In 1998, a rigged study set out to prove that the MMR vaccine (warding against measles, mumps and rubella) was linked to autism spectrum disorder. The study was published in the medical journal The Lancet, and the media quickly reported the "findings." In the years that followed, the study's architect, Andrew Wakefield, was investigated and found to have multiple conflicts of interest regarding the findings and had manipulated the evidence of the study. In 2010, the paper was fully retracted from the journal, and Wakefield was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and is no longer allowed to practice medicine in the UK.
Since the original study, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Cochrane Library, the UK National Health Service, the Institute of Medicine and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences have all reviewed the supposed link between autism and the MMR vaccine, and all found that no such link exists. Wakefield's study has been referred to as "perhaps the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years."
18 years have passed since Wakefield's fraudulent study. It has been disproved over and over again. And yet, the "Anti-Vaxxer" movement is alive and well. Why? Because our society has stopped listening to scientists and started listening to "granola Mommy blogs" instead. And that's all cool, if you're looking for vegan lasagna recipes, but this is turning into a medical crisis.
The MMR vaccine, as I said before, fights against measles, a highly contagious disease. For years, our society had a herd immunity to this disease (aka, 95 percent of the population received the vaccine so it rarely spread.) Since Wakefield's study and the social media rampage that followed it (helped along by Jenny McCarthy, who is obviously a scientific professional), measles cases have skyrocketed because parents apparently fear autism more than they fear their children contracting a deadly disease. Parents believe the ableist ramblings of people who have no idea what they're talking about, rather than the countless scientists and doctors who have researched this theory and disproved it.
It has been proven that Wakefield was paid a sum of about $60,000 to manipulate his findings, and if that isn't proof that this theory is complete bull, I don't know what will. The bottom line? I don't care if you somehow still believe the the MMR vaccine causes autism; I'm here to tell you that a child with autism is a blessing, especially when compared to the possibility of a dead child.
