Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism Essay

Andrew Wakefield is a former gastroenterologist and medical researcher who was discharged from his medical register in the UK, because of his dishonest research paper he released back in 1998, that analysed a possible link between measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the presence of autism and bowel disease (Godlee, F., et al, 2011). Wakefield's research generated a substantial scare for the MMR vaccine and MMR vaccination rates began to drop because parents were concerned about the risk of autism after vaccination (DeStefano, F., Chen, R.T., 1999). After the paper was published by the Lancet medical newspaper, other reviews were trying to repeat Wakefield's conclusions,

According to Rao & Andrade (2011), Andrew Wakefield and 12 of his partners carried out a selective unethical sample on few children to support their idea and the result gotten from their case study was released to the public through Lancet, suggesting that measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, commonly called MMR may affect children’s behavior and damage their developmental growth (MMR vaccine is likely going to set off autism) in 1998. The public received the false information with good faith and lo and behold the MMR vaccination rates started dropping due to the erroneous report.

I found the immunization study conducted by Andrew Wakefield and his twelve colleagues to be the most serious of the two studies we reviewed this week. The study suggested that vaccines may cause autism, consequently parents around the world began refusing measles, mumps, and rubella, (MMR), vaccines for their children. This is a difficult subject because many parents expect the right to refuse any medical treatment for their child which is not a life threatening case. The problem lies in the fact that measles is a highly contagious disease which can be transmitted before the tell tale rash appears (Mckenna, 2015). According to the Washington State Department of Health news release (2015/07/02), a young woman who was taking medication which suppressed her immune system died recently from pneumonia due to measles (p.1).

Although there is no scientific proof that vaccines cause autism, proponents still believe that they do. The theory that vaccines cause autism were based on unproven facts and falsified information (DeStefano 81). In an article called CNS Drugs, the author writes about how a man named AJ Wakefield stun the public with a theory that the MMR vaccine may cause autism and how enterocolitis (bowel dysfunction) and MMR vaccine may be linked to autism (DeStefano 831). Even though Wakefield falsified information and his theories were proven to be discredited many people still

One of the most controversial stories in today’s medicine is between autism and vaccinations. Autism is a disorder that makes it difficult for people to communicate with others and form relationships with them. It has been thought that vaccinations that children receive at an early age cause autism. Autism has become more prevalent over the years and scientists are still unsure how the disorder has come about. Some parents have taken it upon themselves to not vaccinate their children because they believe it will cause their child to become autistic. The real question is do vaccines really cause autism and if so which vaccine is it?

Right off the bat let me ask you this, would you rather have your child have mild social interaction problems or have them die of whooping cough or measles? The choice is obvious to many, but not so easy for a few. Many parents or to-be parents have the misconception that vaccines, (which give someone immunity to a certain disease), cause autism.

There has been much research and debate on whether vaccines cause autism, however, there is no evidence that Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccination is associated to autism. Parental age and pregnancy complications have been the most studied risk factors for ASD especially low birth weight and prematurity. Three of five studies have found low birth weight to have a significant association with autism spectrum disorder. Mothers aged 35 years and older and fathers aged 40 to 49 years have also found significant associations with autism. Pregnancy complications have been found to be significantly associated with ASD according to a 2012 systematic review. Prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal overall health have been explored by many studies. A cohort

In 1998, Wakefield wrote a fraudulent research paper linking the appearance of autism and bowel diseases to the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine (Wikipedia. 2015.). Once the press, caught wind off of Wakefield’s research many became to blow the whistle on the on vaccine in the United Kingdom and causing panic because vaccines have been accused to cause autism. The British General Medical Council (or GMC) decided to investigate and soon found that the claim and the paper was false. However, the damage was done and the seed was planted. Now the new question on everyone’s mind is ‘Do vaccines cause autism and bowel diseases’?

