http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/uk.cfm?id=126724

 

Parents support vaccine specialist

ALASTAIR DALTON SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT

PARENTS and doctors concerned about the safety of the MMR vaccine have voiced support for a specialist who was forced to resign over his views about the triple jab.

MMR THE ROAD TO CONTROVERSY 1998: Professor Andrew Wakefield publishes research in The Lancet, indicating that 12 children became autistic and developed bowel disease as a result of having the MMR triple-dose injection. 21 January 2001: Prof Wakefield reignites concerns with claims that he has evidence of nearly 170 children affected by MMR; he also says that initial trials of the vaccine were too small and not long enough. March 2001: American research says that the studies used by the UK government to back the use of the triple vaccine are flawed and fail to disprove the link between MMR and autism. June 2001: The Public Health Laboratory Service publishes new research which claims that MMR does not increase the risk of autism. November 2001: Senior health sources indicate that they want to add a chicken pox vaccine to MMR. Dr Peter Mansfield, who vaccinated children with separate injections against normal medical advice, is allowed to continue giving the individual jabs as the General Medical Council lifts its threat of disciplinary action against him. November 2001: Figures reveal the uptake of the MMR vaccine in Scotland has continued to fall, reaching an all time low of 86.9 per cent - raising fears that an epidemic of one of the three diseases could soon sweep the country. MICHELLE NICHOLS

Dr Andrew Wakefield, whose controversial research raised health fears about the triple measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, claimed he had been asked to leave his academic post to take pressure off his colleagues.

Dr Wakefield said he left his £50,000 post last Friday after 14 years at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in London because his position was untenable.

The consultant gastroenterologist’s study linking the vaccine to autism and bowel disease in children provoked a huge debate after it was published in The Lancet in 1998. Critics condemned the research as too narrow to be conclusive and likely to endanger children by cutting inoculation rates.

Dr Wakefield said yesterday: "I have been asked to go because my research results are unpopular. I did not wish to leave but I have agreed to stand down in the hope that my going will take the political pressure off my colleagues and allow them to get on with the job of looking after the many sick children we have seen."

The doctor said he had not been sacked and had done nothing wrong, but pledged to continue his work elsewhere.

He said: "I have no intention of stopping my investigations."

Dr Wakefield has argued that the three vaccines should be given to children at annual intervals because a combined jab gives too severe jolt to their immune systems.

He is working on a theory, yet to be supported by published proof, that the measles virus contained in the MMR vaccine can cause inflammatory bowel disease. He believes the condition causes a chemical imbalance that can trigger autism.

Jackie Fletcher, founder of the campaign group Justice Awareness Basic Support (JABS), said treatment of the doctor had been disgraceful.

Mrs Fletcher, who believes her ten-year-old son, Robert, was severely brain-damaged by the MMR vaccine, said: "What Dr Wakefield has been doing is what we would have expected any consultant to do - investigate what parents have told him. It is so wrong that he has been pilloried in this way."

Dr Peter Copp, an Edinburgh GP who has offered single vaccines, said: "It seems to have been an extreme measure to have had to resign, but I do not think Dr Wakefield will have any problems finding a post elsewhere."

Concern about the jab is thought to have contributed to Scotland’s vaccination rate dropping to a further all-time low.

Figures published on Friday showed just 86.9 per cent of two-year-olds had received vaccinations to the end of September, compared to 87.8 per cent in June and 90.7 per cent in March.

Dr Mac Armstrong, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said the rate must be pushed up to 95 per cent to ensure the illnesses are not spread.

However, some 2,000 families have taken legal action backing claims their children have been damaged by the vaccine.

Last month, Dr Peter Mansfield, a Worcestershire GP who had been offering children single jabs was given the green light to continue after the General Medical Council (GMC) said it would not hold a full conduct committee against him.

The GMC rejected a complaint from his local health authority which wanted the practice stopped to protect patients.

The Royal Free and University College Medical School said: "Dr Andrew Wakefield has resigned from his post at the Royal Free and University College Medical School. Dr Wakefield’s research was no longer in line with the department of medicine’s research strategy and he left the university by mutual agreement."

 

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.