Andrew Wakefield VS Vaccines by Catherine Gonzalez

A Study of over 95,000 children included 15,000 unvaccinated two to five -year-old and nearly 2,000 kids already considered at high risk for autism (“No MMR-Autism Link in Large Study of Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated Kids” 1). There are some conspiracies theories of MMR Vaccine causing Autism. MMR vaccines, a vaccine that protects you from Measles, Mumps and Rubella and those diseases can even cause death. Andrew Wakefield was a gastroenterologist. He received his medical degree from St. Mary’s hospital school at London in 1981 (“Who is Dr. Andrew Wakefield?” 1). Let’s explore the conspiracy theories: do vaccines cause Autism or do vaccines not cause Autism?

In this article “Andrew Wakefield is a gastroenterologist that went to St. Mary Hospital School, London in 1981” (“Who is Dr. Andrew Wakefield” 1). He is well known for starting an anti-vaccine movement again the MMR vaccine; “Wakefield managed to drive MMR vaccination rates in the U.K. below the level of herd immunity, from 93% to 75 % and as low has 50% in some parts of London” (Gorski 1).  Andrew Wakefield has had a lot of support from those mothers and families who are against vaccines. Andrew Wakefield was a man who has made a lot of mothers feel like they are being supported by someone who comes with medical field background.

 Andrew Wakefield was a dishonest doctor: “Wakefield claimed that the decisions made about his work were rooted in politics rather than science” (Ramsey 356). Andrew Wakefield wrote in the Lancet but “completely retracted the paper in February 2010, admitting that several elements in the paper was incorrect, contrary to the finding of the earlier investigation” (“the MMR vaccine and Autism...” 1). When the investigation was happening, they had found “Wakefield guilty in January for acting dishonesty and irresponsibly for carrying out unnecessarily invasive test on children” ( Boseley “MMR row Doctor Andrew Wakefield...” 1).  After the whole investigation was done, “Wakefield was banned from practicing medicine in his Native Britain 8 years ago after helping spawn the modern anti vaccination movement with widely discreated research...” (Davison 1). The medical board also “struck Andrew Wakefield off the medical register and can no longer call himself a doctor” (Boseley 1).  Andrew Wakefield was a fraud in his workplace due to everything he did to the kids and falsifying his research data.

Wakefield was found to be dishonest in the work place; he was banned from practicing medicine in the United Kingdom, so he moved to the United States of America. Andrew Wakefield was an adulterer. Andrew Wakefield, “the married father of four, left his wife in November saying he wanted to “find himself” that same month he also met Elle Macpherson at an awards ceremony” (Davison 1). Estimates suggest that as many as 10-25% of married couples in the U.S. experience sexual infidelity at least once (McClintock 1). Carmel’s brother, “Finbar O’Donovan, said: “We had no idea that Andrew was seeing Elle Macpherson. My sister and Andrew only split up a few months ago. They are not divorced yet, but they plan to” (Jackson 1). Andrew Wakefield was being shown as a dishonest husband and what kind of person he was.

 Andrew Wakefield was an irresponsible person. He had a birthday party for one of his son’s when they were much younger. At the birthday party Andrew Wakefield, “took blood from children at a birthday party, paying them £5 (£5 is 5 lbs. of silver in US dollars is about 6 dollars) a time” (Boseley 1).  Andrew Wakefield did not find a conflict in what he was doing. When Andrew Wakefield was doing his research, he “had subjected 11 children to invasive tests such as lumbar punctures and colonoscopies that they did not need, without ethical approval” (Boseley 1).  Andrew Wakefield was a callous man. When he was doing his research, he was doing unnecessary test on the kids; he wasn’t being responsible with his research.

Only one theory attempts to explain the MMR vaccine and autism connection and that is the thimerosal additive used in the vaccine from 1990-2001 (“Timeline: Thimerosal in Vaccines” 1). Now to explain what thimerosal is:

Thimerosal is a preservative that has been used in some vaccines since the 1930's, when it was first introduced by Eli Lilly Company. It is 49.6% mercury by weight and is metabolized or degraded into ethylmercury and thiosalicylate. At concentrations found in vaccines, it meets the requirements for a preservative as set forth by the United States Pharmacopeia; that is, it kills the specified challenge organisms and is able to prevent the growth of the challenge fungi.... Since then, thimerosal has a long record of safe and effective use preventing bacterial and fungal contamination of vaccines, with no ill effects established other than minor local reactions at the site of injection. (“Thimerosal in Vaccines...” 1)

Andrew Wakefield’s theory was that thimerosal was causing the autistic enterocolitis. The MMR vaccine never actually had the ingredient thimerosal when it was in other vaccines (“Vaccines Safety...” 1). Andrew Wakefield was putting fear into the parents of young children just to profit from them and make the MMR outbreaks to increase in his home country. In an article it said “Parents in the UK kept their children away from the immunization clinic at 18 months and at four years when the jabs were due. It takes 95% vaccine coverage to keep measles at bay. Immunization rates dropped to 80%, and in pockets, particularly in some areas of London, as few as 65% of children had the jab. Measles cases rose sharply between 2001 and 2013” (“Measles is on the rise...” 1). In a personal survey done three out twenty-five College of the Mainland students and faculty did think that the MMR Vaccine does cause autism. When doing the study, it showed that there are still people believing Andrew Wakefield’s theory about the vaccine causing autism.

