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It was a fraud, spread by panic, fear, and a distrust of science in general and medicine in particular.
Even if the original study had not been fraudulent, a single study should not be taken as "proof" of anything.
Much of the original controversy was caused by a paper published by Andrew Wakefield (at the time he was a physician) in The Lancet - the prestigious British medical journal. After the publication of Wakefield's paper, other researchers were unable to reproduce Wakefield's findings or confirm his hypothesis of an association between the MMR vaccine and autism, or autism and gastrointestinal disease. After a British Journalist uncovered and published undisclosed financial conflict of interest information (Wakefield was getting money from people suing the vaccine company claiming the vaccine caused autism in their children), the British Governing Medical Council (GMC) - the governing body for physicians in Britain - opened an investigation against Wakefield and two former colleagues. Most of his co-authors withdrew their support for the study's interpretations.
On 28 January 2010, a five-member statutory tribunal of the GMC found three dozen charges proved, including four counts of dishonesty and 12 counts involving the abuse of developmentally challenged children. The panel ruled that Wakefield had "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant", acted both against the interests of his patients, and "dishonestly and irresponsibly" in his published research.
Wakefield's study that was used to link MMR to autism was retracted by The Lancet and was subsequently labeled an "elaborate fraud" in an investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ. The investigation concluded the study's author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study -- and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible.
Three months following The Lancet's retraction, Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register, with a statement identifying deliberate falsification in the research published in The Lancet and was barred from practicing medicine in the UK.
Wakefield's utter failure to conduct valid research does not disprove any possible links between vaccines and autism, but it is pretty obvious his "study" suggesting a possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism was worthless.
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Are infant vaccinations linked to autism?
No, there is no link between vaccinations and autism. This idea first came about in 1998 when a study was published by Andrew Wakefield that said there was a link between MMR and autism - this study was shown to be completely fraudulent, however many people today continue to believe this due to people pushing pseudoscience to further their own causes, such as to spread fear about vaccinations or autism, or to sell expensive autism treatments to parents, or simply out of ignorance. Autism is a neurological difference, as the brain is formed within the womb common sense dictates that vaccines cannot cause autism - a vaccine cannot change the brain, nor can it go back in time to change a babies development within the womb.
Why do some mothers not allow there child to have an mmr vaccionation?
1) religious objections (a belief that God or scripture prohibits vaccinations); 2) fear that such injections cause long-term problems such as retardation or autism. But these fears are unfounded.
Why do immunizations cause autism?
It is unproven that immunizations cause autism. Flu vaccinations are recommended by the American College of Pediatricians and by the American Academy of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in pregnant women. The ingredient that is in vaccines that some people fear is mercury, but in reality, the amount of mercury in a vaccine is less than you get in a single meal of fish and is not linked in any way to autism. See the related question below about how to tell if information you read online is right about vaccinations. It is not correct to say that immunizations cause autism.
What phobia is the fear of shots?
Trypanophobia is the extreme and irrational fear of medical procedures involving injections or hypodermic needles. Also, the fear of vaccinations specifically is called vaccinophobia.
How many people are afraid of vaccinations?
many, to about half. however that said, many do not admit their fear.
How to Understand Autism: Children Vaccinations?
When it comes to understanding the rising prevalence of children with autism, one of the fist topics that individuals who are not familiar with this condition raise is the supposed correlation between childhood vaccinations and children with autism. While is true that there is still a great deal that we do not know about when in comes to autism, it is important to understand that the vaccine hypothesis has been thoroughly considered and exhaustively disproven. Nevertheless, a troubling number of parents make the decision to not have their children vaccinated for a wide range of diseases out of a misguided fear of damaging their child’s cognitive development. Here is what you need to know about the vaccination hypotheses and how it relates to children with autism.The vaccination hypotheses first began to surface during the late 1980s when an increasing number of children were being diagnosed with autism. Most pediatricians and researchers believe that this increase in the number of young people who have been diagnosed with this condition is a result in a wider understanding of what autism is and how to spot the signs of autism in young children. These symptoms first begin to develop when children have reached the age that they are beginning to receive most of their immunization shots. However, parents began to notice that their children were being diagnosed in the same year that they had received their vaccinations and made the mistake of concluding that the vaccination itself caused the neural disorder.Unfortunately, the unquestioning acceptance of the vaccination hypotheses as the cause of children with autism has lead to so many parents choosing not to have their children vaccinated that it may lead to a severe public health crisis. As the percentage of children in the population who have not received basic immunization shots increases, so does the possibility that a large scale measles outbreak could occur in the near future. Measles is a highly contagious disease that will infect between 85% and 95% of the children and adults who are not immunized to it once it is airborne. Sudden exposure of measles to a population that has not been properly vaccinated do to a misunderstanding as unsubstantiated as the connection between vaccinations and children with autism is a recipe for disaster.
What to the government do based on the autism epidemic?
There's no such thing as the 'autism epidemic'.Autism is a variation in neurology, it is not a disease so cannot be an 'epidemic'. This terminology is commonly used by those who are against Autistic people or use Autism to further their agenda (such as using it to make money - e.g. Autism Speaks) to create a culture of fear, often using misleading data claiming Autism is on the increase when it's not (diagnosis has increased, Autism hasn't).
What is Autism awareness?
Autism awareness is simply making people aware of autism and Autistic people. Unfortunately organizations such as Autism Speaks uses autism awareness to speak negatively about autism and Autistic people to increase their profits, thus there remains a lot of ignorance about autism.
What is difference between fear and frighten?
Fear is an emotion "I fear you" Frighten is to cause someone to feel the emotion fear. "Do I frighten you?" = "Do I cause you to feel fear?" "Yes you frighten me" = "Yes, you cause me to feel fear"
Has You Tube Video autism epidemic out of control alerted media to finally do something about misinformation on autism?
There is no Autism epidemic - it's not a disease or a virus, Autism is a neurological difference and represents Autistic people - referring to Autism as an epidemic is referring to Autistic people as an epidemic, it is dangerous and prejudice. People use the term 'epidemic' to promote fear surrounding Autism in order to push their agenda's or to make money, in the mean time not caring about how this impacts on those of us who are Autistic.
Can cats have autism?
Research has found out that animals think the way like autism savants. Even some people with autism claimed that their thinking processes are like an animal's. Animals are visual thinkers, they store their memories with pictures. In other words, animals make visual associations, just like autistic people. Fear is the most important emotion in animals, especially prey animals as sheep or horses. Fear is also the main emotion in autistic children. Please see related links below for a page about autism in animals.
What is the correlation of parents with an Autism-asperger's child and divorce?
There is no correlation between Autism and divorce.Organisations such as Autism Speaks spread this myth to increase fear of Autism - suggesting that Autism is some terrible thing that breaks-up families in order to increase money people give them to eradicate Autism/Autistic people. There's no solid evidence to show that parents with Autistic children are more likely to divorce than parents with neurotypical children.
