The Lancet has officially retracted the 1998 study by Wakefield that linked the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine with autism.
The retraction comes amidst pressure from another British medical journal in efforts to curb misunderstandings of the findings by the general public as well as upholding scientific standards in light of ethics violations that should have prevented the paper from ever being published. Among the problems with the paper was the collection and characterization of samples obtained from children without consent and with financial coercion, 10 of the 13 co-authors denouncing the conclusions drawn by Wakefield, and a complete lack of replication of the findings, suggesting scientific error or bias in the methodology.
The paper is a popular one among the anti-vaccine movement, which has resulted in a resurgence in measles in the UK, and some outbreaks in the US. Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease that kills approximately 1 million people a year (1 in every 500 infections), mostly children, despite the availability of a vaccine. Of the survivors, 1 of every 1000-2000 infected has permanent brain damage because of the disease.
Retraction of the study removes it from the citable scientific record for further research. Journals have high peer-review standards to avoid retraction, but it occurs in cases where fraud or ethics violations are found on the part of the researchers after publication. Retraction has become a more public spectacle in recent years. The high profile nature of the paper in this case is likely to result in discussion for years to come as those who have held the paper up refuse to face the facts that it just wasn't true.
The MMR vaccine has not been linked to autism.
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Comments
The Wakefield study appears to have been taken as gospel by many organizations.
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I think the real thing is that diagnosis process has changed. A lot more kids are being closely examined by neurologists. The kids who are not neuro-typical are labeled with something. There is more understanding that autism is a spectrum and not an absolute. I think what we see as "normal" needs to be redefined personally. There are benefits to not being neuro-typical.
Lucy
vzn, are you talking about other studies that confirmed Wakefield's findings? Other studies have not linked MMR and autism. In fact, many many research dollars were wasted on trying to duplicate Wakefield's finding with no success, money that could've gone towards researching the real mechanism behind autism. Or are you talking about parents reading beyond one paper to get their information? I think LuluandPhoebe pointed to that - celebrities tell them what to do and they do it.
Lucy, I totally agree (one difference to note though about mercury is the difference between ethyl and methyl mercury. the mercury in vaccines is inert and leaves the system in ~48 h with no effect. It's only present in multidose packaging to prevent bacterial contamination. It is only used in production when necessary)
Thank you everyone else for commenting.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/112/3/604
It was one aspect of the vaccine-autism controversy I found interesting -- that the UK and US worried about the same link but thought the mechanism was completely different.
I did get my son single shots for his first measles, mumps and rubella, because long before the whole Autism-MMR thing came out, my biggest fear was that I carried a gene for Autism and would have a child like my brother.
I also studied the research carefully. However, it was easy to find articles by public health officials saying, oh, don't worry, no connection and hard to find articles with details of studies.
Eventually, I found a CDC page that quoted the sample sizes, methodology, and results of about 10 studies done around the world, like Denmark's study with something like 50,000 kids, 700 of whom had autism. (As opposed to Wakefield's sample size of 10-20)
There was too much emphasis on reassurance and not enough on fact. The facts convinced me.
The flourishing of the idea and the likely deaths of hundreds if not thousands of infants and children can be attributed to the movement of consumer directed buyer beware medical care that has developed. An untended consequence of this is the enfeebling of traditional professional ethics within the profession.
Of course people want control of their medical care and to be involved in decision making. The rejection of patriarchal excesses of the past is appropriate. But the average individual is simply not able to, unassisted by trustworthy data and advice, make the best decisions. It is dangerous and unfair to expect every "consumer" to spend the years educating him/herself in the nuances of pathology, much less clinical research sufficiently.
Decisions are best made collaboratively. The medical and research communities cannot be abandon professional ethics to the business model.
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/09-06-03
An excellent and complete survey of the whole story, and a devastating demolishing of the whole autism/vaccine freakshow -- and how dangerous it is for us to lose our herd immunity. Thanks, Alicia!
Adding this to my compilation.... (and rated)
By the age of 6 months = 69 shots
By the age of 5 yrs = 113 shots
By the age of 12 yrs = 156 shots
Babies are Vaccinated at birth ... did you know this ?
Now, all little boys will get the Gardasil vaccine per the 2010 Schedule Information. Some of the shots are combined and some are given in a series.
So, everyone is OK with this ? And ALL adults here are caught up on their Adult Vaccines? Yes ... Adult Vaccines ... there are LOTS of them ... make your appointment --- roll up your sleeves!
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5901-Immunization.pdf
And "gospel" also needs further investigation as to its legitimacy.
The study seems to have been profit motivated.
MMR is an important vaccine against troublesome and potentially fatal diseases. Gardasil is a different can of worms.
Not every vaccine is the same, not every disease is the same. You cannot lump them all together except to say that vaccination should be given to avoid diseases and their complications and, in general, are better than the disease they prevent when looking at the population as a whole.
I downloaded the PDF you cite. It says nothing even remotely like what you assert at the beginning of your comment. On page 2 it shows in clear charts that Adults MIGHT get as many as 17 immunizations (chart 1), plus a few boosters, and Female Adults a few extra for papillomavirus. BUT:
and it is a critical and very clearly stated BUT:
This would only happen if that Adult met the criteria for lack of immunization and/or if there were some risk factor present ("medical, occupational, lifestyle")
Thus the net result is what we all know from direct experience: a few immunizations for Adults in the US, a few boosters, a few optional flu shots.
And do you have children? Do you know anyone who does? Do yours or anyone's you ever met claim to have had, or in your direct experience did have, 156 shots by age of 12?!?!?!?!?!
let me re-phrase that: how about 30 shots by age 12?
What planet do you live on, thinking this is true, or that you can cite such obviously ridiculous "statistics" and we would gasp and believe it?
Either you are gullible, hysterical, deluded, or all three. Please, enlighten us: show us where in the USA a controlled study or even well-conducted survey establishes this baseline of 156 shots by age 12.
I have three daughters, the last two finishing high school. I testify, sister, that they have had nothing remotely close to this many shots, and they are up on all their immunizations. Not has any other child I ever met.
Google "logical fallacies". Among others, you create a straw man -- "156!!!" -- then ask us if we are OK with that. No, I am not. Neither am I OK with Godzilla's rabid uncle Joe devouring babies, nor am i OK with launching all the food on earth into space to feed the asteroid people.