“The MMR Vaccine Does notcauses Autism”
Paige Phillips
CFB 3333 The Scientific Method: Debunking Pseudoscience
Student Presentation
What is Autism?• Developmental disorder • ASDs - Autism Spectrum Disorders• 1 in every 150 children is
diagnosed with Autism• First Diagnosis in 1938
– “autos” meaning self
MMR Vaccine• Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine• Recommended Infant
Immunization since 1971• Administration:
– Once between 12-18 months and again between 4-6 years old
• How Vaccines work
Andrew wakefield• British gastroenterologist
who believed he had discovered the cause of Autism in 1998.
• Published his findings in the medical journal, The Lancet
• His Epidemiological Study
The inconsistencies• Small Sample • Biased Sample
Population• Conflicts of Interest• Incorrect usage of
Procedures leading to Erroneous Data
• “Leaky Gut” theory• Not Reproducible
• Multiple Epidemiological Studies that Refute Wakefield’s claim
“How can people best determine
If the results of a scientific study are
accurate? The answer is three fold: transparency of the funding source, internal consistency of
the data, and reproducibility of the
findings.”- Dr. Paul Offit
“Problems caused by vaccines as rare as one in 10,000, one in 25,000, or one in 100,000 have been readily detected by epidemiological studies. If autism, a disease that affects one in 150 American children, was caused by vaccines, epidemiological studies would have detected it”
- Dr. Paul Offit, author of Autism’s False
Prophets
“the autism epidemic”• Increase is
Autism diagnoses
“the autism epidemic”
• MMR vaccination rates decreased dramatically
“the autism epidemic”• Change in diagnosis definition
“the Autism Epidemic”• Media Involvement and Distortion of
Information
“the autism epidemic”
• Personal Anecdotes from Parents and Autism Advocacy Groups
Where is autism now?
• Omnibus Autism Proceedings– Federal Court Case– National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act
• Continued Research into the cause of Autism– Genetics