The immunisation debate.

Good afternoon and I hope everyone has had a productive week so close to Christmas!

In writing my position paper, I have learnt where a lot of the hype has come from with the link to Autism and vaccinations. And that is the perfect place to start my blog today.

In 1998, The Lancet, a major medical opinion in the world published the article ‘Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children’, by Andrew Wakefield.

Right here I will stop and point out that in 2011 this article was found to be inconclusive, could not be replicated, and was found to have ethical misconduct associated with the children selected. But at the time of publishing, many parents completely stopped vaccinating their children. To this day, many parents still believe what was written long after it has been discredited.

This is because this is the article that linked the triple vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella to Autism. In this article, the researchers showed that there seemed to be a link between the Rubella virus and Autism with the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine rather than the monovalent measles vaccine. It was noted in the research that for 15-20 autistic children, the first symptoms developed within a week of vaccination. It was not proven in this research that the vaccine caused Autism, but the link was made and there was a call for more research to be done. The damage was done. Since then, research suggests “Wakefieldism” as it is called continues to cause harm throughout the globe. Andrew Wakefield still stands behind his research to this day and he has followers dedicated to his cause. Wakefield has taken this position because the children he studied showed signs of Autism, with regressive behaviour shown after the MMR immunisations, and he wanted further research to be done as a lot of children were receiving this immunisation.

However, battling for the other side, and a great place to start on researching immunisations is the article ‘Vaccination: A public health intervention that changed history & is changing with history’, by Richard Stein.

Stein’s research shows that vaccinations have been one of the most successful interventions in the history of public health. Vaccinations have helped to control some of the deadliest and most debilitating infectious diseases. Stein shows that as a result of vaccination programs, Smallpox was eradicated and Polio has emerged as the next eradication target.

When looking into the history of vaccinations, in the years between 1783 and 1800, 50% of children in Glasgow died before the age of 10, with 40% from Smallpox alone. When The World Health Organisation started a global vaccination campaign in 1967, Smallpox was causing 10 to 15 million infections annually. But by 1979 (only 12 years later), Smallpox was eradicated from the globe. Vaccinations have helped to stall and prevent further illness of infectious disease all over the world.

In Stein’s research article, communicating the benefits associated with vaccination, and ensuring the public receives accurate information is still something that needs to be addressed. Stein has taken this position as he has researched the history of vaccinations and can see the positives linked to vaccinations worldwide.

Researching the two sides of the immunisation cause has educated me in a way I would never have looked into otherwise. Knowing where the link to Autism and immunisations came from, I can now talk to others about it should the subject arise.

Our position papers are due tomorrow! Have a great day!

Stein, R.A. (2011). A Public Health Intervention that changed History & is Changing with History. The American Biology Teacher, 73(9), 513-519. doi: 10.1525/abt.2011.73.9.3.

Wakefield, A.J., Murch, S.H., Anthony, A., Linnell, J., Casson, D.M., Malik, M., Berelowitz, M., Dhillon, A.P., Thomas, M.A., Harvey, P., Valentine, A., Davies, S.A., & Walker-Smith, J.A. (1998). Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet, 351(9103), 637-641. doi: 10.1016/50140-6736(97)11096-0.