On Tuesday, 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 Andrew Wakefield's study siting the link between autism and the MMR vaccinations had been retracted and discredited by The Lancet, a medical journal.

So what does this mean for parents who have spent years in fear of vaccinations? Is there any risk or danger to vaccinations or do parents need to rethink the way they view vaccines altogether? 

 

Today, Parents Ask expert Dr. Cara Natterson responds:

Well, this really was a remarkable milestone. The validity of Wakefield’s study has been questioned for some time, and slowly its base of support has worn away. Over the past few years, the majority of the co-authors on the paper retracted their names or stated their outright disagreement with the paper. People in medicine long questioned the small size or methods used by Wakefield. And when scientists tried to replicate his conclusions, they have never been able to do so.



The Lancet is one of the most esteemed medical journals. Retractions are almost never seen because their standards of review are so high. But today’s statement provided icing on a cake that physicians and scientists worldwide have tasted for sometime.



While I was personally thrilled to hear of the retraction, we have spent a dozen years in the wake of this study. Parents—initially in Great Britain and very quickly in the US—refused to give their children MMR vaccine. As a result, we have seen the return of  measles and mumps. Some parents have found their own middle ground, choosing to give the MMR in its component parts (measles vaccine separate from mumps vaccine and separate from rubella vaccine). They did this with no science influencing their decision; they just heard or read somewhere that it was a safer way to go. Their children got stuck with three times as many needles, had no difference in rates of side effects, and either resented their parents (for giving them extra shots) or failed to complete the entire series because it’s logistically hard to keep coming back to the doctor for more and more vaccines.



And then add to this the backlash against vaccines in general, which clearly finds its roots in Wakefield’s fanbase. Opponents of vaccination routinely site Wakefield’s study as their starting point for their skepticism. From here, they have acquired fear of thimerosal in the vaccines, concerns about giving multiple vaccines at once, and many have a general distrust of the medical establishment that recommends immunizations. At the heart of it was Wakefield’s study, and unfortunately even though the study has now been retracted, it’s damage is done.



I hope parents take notice of what The Lancet has done. I hope they begin to read the reams of studies documenting the safety of vaccines with new eyes. I hope they begin to call for research dollars to be spent hunting down the true causes of autism, perhaps environmental, perhaps genetic, but who knows? The vast majority of physicians and scientists left Wakefield’s study in their mental dust long ago. I, for one, am grateful to hear that The Lancet is making that statement formal.

Do you agree with Dr. Natterson? Or do you still have doubts? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH US HERE!