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Samantha and Dave are expecting their first child. They areexcited for the baby to arrive, but they are nervous as well. Willthe baby be healthy? Will they be good parents? In addition tothese big concerns, it seems like there are a million decisions tobe made. Will Samantha breastfeed or will they use formula? Willthey buy a crib or let the baby sleep in their bed?

Samantha goes online to try to find some answers. She finds awebsite from an author who writes books on parenting. On this site,she reads an article that argues that children should not be givenmany of the standard childhood vaccines, including the measles,mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The article claims that the MMR vaccine has been proven tocause autism and gives examples of three children who came downwith autism-like symptoms shortly after their first MMR vaccinationat one year of age. The author believes that the recent increase inthe incidence of children diagnosed with autism-spectrum disordersis due to the fact that the number of vaccinations given inchildhood has increased.

Samantha is concerned. She does not want to create lifelongchallenges for her child. Besides, aren’t diseases like measles,mumps, and rubella basically eradicated by now? Why should she riskthe health of her baby by injecting him with vaccines for diseasesthat are a thing of the past?

Once baby James is born, Samantha brings him to thepediatrician’s office. Dr. Rodriguez says James needs some shots.Samantha is reluctant, and shares what she has read online. Dr.Rodriguez assures Samantha that the study that originally claimed alink between the MMR vaccine and autism has been found to befraudulent, and that vaccines have repeatedly been demonstrated tobe safe and effective in peer-reviewed studies.

Although Samantha trusts her doctor, she is not fullyconvinced. What about the increase in the number of children withautism and the cases where symptoms of autism appeared after MMRvaccination?

Samantha has a tough decision to make, but a betterunderstanding of science can help her. In this chapter, you willlearn about what science is (and what it is not), how it works, andhow it relates to human health.

As you read this chapter, think about the followingquestions:

What do you think about the quality of Samantha’s onlinesource of information about vaccines compared to Dr. Rodriguez’ssources?
Do you think the arguments presented here that claim that theMMR vaccine causes autism are scientifically valid? Could there bealternative explanations for the observations?
Why do you think diseases like measles, polio, and mumps arerare these days and why are we still vaccinating for thesediseases?

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Nelly Stracke
Nelly StrackeLv2
28 Sep 2019

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Related questions

The Scientific Method

For any controlled scientific study, a scientist starts with an observation, does some research to develop a hypothesis, and then designs an experiment that compares some baseline group with a test group. Data are then collected to confirm or refute the hypothesis.

As you review the following study, consider whether the researchers correctly followed the scientific method.

In the late 1990s, gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield, along with a research team, set out to determine if bowel disease caused by vaccines led to autism.

He compiled a group of 12 children who had loss of acquired skills, developmental delays in language, diarrhea, and abdominal pain-essentially, those with both bowel disease and autism. He questioned each parent about the behavior and personality of the child before the child was vaccinated with the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. He then ran tests on the children to determine the health of the gastrointestinal tract, brain, and nervous system.

His reported data (tabulated below) included that children experienced either gastrointestinal or autism-like symptoms, sometimes within a short period after being vaccinated. From these data, the researchers concluded that there was no link between autism and the MMR vaccine. Wakefield though, contradicted this conclusion and stated that the vaccine caused changes in the gastrointestinal tract of the children, which then led to autism (Wakefield, et al., 1998). Currently, he still contends that the MMR vaccine contributes to autism (Ziv, 2015).

Many researchers tried to duplicate this study and could not replicate Wakefield's results. In fact, they found no link between the vaccines, bowel disease, and autism. In the United Kingdom, the MMR vaccine was not introduced until 1988. If Wakefield's conclusions were correct, one would then expect a jump in autism cases after 1988, but this was not observed, even when hundreds of children were studied (Taylor et al., 1999). In these additional studies, children who had not been vaccinated were included as a control group, and no difference in the rates of autism was observed.

In 2011, Brian Deer reviewed Wakefield's study and all available records from the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom for these 12 children. He found that at most, two children showed symptoms days after vaccinations. At least five children showed developmental delays before being vaccinated. Six out of the 12 children may have had autism symptoms. None of the 12 children tested had all three-regressive autism, colitis, and symptoms days after vaccination.

Symptom

Wakefield

Wakefield NHS Records
(Deer)

Symptoms days after vaccination

8

2?

Non-specific colitis

12

3

Regressive autism

9

6?

Intestinal/autism/symptoms after vaccine

12

0

(Wakefield, et al., 1998; Deer, 2011)

Wakefield's statements led to a worldwide panic about the safety of vaccines, but after Deer's report, Wakefield's study was retracted and his medical license was revoked for falsifying data. Click on the following links to review materials to enhance your knowledge of the scientific method and to support your analysis of Wakefield's experiment:

Steps of the Scientific Method: A simplified explanation of how the scientific method works, the steps taken to investigate phenomenon with diagrams

Do Vaccines Cause Autism?: A review of research demonstrating that vaccines and their components are not the cause of autism

Fifteen years after a vaccine scare, a measles epidemic: An analysis of vaccination trends and an increase in measles cases seen the UK

Answer the following 4 questions:

What was wrong with Wakefield's study? Discuss at least 1 variable or approach that should have been controlled or assessed.

Consider the source of some of his data (parental memory, for example), the small sample size, and whether he considered other variables (genetics, diet, and so on) that could have resulted in symptoms in these children.

Discuss the importance of a control group when using the scientific method.

Did Wakefield deserve to be barred from medical practice?

What were the consequences of his inflated conclusions?

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