Who is Andrew Wakefield?
Andrew Wakefield is a former British gastrointestinal surgeon who was particularly interested in inflammatory bowel diseases. In 1988 Andrew and 12 additional co-authors released a study that suggested that MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine was linked to autism and bowel disease. This publication gave birth to the anti-vaccine movement despite the retraction of the article by the Lancet 12 years following the initial publication.
Everything wrong with the wakefield study:
Conclusions drawn based on 12 case reports, no control and falsified data
Why is this bad? Not only is 12 a very small number but case reports are often subjective recalls of ones’ medical history. While useful in some scenarios, further investigation into the Wakefield study and follow-up interviews with the families of the children used in the study revealed that Andrew manipulated the data to support the conclusion that the MMR vaccine is indeed linked to autism.
“Child four was kept under review for the first year of life because of wide bridging of the nose” -Wakefield et al., 1988
“He was discharged from follow-up as developmentally normal at age 1 year.” -Wakefield et al., 1988
In reality, the medical records of child four highlighted: concerns with head appearance, reccurrent diarrhea, developmental delay, general delay and restricted vocabulary. Interestingly enough, these observations were noted prior to the child receiving the MMR vaccine.
Questionable ethics
Wakefield was charged by The General Medical Council of England (GMC) for unethically obtaining blood samples that were used in the study. Wakefield offered a 10 euro incentive to the children that attended his sons’ 10th birthday party for providing blood samples.
Financial conflict of interest
If the questionable ethics isn’t enough to fuel doubt in the study that has instilled fear in so many, the financial conflict of interest may. UK journalist Brian Deer discovered that part of Wakefield’s funding came from a lawyer who was in the midst of an anti-vaccine lawsuit for parents under the belief that their childrens’ medical conditions were triggered by vaccination.
Failure to replicate results
While Wakefield still stands behind his original study he has failed to replicate the results and provide the public with data that supports his original conclusion. In fact, there is currently no reputable evidence that exists linking the MMR vaccine to autism.
“In this large sample of privately insured children with older siblings, receipt of the MMR vaccine was not associated with increased risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), regardless of whether older siblings had ASD. These findings indicate no harmful association between MMR vaccine receipt and ASD even among children already at higher risk for ASD.” – (Jain et al., 2015)
Among many, a study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA), failed to find a relationship between MMR vaccine administration and autism in a sample size of 95727 which only further debunks Wakefields’ original claim which was based on 12 case reports.
What happened to Andrew Wakefield?
Following the Lancet’s publication of the Wakefield study, MMR vaccine rates in the UK dropped from over 90% to 79%. In the years to follow, the UK experienced its first measles-related death as well as a measles outbreak affecting upwards of 1000 individuals. 2004 was a pivotal year, Brian Deer a Sunday Times journalist investigated the financial conflict of interest in the Wakefield study while 10 of Wakefield’s co-authors retracted their support for the idea that MMR vaccination is a risk factor for the development of autism. Finally, in January of 2010 the Lancet retracted the Wakefield paper and Andrew lost his license to practise medicine in the UK.
Sources
Deer, B. (2011). How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed. British Medical Journal, 342:c5347. doi: 10.1136/bmjc5347.
Jain, A., Marshall, J., Buikema, A., Bancroft, T., Kelly, J.P. & Newschaffer, C.J. (2015). Autism occurence by MMR vaccine status among US children with older siblings with and without autism. Journal of the American Medical Association, 313(15), 1534-40.
Rao, T.S. & Andrade, C. (2011). The MMR vaccine and autism: Sensation, refutation, retraction, and fraud. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 53(2), 95-96.
Wakefield, A.J., Murch, S.H., Anthony, A., Linnell, J., Casson, D.M., Malik, M., Berelowitz, M., Dhillon, A.P., Thomson, M.A., Harvey, P., Valentine, A., Davies, S.E. & Walker-Smith, J.A. (1988). Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Lancet, 351(9103), 637-41.