The measles vaccine was licensed in 1962, and within 5 years of release of this vaccine a strong decline and almost eradication of measles was reported from 1950-2007. According to doctors conducting research at the CDC the claim that, “Vaccines can overload a child’s immune system”. ( citation) is simply false and from the moment babies are born, they are exposed to all different kinds of sicknesses, including viruses of which the body has no way of fighting off to defend the child. The CDC and the Institute of Medicine all agree that 95% of children`s immune systems can handle a stimulating antigen, similar to the ones found in multiple vaccines. It’s also been suggested that, after Wakefield’s paper was published, and the anti-vaccination campaign that followed, general immunizations dropped from 92%, to 78.9% in a matter a few years. 7 years after the irreversible damage caused by the fraudulent paper, the Lancet retracted Wakefield’s claim, issued a public apology during an interview with the Sunday Time, and promptly saw most of Wakefield’s co – authors, withdrawing their support and findings from the paper. The investigation showed that his research had been biased and non-empirical as the children that were used in the study, were selected as evidence

“Vaccines do not cause autism: Pediatricians fight back against anti-science” purpose is to inform most and persuade others that vaccines, in fact do not cause autism. To begin the article the author stated how scary it is for parents with kids on the autism spectrum to hear of what may have caused it, especially if it is preventable. Though there are not many ways that autism is caused by occurrences that parents could have prevented, some parents still believe they could have stopped their child from being on the autism spectrum. Doing so by not getting their kid vaccinated, because of this false statement that autism is caused by vaccines. Pediatricians have continually tried to convince parents that vaccines do not cause autism, but are still met with denial. Doctors and pediatricians everywhere have reiterated profusely that vaccines are safe, and do not cause autism, ‘“Claims that vaccines are linked to autism, or are unsafe when

Only nine weeks after he was born, Brady Alcaide was buried, his tiny body unrecognizable from the effects of whooping cough. At first, the vaccine-preventable illness seemed like a common cold, but a trip to the hospital revealed otherwise. Brady and his family are just some of the people suffering because of decreased vaccination rates. The anti-vaccine movement was started with the release of a study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield in 1998. The study showed data that supports the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine is linked to a higher risk of autism in children. Because of this study, some parents are choosing to stop vaccinating their kids, even though the study is continually

Opponents strongly argue that vaccines are behind the increasing numbers of autism cases, mental retardation, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), Crohn disease. Ted Koren, DC stated, "Dyslexia, minimal brain damage, ADD, autism, allergies, visual and many other neurologic diseases grouped together as "developmental disabilities," barely existed before mass vaccination programs. Probably twenty percent of American children-one youngster in five-suffers from a 'developmental disability.” In 1998 in an attempt to sue vaccine manufacturers and create a vaccine scare, Lancet published an article for Andrew Wakefield, MD claiming that “ Rubella virus is associated with autism and the combined measles, mumps, and Rubella vaccine.” Between 2003 and 2012 an investigation has been run to verify the validity of these assumptions. It turns out that Wakefield has falsified medical histories of children and the same publisher issued an announcement that no casual link was established between MMR and

One such factor helping to manifest these large-scale epidemics is a study from 1998 by Andrew Wakefield, which claimed that there was a direct link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine (Smith 1). As a result, many parents refused to vaccinate their children out of fear, and vaccine-preventable diseases like measles began reappearing more in both America and Britain, the place where Wakefield conducted his study (Cohen 2). Although a later investigation by the British Medical Journal discovered that Wakefield had distorted or altered the medical records of all twelve of the study’s participants and that he had been paid $674,000 USD by lawyers attempting to sue vaccine manufacturers, the atmosphere of apprehension surrounding vaccines is still strong among many individuals, and especially parents (Cohen 1-2). But despite all the controversy and the scientifically unsupported arguments of anti-vaccine sympathizers,

During escalating controversy about perceived benefits and harm of vaccinations, very few people remain oblivious to the notorious theory proposed by Andrew Wakefield. Health Impact News describes him as “the world-renowned gastrointestinal surgeon and researcher who has been accused of fraud and fabricating studies that show a link between the MMR vaccine and bowel disease, present in many children with autism” (August, 22, 2014). Although the research published in The Lancet by Dr. Wakefield and twelve co-authors back in 1998 has been retracted in 2011 while being deemed erroneous and fraudulent, the ongoing damage to the public perception resulted in the outbreak of diseases once thought to be eradicated forever (BMJ, 2011, p. 342). To

Vaccines have been successfully utilized since the late 1700s, and they are now considered to be one of the biggest achievements of public health. An immune response is triggered when a vaccine is administered, causing the body to create a defense against an infecting organism. The wide use of vaccines has been helpful in protecting populations against dangerous diseases that would otherwise cause harm to an individual, even to the point of death, and even represent a significant cost to the public health system. The incidence of a significant number of infectious diseases has been greatly reduced since the introduction of vaccines, to the point where small pox has been eradicated, and several others have been largely eliminated and are on