When the news broke that Dr. Andrew Wakefield's study siting the link between autism and the MMR vaccinations had been retracted and discredited by The Lancet, a medical journal, we reached out to our renowned team of experts for Parents Ask to get their thoughts. 

Today, Dr. Robert Sears, Pediatrician and author of The Vaccine Book, shares his thoughts on this highly controversial topic:

Even though Dr. Wakefield's study has been discredited by many scientists and medical professionals, and his research conduct in this matter has been considered unethical by the GMC, parents need to realize several issues revolving around this case:

 

1. Dr. Wakefield's study never claimed there was a link between the MMR and autism - it only suggested a possible correlation between the MMR vaccine triggering intestinal inflammation which seems to occur in some children with autism.  He basically called for MORE research to be done on this.

 

2. Since that study, other groups duplicated (as best they could) his research - some studies found the same worries that Wakefield's research found, and one study did not.

 

3. Wakefield wasn't the first to look into the issue of MMR and inflammatory bowel disease. Other studies prior to his also showed such a connection (without studying autism however).

 

4. Because the GMC's investigation has so many political implications, some parents aren't going to believe or trust it's ruling against Wakefield. Many parents of children with regressive autism and intestinal inflammation still worry about the MMR, and no research to date has yet to conclusively show that the vaccine can not cause intestinal inflammation and developmental regression in a small percentage of susceptible children.

 

5. Doubts about the MMR will still remain in some parent's minds until more research is done that clearly disprooves Wakefield's research (not just discrediting his research procedure, but rather actually duplicating his research and finding the opposite results that he had).  So far only one small study has yet to do so, but it wasn't big enough to clearly disproove Wakefield's study.

 

In my pediatric practice I do give the MMR vaccine to my patients.  However, I am also open to hearing parent's concerns and am willing to delay the vaccine (normally given at age 1 and 5 years) for those parents who don't want their children to receive it.

Where do you stand on the great vaccination divide? Share your thoughts with us here!