Is Autism The New Climate Change?

If a recent survey is any indication, you can add the widely disproved autism vaccine link to the pile of ideas Americans love to believe regardless of the research stacked against it.

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By CBS NEWS
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Story Created: Apr 27, 2011 at 2:13 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Apr 27, 2011 at 2:13 PM AKDT

(CBS) Obama doesn't have an American birth certificate, climate change isn't real and evolution is a scientific fantasy. If a recent survey is any indication, you can add the widely disproved autism vaccine link to the pile of ideas Americans love to believe regardless of the research stacked against it.

First the facts (about autism, not Obama's birth certificate which was released today).

In 1998, the British medical journal "The Lancet" published a ground-breaking article by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that purported to show a link between certain cases of autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella called MMR. Almost all children in the developed world receive the shot.

The idea caught on like wild fire with parents terrified their children could "catch" autism or angry that they had already developed it. Actress Jenny McCarthy became the most visible celebrity pushing the theory.

But future studies could not reproduce Wakefield's results and the scientific house came crumbling down. Last year, "The Lancet," recanted Wakefield's article. Ten of the study's 13 authors had already done so. In January, a British Medical Journal investigation accused Wakefield of ginning up the evidence to make his case. He has vehemently denied it.

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Rachel said on Thursday, Apr 28 at 11:08 AM

Maybe the Wakefield study has been recanted but I don't think this one has; Pediatrics. 1998 Mar;101(3 Pt 1):383-7. Acute encephalopathy followed by permanent brain injury or death associated with further attenuated measles vaccines: a review of claims submitted to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. RESULTS: A total of 48 children, ages 10 to 49 months, met the inclusion criteria after receiving measles vaccine, alone or in combination. Eight children died, and the remainder had mental regression and retardation, chronic seizures, motor and sensory deficits, and movement disorders. The onset of neurologic signs or symptoms occurred with a nonrandom, statistically significant distribution of cases on days 8 an and 9. No cases were identified after the administration of monovalent mumps or rubella vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: This clustering suggests that a causal relationship between measles vaccine and encephalopathy may exist.

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AutismNewsBeat said on Friday, Apr 29 at 6:34 AM

Wakefield's study was retracted because it was fraudulently conducted. The 1998 Pediatrics study was performed honestly, but look at the conclusion - a causal relationship "may" exist. That's a far cry from conclusive evidence. In fact, dozens of studies conducted on three continents have looked for, and found no association between vaccines and autism.

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