          In 2004 a UK journalist named Brian Deer exposed Wakefield’s financial conflict of interest related to the study. Brian Deer found that Andrew Wakefield was getting funding for his study from a lawyer that was working on an antivaccine lawsuit. Deer found that the lawyer was paying Wakefield to assist on his lawsuit. When Wakefield was recruiting the children for his study, he was getting children that already had Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) or Gastrointestinal Disorder (GI). The lawyer also was recruiting children for the study and was also getting children that had GI problems already. Deer found some finding that revealed that the medical records showed that the kids had a chronic constipation problem which was the opposite of diarrhea that causes IBD; Deer also found that when the children were getting tested for IBD, the test results were coming back negative (“Andrew Wakefield’s Harmful...” 1). Andrew Wakefield, in June 1997, filed a patent for a “safer” single measles vaccine and for products to treat both autism and IBD (“How the vaccines crisis...” 1). When Deer tried to speak with Wakefield about the whole investigation that happened; Wakefield denied everything he said that everything that he was being accused of was false.

MMR Vaccine not causing Autism, you may be asking what Autism is? Autism is referring to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated one in fifty-nine children in the United States today (“What is Autism?” 1). In the article, it said “Consistent with studies in other populations, we observed no association between MMR vaccination and increased ASD risk. We also found no evidence that receipt of either one or two doses of MMR vaccination was associated with an increased risk of ASD among children who had older siblings with ASD.” The theory that states that the vaccine causes Autism has been discredited. Researchers have suggested that autism develops from a combination of genetics and nongenetic, or environmental influences (“What causes Autism?”  1). Autism and the MMR vaccine have no link together. Wakefield has been putting fear into all these mothers and their families for something that has been discredited. Autism is something that has been affecting families since 1933 way before Wakefield put the fear into families in 1998 (“Who was the first...” 1). In personal survey 22 out of 25 stated that they did not think that MMR Vaccine caused autism.

In between the two theories of the MMR vaccines causing Autism or the MMR vaccines not causing Autism. Andrew Wakefield had put fear into families by saying that the vaccine caused Autism. The theory that it did cause Autism has been discredited and has been proven to be false information that the MMR vaccine does not cause Autism.

Work Cited

S "Andrew Wakefield's Harmful Myth of Vaccine-induced 'Autistic Entercolitis?" Gastrointestinal Society, www.badgut.org/information-centre/a-z-digestive-topics/andrew-wakefield-vaccine-myth/.

S Boseley, Sarah. "Andrew Wakefield Case Highlights the Importance of Ethics in Science." The Guardian, 20 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/society/2010/may/24/andrew-wakefield-analysis-ethics-science.

S Boseley, Sarah. "Measles is on the Rise in Europe? and Populism Could Be to Blame | Sarah Boseley." The Guardian, 22 Aug. 2018, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/22/measles-rise-europe-populism-andrew-wakefield.

S Boseley Sarah. "MMR Row Doctor Andrew Wakefield Struck off Register." The Guardian, 20 Sept. 2017, www.theguardian.com/society/2010/may/24/mmr-doctor-andrew-wakefield-struck-off.

S Davison, Rebecca. "Elle Macpherson and Anti-vaccine Boyfriend Andrew Wakefield Get Lunch." Mail Online, 14 Dec. 2018, www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6494309/Elle-Macpherson-disgraced-anti-vaccine-boyfriend-Andrew-Wakefield-step-lunch-Miami.html.

S Gorski, David. "Antivaccine Hero Andrew Wakefield: Scientific Fraud?" Science-Based Medicine – Exploring Issues and Controversies in the Relationship Between Science and Medicine, 8 Feb. 2009, sciencebasedmedicine.org/antivaccine-hero-andrew-wakefield-scientific-fraud/.

S "HOW THE VACCINE CRISIS WAS MEANT TO MAKE MONEY." Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, 15 Jan. 2011, www.med.mcgill.ca/epidemiology/hanley/c609/material/BMJpartII.pdf.

S Jackson, Kate. "Why is Elle 'The Body' Macpherson Dating UK's 'most Hated' Doc?" The Sun, 29 Aug. 2018, www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/6814112/elle-macpherson-andrew-wakefield-relationship/.

S McClintock, Elizabeth A. "The Real Reasons Why People Cheat." Psychology Today, 20 Mar. 2016, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/it-s-man-s-and-woman-s-world/201603/the-real-reasons-why-people-cheat.

S "No MMR-Autism Link in Large Study of Vaccinated Vs. Unvaccinated Kids." Autism Speaks, 21 Apr. 2015, www.autismspeaks.org/science-news/no-mmr-autism-link-large-study-vaccinated-vs-unvaccinated-kids.

T Ramsay, Sarah. “Controversial MMR-Autism Investigator Resigns from Research Post.” Lancet, vol. 358, no. 9297, Dec. 2001, p. 1972. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(01)07007-6.

S "The MMR Vaccine and Autism: Sensation, Refutation, Retraction, and Fraud." PubMed Central (PMC), Apr. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136032/.

S "Thimerosal in Vaccines Questions and Answers." U S Food and Drug Administration Home Page,5 Feb.2018, www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/vaccines/questionsaboutvaccines/ucm070430.htm.

S "Timeline: Thimerosal in Vaccines (1999-2010)." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 Jan. 2019, www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/timeline.html.

S "What Is Autism?" Autism Speaks, www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism.

S "Who is Dr. Andrew Wakefield?" Vaxxed, vaxxedthemovie.com/who-is-dr-andrew-

S "Who Was the First Person to Be Diagnosed with Autism?" Applied Behavior Analysis Programs Guide, www.appliedbehavioranalysisprograms.com/faq/first-person-diagnosed-autism/.

S "Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 6 Feb. 2019, www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism.html.

S "Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence." HealthyChildren.org, 24 July 2018,www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Vaccine-Studies-Examine-the-Evidence.aspx.