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Measles Vaccines Don't Cause Autism -- But Unvaccinated People Create Outbreaks

This article is more than 9 years old.

The measles vaccine doesn't cause autism.

It's sad that this has to be said, after the doctor who originally advanced the theory in 1998 was found by the British Medical Journal to be a 'fraud' (per CNN), lost his license, and saw every relevant medical journal condemn his faked research.

No peer-reviewed study has since reproduced the same, alleged measles vaccine-autism link. The Institute of Medicine, the nation's most respected independent medical body, spent years studying the theory before rejecting it.

In fact, an enormous number of studies have found that the measles vaccine is overwhelmingly safe.

But amazingly, some people think that needs to be proved again. The measles is back in America, and it's because of parents who chose to stop vaccinating their kids.

Most of the 100 measles cases in the United States right now stem from an outbreak centered at Disneyland. (For context, there are more measles infections because of last month's Disneyland outbreak than there used to be in the United States over an entire year.)

I wrote about the measles outbreak on Wednesday, noting that some legal scholars and public health experts think we should sue parents who deliberately don't vaccinate their children — that by leaving them unvaccinated, they're creating risks not just for their kids, but for the rest of us too.

Also See: Sue The Parents Who Didn't Vaccinate Their Kids? Absolutely.

Studies have overwhelmingly proved that vaccinations are safe for children. Photo via CDC.

While many readers said they agreed with the article's legal and public health arguments, a few anti-vaccination activists didn't. They pinned their complaints on an old conspiracy theory: the CDC is covering up evidence that links vaccines and autism.

But one brave man, they allege, is finally trying to bring that cover-up to light.

"Why no mention of the CDC whistleblower," one commenter asked. "Read about the CDC whistleblower," another person tweeted.

So, I did.

Here are four quick details for those who aren't familiar with the story of Dr. William Thompson, a longtime CDC scientist who briefly became a hero to the anti-vaccination movement last summer.

  • Thompson worked on a number of autism studies for the CDC, including a 2004 research study into possible factors for the disease.
  • According to Thompson, some data in that particular study suggested young African-American boys were at higher risk for autism if they received a vaccine, but the data was removed from the final study by the lead author despite Thompson's objections.
  • Years later, Thompson befriended Brian Hooker, a biomechanical engineer who has an autistic son that he believes was injured by a vaccine, and shared the excised data with him.
  • Hooker then used the new data to publish a re-analysis in a little-known journal called Translational Neurodegeneration. (As part of a multi-media blitz, he also released tape recordings that he secretly recorded when he was on the phone with Thompson, and took part in an over-the-top video that compared the alleged measles vaccine cover-up to the Holocaust.) According to Hooker's findings, African-American boys who received the MMR vaccine before they turned three years old were 240% more likely to suffer from autism.

The reaction was swift, harsh — and telling.

CDC immediately stressed that the data had been removed from the 2004 study for good reason: Because it was incomplete and misleading. "The 2004 study relied on birth certificates to determine race and other factors thought to contribute to autism, such as low birth weight and parental age," Sydney Lupkin wrote for ABCNews.com. "But birth certificates were missing for 260 black boys who were excluded from the analysis."

And moreover, Hooker's new statistical analysis was widely debunked. "Hooker used howlingly bad statistical methodology (for instance, analyzing case control data as a cohort study and using risibly bad statistical analyses) to torture the data until they confess that vaccines cause autism," Dr. David Gorski wrote at his blog, Science-Based Medicine.

The journal quickly retracted the study too. "The Editor and Publisher regretfully retract the article, as there were undeclared competing interests on the part of the author which compromised the peer review process," the Translational Neurodegeneration statement reads. "Furthermore, post-publication peer review raised concerns about the validity of the methods and statistical analysis, therefore the Editors no longer have confidence in the soundness of the findings."

Even Dr. Thompson, in a statement that many anti-vaccination activists oddly urged me to read, promptly tried to escape from the situation. In fact, Thompson reveals that he's a actually a huge believer in vaccines:

I believe that the final study protocol was not followed ... [but] I want to be absolutely clear that I believe vaccines have saved and continue to save countless lives.

I would never suggest that any parent avoid vaccinating children of any race. Vaccines prevent serious diseases, and the risks associated with their administration are vastly outweighed  by their individual and societal benefits.

It's telling how anti-vaccination activists interpret Thompson: When he seemed to agree with their views, he was a hero who only spoke the truth.

But when he shifted to praising vaccines, it's because — as one activist told me — he's only trying to save his job.

Clearly, the anti-vaccination movement believes they're on the right side of history. They defend their positions with unmitigated fervor. Many activists seem to be motivated by having autistic children, and they're looking for answers — some rationalization about why this happened to them.

Even if they don't want it, they need our sympathy. But that's no excuse for allowing them to parrot dangerous lies. Especially when the consequences are so high.

"I think it's likely that children have not been given an MMR vaccine because of this fraud," Dr. Aaron Carroll said in a video for Healthcare Triage last year. "I think it's likely that children have gotten sick because of this fraud. I think it's likely some children have died."

"I hope we can find some way to change that in the future."

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