Debunking Autism Vaccine Myths: A Critical Analysis

This assignment provides a critical analysis of the myths surrounding vaccines and autism, focusing on the research of Andrew Wakefield and its subsequent debunking by other scientists. The paper examines the evidence-based studies that have shown no correlation between vaccinations and autistic behavior, highlighting the negative consequences of misinformation and promoting the importance of vaccination in public health. It also references relevant studies and articles to support the arguments made.

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ASSIGNMENT FRONT SHEET
Please complete all sections electronically
Course Title: Professional Communication and Academic Writing
Faculty: Ms. Debra Adams
Student Class: BBA Semester 3 Group: 2
Assessment Title: Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine and Autism
Due Date: 22/11/2018 Due Time: 14:00 Word Count: 1 364
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I confirm that this work is my own. Additionally, I confirm that no part of this coursework,
except where clearly quoted and referenced, has been copied from material belonging to any
other person e.g. from a book, handout, another student. I am aware that it is a breach of GIHE
regulations to copy the work of another without clear acknowledgement and that attempting to
do so renders me liable to disciplinary procedures. To this effect, I have uploaded my work onto
Turnitin and have ensured that I have made any relevant corrections to my work prior to
submission.
Student Name and Signature:
Lydia Wiklund LW
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY (Date / Time / Signature / Stamp of the authorized administration)
Date: ……..……
Time: ……..……

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Professional Communication and Academic Writing
Measles, Mumps and Rubella Vaccine and Autism
Lydia Wiklund
WIK17455402, S3, group 2
Professional Communication and Academic Writing
November 21st, 2018
Glion Institute of Higher Education

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Professional Communication and Academic Writing
Introduction
An article by Don Ward Hackett published in the digital newspaper PrecisionVax’s
suggest that 55% of the British population believes there is a correlation between the measles,
mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. (Hackett, 2018) The belief of a link between
MMR vaccine and autism comes from a study carried out by Dr. Andrew Wakefield.
Wakefield’s study was published in the highly regarded magazine The Lancet in 1998.
Wakefield’s study drew the attention of many people and contributed to the mistrust of MMR
vaccine. In 2010, 12 years later The Lancet withdrew Wakefield’s study as it turned out to have
been false. (Ruling on doctor in MMR scare, 2010)
The following report will analyze the published evidence against the correlation between
the MMR vaccine and autism, using peer reviewed articles and journals from the years 1998-
2014. It will explain further about Wakefield’s false study and the consequences of the falsified
beliefs spread by Wakefield’s study. One important motive with this report will be to convince
the uncertain thoughts about the research.
Background
The study by Dr Andrew Wakefield published in 1998 described his findings about a link
between the MMR vaccine and the Autism spectrum disorder. The research was based upon only
12 patients which made contemporary researchers observe that the findings needed to be
critically reviewed.

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It was not until 2004, when reporter Brian Deer reported the critical findings and
suspected research fraud that people took interest in the misconceptions that MRR was linked to
autism.
The British “General Medical Council” began an investigation of whether the research was
ethically implemented and the journals of the 12 patients participated in the research were
published. Reporter Brian Deer started to study the journals closer and found that they did not
match what had been reported in 1998 and that the research results were entirely falsified. In
2010 The Lancet withdrew Wakefield’s study and the editors remarked that "it was absolutely
clear, without any ambiguity, that the statements in the article were entirely false”,
simultaneously The British General Medical Council revoked Wakefield’s medical certificate
and now Wakefield's study is one of the absolute greatest scientific scandals of modern times.
Although the link between vaccine and autism has been falsified, it is one of the most common
statements from vaccination opponents. (Ruling on doctor in MMR scare, 2010)
Main Body
(1) Research against the link between MMR and autism
Most specialists today acknowledge that the research proving the correlation between
MMR and autistic behavior is based on falsified science and bias testing sample size. While
some advocacy associations claim that the MMR vaccines are responsible for increasing the risk
of autism, even though the research that shows that the correlation does not exist. The study that
most anti-vaccination groups points to is the one by Andrew Wakefield from 1998 that was
retracted because it was proven to be based on falsified data. (Andrews et al., 2002) A study

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conducted at Washington National Primate Research Center between 2008 and 2014 at, proved
once again that MMR vaccine has no correlations with increased autistic behavior nor any other
disorders. The whole study involved 79 young male macaques, in the aged of 12 to 18 months,
divided into six groups. Two of the groups received thimerosal-containing vaccines, two
received the MMR vaccine and two received saline injections as a control group. Additionally,
the monkeys were split into two subgroups with different vaccination schedules. Group one
followed the accelerated vaccination program recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in the 1990s, and group two were on the recommended schedule from
2008.
Anti-vaccine activists had claimed that not only were there a link between MMR vaccine
and autism, but also with the vaccines containing thimerosal. Even-though thimerosal was taken
out from the most vaccines in the late 1990s, the researchers wanted to investigate its possible
affects nonetheless.
After the monkeys had received their different vaccines the researchers put them together
in cages to see monitor possible changes to their social behavior, in order to hopefully find
development of autistic social behaviors, such as fear, withdrawal or repetitive behaviors. When
observing the monkeys, the researcher found that their behavior remained unchanged. (Firger,
2016)
(2) Research against the link between MMR and autism
In a meta-analysis published in June 2014, researchers prove that MRR vaccines are not
associated with autism. The analysis quantitatively evaluates the accessible data from studies
attempted in various countries regarding autism rates and childhood vaccination. The aim of the

