The autism scare
VACCINATIONS have been subject to great scrutiny and attention for some time now.
With the growing antivaccination movement in Western countries especially the United States, drawing global concern, several questions have been raised on safety of vaccines.
In 1998, British medical journal The Lancet published an article by Andrew Wakefield that linked the MMR ( measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine to autism in children. Naturally, this sent a ripple of fear through the nation, which slowly spread around the world.
This research paper singlehandedly caused a modern anti- vaccination wave that outlasted its credibility. Following a decade of controversy and investigations, Wakefield’s paper was declared not only unethical, but bogus – the researcher had doctored most of his report. He has since had his medical licence revoked and his paper retracted from The Lancet.
The MMR- autism paper has been described as the one of the most damaging medical hoaxes of our time for the impact it created – several anti- vaccination movements started in that decade, and parents who refuse vaccination for their children for fear of causing autism exist until this day.
Some may argue that the increasing number of cases of autism today as opposed to decades ago serve as testament to the dangers of vaccine. The reality of it is that medicine and technology have improved in leaps and bounds to simplify the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, so they are easier to recognise and diagnose today.
There is therefore no proven link between vaccines and developmental disorders among children, and this should not be a reason for refusing vaccinations.
“While it is good that many parents are more medically aware and literate today, they also have to practise careful discretion when it comes to selecting reliable sources of information,” says Dr Chong Chee Keong, the director at the Health Ministry’s Disease Control Division.
Just like other medicines, vaccines do cause some side effects. Side effects after taking a vaccination are called adverse events following immunisation.
Unfortunately, this has been used as an opportunity to spread wild claims against immunisation. This is potentially harmful if more and more people choose to refuse vaccinations.
There are three types of side effects:
Common, usually mild symptoms, self- limiting and can be treated at home
Moderate, symptoms that need medical attention but may not require hospitalisation
Serious, needing urgent medical attention and may require hospitalisation
However, the public should note that the benefits of vaccinating far outweigh the risk of side effects, making vaccination the best and cheapest public health intervention method today.