Researcher Andrew Wakefield linked the measles vaccine to autism in 1998 by studying just 12 children. A proven scientific fraud for financial purposes, but which continues to sow doubt among anti-vaccines.
All over the world, cases of measles are increasing, in particular because of mistrust of vaccines. The fault of a former British surgeon and medical researcher named Andrew Wakefield, who in 1998 published a study of 12 children (only) in the prestigious journal The Lancetattesting to a causal link between the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and what he called “autistic enterocolitis”. Understand: autism.
A proven scientific fraud
At the time, journalists are summoned to an urgent national press conference in the grounds of the Royal Free Hospital in London. Everyone expects a scoop. In front of television cameras, five doctors, including Andrew Wakefield, announce that they have discovered a link between the MMR vaccine and an intestinal disorder, as well as the appearance of a serious form of regressive behavior. Four years after this publication, no other researcher was able to confirm these results. The scientific fraud is proven, most of the co-authors of the study retract and no longer support Andrew Wakefield.
On January 28, 2010, a British General Medical Council tribunal (GMC) proves the veracity of more than thirty charges against him, including four charges for “dishonesty” and twelve for abuse of children with developmental disabilities. Confidential medical documents and interviews with witnesses have established that Andrew Wakefield manipulated patient data to create the idea of a link between the vaccine and autism. The court therefore held that the doctor had “failed in its duty as a responsible consultant” and acted”dishonestly and irresponsibly” against the interests of his patients. Circumstances prompted the medical journal The Lancet issued a retraction.
The juicy anti-vaccine market
Financial conflicts of interest not disclosed by the researcher are finally revealed by the newspaper Sunday Times in January 2011: Wakefield indeed planned to create a company based on an anti-vaccine propaganda campaignwhich could have brought in more than 32 million euros.
The doctor, in exile in the United States where he is very close to ultra-conservative circles, still continues his research on his side, even if numerous epidemiological studies have repeatedly demonstrated the absence of a link between vaccines and the disease. ‘autism. Last March, the largest study ever conducted on the subject (since it was carried out among 657,461 children born in Denmark from 1999 to 2000 and followed up until August 2013) concluded that there is still no link between vaccine and autism, including in children.
What about aluminum in vaccines?
Anti-vaxxers also fear that the aluminum in vaccines could cause autism. But the study establishing the link was also pulled after scientists noticed the images had been manipulated. One of the co-authors claimed that the numbers in the paper were deliberately changed before publication.
