The Wake of Andrew Wakefield

The paper by Andrew Wakefield published in Lancet in 1998 linking the MMR vaccine to autism sparked controversy surrounding vaccinations around the world. However, the work of Wakefield has been discredited by fellow scientific professionals. Andrew Wakefield conducted his study using twelve patients which is too small a sample size to create a reputable scientific claim. Several epidemiological studies were conducted in the wake of Wakefield’s publication with all of them concluding that there was no link between autism and the MMR vaccine. There was also a retraction of the original data published in Lancet by ten out of twelve of the co-authors that conducted the study in which they discredited any link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Thus, even Wakefield’s fellow colleagues that helped to originally conduct the study discredited its findings.

Lancet, the original publisher of the study, also retracted the paper’s claims in 2010 following extensive investigations. Additionally, medical journals such as The British Medical Journal have released exposés of Wakefield’s research discrediting its findings stating that the paper falsified evidence, and disregarded proper research protocols. The Canadian Medical Association Journal also undermined the paper’s conclusions stating that no other study has been able to replicate the findings found in Wakefield’s study which further proves the lack of support that this paper has within the scientific community. Wakefield and his senior research advisor had their medical licenses revoked for unethical practices and on January 29^th, 2010 the U.K. General Medical Council (GMC) ruled that the study was conducted dishonestly. Lancet also made a statement that Wakefield had not fully disclosed his interests regarding his study. It was later discovered that Wakefield had a financial incentive from lawyers representing families who were pursuing litigation against companies producing the vaccines and it was through these lawsuits attacking the MMR vaccine, that Wakefield found his cohorts. Many of Wakefield’s child participants in his study were litigants from the same anti-vaccine manufacture lawsuits that were funding Wakefield’s research.

In response to Andrew Wakefield’s publication, there has been a large decline in children receiving the MMR vaccine out of parental fear of their children developing autism. It is believed that the growing anti-vaccination movement was sparked by Wakefield’s publication and his findings still attribute to an increasing prevalence of preventable diseases due to parents refusing to vaccinate. Personally, it is appalling to me that people are still choosing to not give their children vaccines despite the overwhelming scientific evidence of their safety and the public’s knowledge of Wakefield’s fraud. As a result of Wakefield and other anti-vaccination promoters, cases of varicella, mumps, and measles have occurred, with measles being of greatest concern because it is highly contagious. Lack of vaccination has led to measles outbreaks in the UK in 2008 and 2009 and cases in the USA and Canada. In 2000 measles was declared eliminated in the US due to vaccination. However, anti-vaccination efforts have directly resulted in a re-emergence of measles with the Center for Disease Control reporting the US having 375 cases in 2018 and 1,282 cases in 2019. According to the World Health Organization, in January 2017 there were 500 measles cases in the European region. Across the world, current vaccine coverage is around 85% which is below the 95% coverage needed to establish herd immunity. In the US there has also been an increase in mumps outbreaks since 2006 and varicella continues to ail those who are unvaccinated. Additionally, anti-vaccination campaigns are gaining momentum because those who don’t vaccinate do not reap the consequences of these diseases because they have been so close to elimination for many years. However, organizations like UNICEF are becoming increasingly concerned that the focus of controversy has shifted to the vaccine instead of the disease because people have become complacent to the true danger of these diseases and continue to not vaccinate.