The Anti-Vaccination Movement

The anti-vaccination movement began in the last remaining years of the 1990’s when Andrew Wakefield, a British medical doctor examining the ties between bowel complications and seemingly reversed development in children, suggested that the MMR vaccine could have played a role in this reversed development as well. A summary of the study can be found here. Wakefield conducted his research on twelve children, each of which had been referred to Wakefield, a gastroenterologist. Of the children, 11 were male and all had been brought to him by their parents, who were seeking help with their children’s digestive problems. His sample was clearly flawed; he used a group of children with conditions associated with autism, but still implied that it was the MMR vaccine that had ultimately been the reason they developed autism. Wakefield’s research undoubtedly unsound: his sample size is far to small, his subjects were not random but unhealthy children seeking help, and the way he obtained information about their vaccination seemed to indicate that he had led the parents to believe their children’s conditions were brought about by the vaccine- he was plainly biased.

It is important to note that no other studies been published confirming Wakefield’s conclusions. In fact, the reputable studies that have been conducted regarding the tie between the MMR vaccine and autism have found the opposite to be true. All the major relevant studies have found that there is no connection between the MMR vaccination and the development of autism. It was discovered years later that Andrew Wakefield had been paid to look into this relationship by lawyers hoping to be hired by outraged parents who believed their children’s autism had been caused by the vaccine, leading them to sue the companies that produced them. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to conclude that Wakefield, who was later stripped of his medical license due to his unsound research practices, published his research for his own financial gain to the detriment of public health.

The anti-vaccination movement has prompted some noteworthy changes over the past years. An overview of these changes can be found here. First, and most obviously, the world is seeing recurrences in illnesses that had all but disappeared, like the measles. As more and more people refuse to vaccinate their children, more and more children are put at risk of contracting these illnesses and spreading them to others. On a less bleak note, with all of the problems caused by deciding not to vaccinate children, the market for researching and preventing the diseases that are suddenly a problem again is growing. More resources are being put into investigating these illnesses and more people are becoming interested in the field.