Why vaccinate?
One thing I love about studying medicine is that we get to learn about some popular cases that show up in the media. One case that comes up over and over is the study by Andrew Wakefield that "proved" that the MMR (combined measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine causes autism. This is the tirade that is now primarily led by Jenny McCarthy. And unfortunately, some people still believe that this is true.
I’ve been thinking about doing this post for a while now, but it was the combination of watching videos of children with whooping cough (because their parents were anti-vaccine) coupled with the fact that one of my best friends is expecting soon that tipped me over the edge to write it. Basically, I thought someone else might be interested in what the truth is just like I was. So here are the facts as we learned them.
By the 1990's, 91% of children were vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.
Cases of measles, mumps, and rubella all decreased over 99%.
To put this in perspective: measles decreased from 500,000+ cases per year to 37 cases per year.
In 1998, Wakefield published his study linking the MMR vaccine with autism.
He used 12 cases in his "research."
Vaccination of children decreased. First in the UK, then in the US.
Along with it, child deaths from these vaccine-preventable diseases increased.
So, of course, many researchers immediately went to work and tried to replicate this study.
And what do you think they discovered?
To sum it up: Vast research showed that there is no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.
Normally, a good study can be performed over and over again and get the same results. The fact that this didn’t happen should say a whole lot on its own.
Then, in 2001, a man who worked for Wakefield came forward and said that 11 of these cases were made up.
Wakefield did not deny this. He said he falsified the evidence because "he knew he was right."
The publication was pulled from the journal it was in.
Wakefield lost his license to practice medicine.
And if this little story wasn’t enough to convince you, I have attached a couple graphs from my lecture notes. You can see below how, as vaccinations went down (the red line), cases of measles went up (the blue lines).
And here, there has been a staggering increase in pertussis (whooping cough) which is attributed to lack of vaccinations.
No, I didn't add her face there. My prof did.
So the moral of the story is vaccinate your children!
And don’t believe everything you hear from celebrities.
Until next time,
Kim
I’ve been thinking about doing this post for a while now, but it was the combination of watching videos of children with whooping cough (because their parents were anti-vaccine) coupled with the fact that one of my best friends is expecting soon that tipped me over the edge to write it. Basically, I thought someone else might be interested in what the truth is just like I was. So here are the facts as we learned them.
By the 1990's, 91% of children were vaccinated with the MMR vaccine.
Cases of measles, mumps, and rubella all decreased over 99%.
To put this in perspective: measles decreased from 500,000+ cases per year to 37 cases per year.
In 1998, Wakefield published his study linking the MMR vaccine with autism.
He used 12 cases in his "research."
Vaccination of children decreased. First in the UK, then in the US.
Along with it, child deaths from these vaccine-preventable diseases increased.
So, of course, many researchers immediately went to work and tried to replicate this study.
And what do you think they discovered?
To sum it up: Vast research showed that there is no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.
Normally, a good study can be performed over and over again and get the same results. The fact that this didn’t happen should say a whole lot on its own.
Then, in 2001, a man who worked for Wakefield came forward and said that 11 of these cases were made up.
Wakefield did not deny this. He said he falsified the evidence because "he knew he was right."
The publication was pulled from the journal it was in.
Wakefield lost his license to practice medicine.
And if this little story wasn’t enough to convince you, I have attached a couple graphs from my lecture notes. You can see below how, as vaccinations went down (the red line), cases of measles went up (the blue lines).
And here, there has been a staggering increase in pertussis (whooping cough) which is attributed to lack of vaccinations.
No, I didn't add her face there. My prof did.
So the moral of the story is vaccinate your children!
And don’t believe everything you hear from celebrities.
Until next time,
Kim
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