The Only Unforgivable Thing

The Sunday Times has discovered that Andrew Wakefield, the doctor whose research sparked the MMR scare, faked his results.

Wakefield published research in the Lancet medical journal in February 1998 which described how there seemed to be a causal link between the administration of the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine to one-year old infants and autism and certain bowel disorders. His work claimed that twelve children referred to him had developed signs of autism/ bowel disorders within days of the jab. At a press conference to launch the paper, Wakefield stated his hypothesis that a combination of the three viruses overloaded the immune system causing the problem and that the MMR should be discontinued in favour of single jabs.

The following month, a Medical Research Council panel of experts declared there was "no evidence to indicate any link" between MMR jab and autism or bowel disease. In April, a fifteen year study of the MMR vaccine on three million children by Finnish scientists found there was no substantial dangers to the jab. They did identify 31 instances of gastrointestinal upset and vomiting, but symptoms cleared up within a week and there were no lasting consequences. That's 0.001% of the children given the jab who experienced minor effects that had no lasting effect. In other words, nasty for the kids concerned, but statistically and medically irrelevant.

Wakefield and his colleagues continued to make allegations and other scientists continued to be unable to replicate his findings, but the damage was done. The furore in the UK peaked around 2001/2002 - but is ongoing.

Rather than switch to single jabs, many parents simply failed to immunise their children at all. The problem with this is that jabs such as MMR work via 'herd immunity'. The idea is that if a certain percentage of the population is vaccinated, even the unvaccinated are protected because there is a lack of vectors to communicate the disease to them. It’s similar to how a firebreak works – by putting distance between the vulnerable members of the population, you minimise the possibility that the infections can ‘jump the gap’ (as it were). The rates for each of the diseases vaccinated by MMR differ slightly: measles is 83-94%, mumps is 75-86% and rubella is 80-85%. All three are passed on via airborne droplets.

For the avoidance of doubt, let’s just recap on what each of those diseases is capable of. This is worst case scenario stuff, but these are nevertheless very real potential effects of these illnesses.

Measles – Possible complications include diarrhoea, pneumonia, encephalitis, corneal scarring and, in 3 out of 1000 cases in developed countries, death.

Mumps – complications are rare and even more rarely serious, but can include sterility, deafness, encephalitis and death.

Rubella – If caught by pregnant women, effects can include miscarriage (20% of cases) and for the unborn child, there is the possibility of heart disease, cataracts, hearing loss with possible liver problems, schizophrenia and learning difficulties.

Despite these potentially horrific outcomes, and multiple independent verification that there was no causal relationship between MMR and autism parents have failed to immunise their kids. The failure to immunise was noticeably worse in urban centres, though whether this is a damning indictment of the chattering classes is unclear. Official figures released in the first week of February 2009 show that there were 1,348 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales reported last year. Two children have died. In 1998, when we had herd immunity, there were just 56 cases.

Now, in 2009, as Wakefield and two colleagues stand before the General Medical Council on charges of serious professional misconduct, the Times has revealed that Wakefield’s data is decidedly suspicious-looking:

“In most of the 12 cases, the children’s ailments as described in The Lancet were different from their hospital and GP records. Although the research paper claimed that problems came on within days of the jab, in only one case did medical records suggest this was true, and in many of the cases medical concerns had been raised before the children were vaccinated. Hospital pathologists, looking for inflammatory bowel disease, reported in the majority of cases that the gut was normal. This was then reviewed and the Lancet paper showed them as abnormal.”
The Sunday Times (08/02/09)

Wakefield has continued to work on MMR and is championed by many in this country and the US. His views and those of the anti-vaccination crowd continue to be broadcast by people who should know better - see Ben Goldacre’s recent run in with self-proclaimed science ignoramus and LBC presenter Jeni Barnett for more - endangering children as a direct consequence. Many of those anti-vaccination people are parents whose children have been affected by autism and desperately want to know where to lay the blame. We can perhaps understand why they hold their views, if not condone them.

Wakefield hid the fact that at the same time he produced his original research he was being paid to advice solicitors regarding whether parents who alleged MMR had harmed their children had a legal case. He had also contributed towards the development of a potential rival vaccine. The Lancet says that had it known this when it published Wakefield’s research, it never would have been published due to the obvious conflict of interest. Add to this the faked data revealed by the Sunday Times, and Wakefield is revealed as a public menace to whom it is not unreasonable to attribute the blame for the children who died or were permanently affected by the measles, mumps or rubella.

Instead, Andrew Wakefield says he’s done nothing wrong and has nothing to apologize for and the damage he caused to public health continues to needlessly hurt people.