *autistic* in the second year of life, when other children are developing social and communicative skills and those with autism are failing to do so.

A recent study in the UK showed that according to current diagnostic criteria, rates of autism are about 1% in children *and adults*. The adults would mostly have been given a different diagnosis, or none, in the past; but the rate of autism is the same if current criteria are used - suggesting that the changes are in the diagnostic methods, not in incidence of the disorder.

Vaccines should not damage a child's immune system any more than ordinary exposure to germs in the environment. Children's immune systems get a lot more challenges from being exposed to other people than from vaccines. (And if they never got such exposure they would *not* build up immunity; this is why people often get sick when travelling abroad, because they are exposed to 'new' germs that they had not previously encountered.)

[xchrom]

9. recommend

[mzmolly]

12. World wide panic?

:rofl: Hardly.

The only panic is on the part of those who fear that vaccine critique leads to mass hysteria.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=222&topic_id=97800&mesg_id=97800

[HuckleB]

14. Reality hits, and the anti-vaxxers respond with their usual disinformation.

Evidence means nothing to the anti-vax crowd.

The long-lasting consequences of a health scare
http://www.economist.com/node/12725316?story_id=12725316

Most U. S. Measles Cases Reported since 1996
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69C63B20101013

Most U. S. Measles Cases Reported since 1996
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080821.htm

Media Coverage Influence on MMR Vaccination Rates
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=275

High Rate of MMR Vaccine Refusal in Bay Area Increases the Risk of Birth Defects
http://www.examiner.com/sf-in-san-francisco/high-rate-of-mmr-vaccine-refusal-bay-area-increases-the-risk-of-birth-defects

I could go on and on, posting the evidence (I've done so repeatedly), but evidence means nothing to those who want vaccination rates to drop but love to pretend that their advocacy has no consequences. It's a bizarre conundrum that has no explanation outside of blind faith in the illogical world.

[HuckleB]

15. “Piltdown medicine” and Andrew Wakefield’s MMR vaccine fraud

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=9552