Editorial: When mud sticks

OPINION: It was dubbed the greatest health scare of modern times in Britain.

In 1998 Dr Andrew Wakefield published research that linked the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disorders in children.

The research was based on the health problems of 12 children, which he linked to the vaccine. The impact of the research was profound, setting the ball rolling on a health scare that rippled out to all the countries using the vaccine, including New Zealand.

Fears about the MMR vaccine's safety sent parents – quite rightly – into a panic and put them off vaccinations in their thousands.

It is a highly emotive issue. Putting children through their "jabs" is always a traumatic experience, and any chance that the vaccine that is meant to do them good is actually harmful is likely to scare parents off.

Parents, quite naturally, want the best for their children and Dr Wakefield seemed to have compelling evidence that the vaccine was flawed.

All of this is right and proper. Questions have to be raised where there are genuine fears about public safety. Right or wrong, there will always be a suspicion among some that the pharmaceuticals industry and public health officials have a vested interest in metaphorically shoving vaccines down consumers' throats.

After all, there have been any number of so-called miracle drugs over the years that have turned out to be harmful.

As a result of the MMR scare, vaccination rates dropped dramatically, from 93 per cent in Britain to as low as 73 per cent in some areas. The incidence of mumps has quadrupled as a result. In New Zealand, where the MMR vaccine is given at 15 months and again at 11 years, the vaccination dropped with the bad publicity.

The problem with all of this is that Dr Wakefield's research was not what it seemed. In 2004 the original research was discredited and the issue was put to rest this week when the highly regarded British medical journal The Lancet retracted the research completely. The study was wrong to draw the link between the vaccine and the health problems.

Dr Wakefield has been formally censured by the General Medical Council. The council's findings were not pretty. The council found he had a callous disregard for the suffering of children and that two fellow authors of the paper also failed in their duties as responsible doctors in carrying out the study. The study, which sent a shudder around the world in 1998, was "irresponsible and dishonest". He and his fellow researchers deny any wrongdoing and face further disciplinary action.

Parents have every right to ask questions about possible risks associated with vaccines. Parents also have a responsibility to protect their children from preventable diseases and do the right thing by the rest of the population.

Mud, once it has been flung, sticks. The MMR vaccine is likely to be haunted by the health scare for some time.

- © Fairfax NZ News