It has nothing to do with the quality of vaccines either.

Over the past decade, many things have changed in the world. People started using their phones as job sources, countries changed policies about this or that, the public opinion shifted towards this other thing. And not all shifts have been in a positive direction. One of the most significant, yet outrageous changes in opinion started way back in 1998 when a health professional created a theory that warned against the use of immunization techniques, claiming a relationship between vaccines and autism.

This claim was (and is still) supported by a large margin of the population, and it’s still one of the worst things to happen relating to contagious and preventable diseases. This has created a danger to the general society, all created by false claims of vaccines being a direct source of autism, and correlating to other developmental conditions. The one who started this phenomenon of fake claims: Doctor Andrew Wakefield.

Why did Dr. Andrew Wakefield related vaccines and autism?

Wakefield, a gastroenterologist and an investigator, selected a group of eight children with autism for his studies. Its conclusions pointed out only one shady fact: a correlation if the application of an MMR vaccine (for measles-mumps-rubella) with a gastrointestinal disorder the affected the pervasion of specific peptides into the brain tissue. He presented an investigation that showcased this conclusion, and led to a snowball effect: people assumed that vaccines had a significant impact on the increase of Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis. This against the reality, autism diagnoses increased by a better understanding of the diagnostic criteria.

Fast forward a few years, and the effect on society is almost impressive. Many people turned into staunch supporters of this theory, which prompted reputable scientist to challenge that affirmation. And the results of their investigation were terrific: the whole report of the new scientist proved that Dr. Andrew Wakefield performed his studies under almost illegal settings. The study was done without a control group, without in-depth analysis of the chemical defect that pointed out to the relationship between vaccines and autism. Without basis whatsoever, the study was debunked and Dr. Wakefield’s license, revoked.

His scientific misconduct banned him from practicing medicine. But the damage was done: people across the world now are believers of the relationship, and many avoid vaccinating their child based on the fake study that former Doctor Andrew Wakefield provided. This notion, reaching it’s 20th anniversary this year, is the proof that scientific knowledge can be used negatively.

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