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analysis is to explain and demonstrate the absence of the relationship between vaccination and
autism.
The analysis included five comprehensive studies where the researchers observed the
development of autistic behavior on the children involved that had used the MMR vaccinations.
Further subgroup analyses were carried out, looking specifically at MMR vaccinations and the
thimerosal exposure, monitoring every participant individually. The additional subgroup analysis
considered the development of autistic disorder contrast another autistic spectrum disorder.
The findings of this meta-analysis on the five cohort studies and the subgroup analysis found no
evidence for the link between vaccination and the consecutive possibility of developing autism.
The populations investigated in four of the five cohort studies were very large which contributed
to a trust worthy result. (Taylor, Swerdfeger & Eslick, 2014)
(3) Research against the link between MMR and autism
The Lancet published the article Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no
epidemiological evidence for a causal association in June 1999 written by Professor Brent
Taylor together with 6 other colleagues. In their article they undertook an epidemiological study
to test the hypothesis that MMR vaccine could be inadvertently associated with autism.
The study looked into special needs registers and special schools in eight North Thames
health districts in the UK to identify children with autism born since 1979. The reason behind
this were to try and find evidence of change in the trend of diagnosing children with autism since
UK introduced the MMR vaccination in 1988. The findings of the study analyzed 498 cases of
autism (within the autism spectrum) and found that there was no drastic or unusual increase in
cases after introducing the MMR vaccine. Furthermore, no physical association was found

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between the development/outbreak/onset of autism within 1 or 2 years after vaccination with
MMR was introduced. The study by Dr Wakefield mentioned in the introduction received much
media attention and have had a negative effect on vaccine in general. The consequences of
Wakefield’s research are the increased risk of children getting infected by measles, mumps and
rubella. In addition, has also the possibility of elimination of measles has been
deferred/postponed. (Taylor et al., 1999)
Conclusion
To conclude, Andrew Wakefield’s research findings has been disproven. With an
extremely small sample size combined with falsified findings, accredited researchers have
proven that there is in fact no correlation between autistic behavior and the MMR vaccine.
Although the findings of Wakefield’s research are incorrect, there has been negative
consequences. When parents believed that the vaccine could harm their children and decided
against using it, there has instead been an increase in these diseases with approximately 60% are
people infected were intentionally unvaccinated. I believe that there has always been some sort
of bias against pharmaceuticals and medical professionals, where people have a willing
ignorance, making them easily susceptible to believing that vaccines causes diseases rather than
saving lives. Hopefully this bias will eventually fade away, and factually disproving theories
discussed in this paper is a step in the right direction. (Phadke et al., 2016)

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References
Andrews, N., Miller, E., Taylor, B., Lingam, R., Simmons, A., Stowe, J., & Waight, P.
(2002). Recall bias, MMR, and autism. Arch Dis Child,87, 493-494. Retrieved October 20, 2018,
from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1755823/pdf/v087p00493.pdf.
Firger, J. (2016, April 23). More Proof That Vaccines Don't Cause Autism. Retrieved
October 27, 2018, from https://www.newsweek.com/anti-vaxxers-accidentally-fund-study-
showing-theres-no-link-between-autism-and-379245
Hackett, D. W. (2018, August 26). Why Do Europeans Believe Autism Vaccination
Myths? Retrieved November 7, 2018, from https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/measles-
autism-myth-continues-place-children-risk
Phadke, V. K., Bednarczyk, R. A., Salmon, D. A., & Omer, S. B. (2016). Association
Between Vaccine Refusal and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the United States. Jama, 315(11),
1149. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.1353
Phadke, V. K., Bednarczyk, R. A., Salmon, D. A., & Omer, S. B. (2016). Association
Between Vaccine Refusal and Vaccine-Preventable Diseases in the United States. Jama,315(11),
1149. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.1353

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Ruling on doctor in MMR scare. (2010, January 29). Retrieved November 7, 2018, from
https://www.nhs.uk/news/medical-practice/ruling-on-doctor-in-mmr-scare/
Taylor, B., Miller, E., Farrington, C. P., Petropoulos, M., Favot-Mayaud, I., Li, J., &
Waight, P. A. (1999, June 12). Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: No
epidemiological evidence for a causal association. The Lancet, 353(9169), p2026-2029.
doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(99)01239-8
Taylor, L. E., Swerdfeger, A. L., & Eslick, G. D. (2014). Figure 2f from: Irimia R,
Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales).
Biodiversity Data Journal 4: E7720. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720. Vaccines Are Not
Associated with Autism: An Evidence-based Meta-analysis of Case-control and Cohort Studies,
32(29), 3623-3629. doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f