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Health chief to hear jab fears
THE doctor who first raised concerns about the
safety of the MMR vaccine will give details of his controversial research
to the Department of Health next week.
Dr Andrew Wakefield, whose research into the jab has
caused panic after he claimed there was a link between the injection and
autism and bowel conditions, said yesterday he was delighted that the DoH
is prepared to work with him.
The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam
Donaldson, wrote to the doctor to ask for details of the research for
independent analysis.
He was responding to an e-mail from Dr Wakefield,
which claimed nine new studies would emerge over the next 18 months
howing a connection between the jabs and the conditions.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "The
chief medical officer wrote to Dr Wakefield with a wide range of
questions about the methods used in his research which experts have
concerns about."
She added: "This includes classification of his
earlier statement to the media that some of the children had received the
single measles vaccine.
"We have also asked Dr Wakefield to make
available his data and samples for independent scientific testing."
Yesterday, a spokesman for Visceral, a charity
dedicated to raising funds to investigate possible links between
childhood vaccines and autism and the causes of inflammatory bowel
disease, whose trustees include Dr Wakefield, said the doctor
"relished" the opportunity to respond to the CMOs letter when
he returns to the UK from the United States next week.
The spokesman said: "The CMOs response asks a
great many questions but does not address any of the issues Dr Wakefield
had raised and sidesteps the question of a meeting.
"Nonetheless, Dr Wakefield is delighted that,
at last, the Department of Health is prepared to work with him."
He added: "The CMOs letter asks Dr Wakefields
permission to post the letter on the departments web site, to which Dr
Wakefield is happy to agree. His offer of a meeting still stands."
The exchange follows declining MMR uptake rates in
parts of the country as parents either refuse to have their children
vaccinated or opt for single jabs.
There have also been reports of measles outbreaks in
some areas.
Shortages, and the high cost of paying around £200
privately for the single vaccines, mean that some parents are not having
their children immunised at all.
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.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"