Stuff that makes me angry.

[caz963]

A few years back, when Elinor was quite young, there was a big ruckus about the MMR triple vaccine. For anyone who's not familar, it's used to immunise children against Measles, Mumps and Rubella, given in two doses, one when they're around three and the other before they start school.

In 1998, Doctor Andrew Wakefield published research which suggested that there might be a link between the vaccine and autism, thus creating widespread panic among parents, with the practical upshot that thousands upon thousands decided not to have their children vaccinated which is now leading to an upsurge in measles cases - which had been all but eradicated - in the UK.

From the Times, 9th Feb 2009 -

Last week official figures showed that 1,348 confirmed cases of measles in England and Wales were reported last year, compared with 56 in 1998. Two children have died of the disease.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683671.ece

When the debate was at its height, I remember that it was almost impossible to hear a dissenting voice in the media - whenever anyone tried to challenge Wakefield's research, they were shouted down, and yet his research was, as far as I remember, not backed up by any other studies. I'm not an expert, but I do believe that, in any form of scientific research, it's normal practice for experiments and theories to be substantiated by further research and corroborated by other studies, as is pointed out by David Aaranovich, also in the Times, today- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/david_aaronovitch/article5696902.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=2270657

Wakefield's conclusions have since been more or less discredited, and I think that there has been an increase in the take up of the vaccinations, but we're still not at the 95% level we need to be at in order to guarantee "herd immunity".

But even given this, and the fact that children are now dying of measles, there are still people in the media who are persisting in disseminating this mis-information about the jab, one of whom is a well-known broadcaster on LBC radio - Jeni Burnett.

Doctor Ben Goldacre, on his Bad Science blog has challenged Burnett's views and has landed himself in rather hot water as a result. Read the post I've linked to, and you'll see what I mean.

Thing is, this isn't the only time something like this - a concern which has been blown out of all proportion by the media - has happened. I'm sure we can all think of examples, and I guess that the reason I'm posting this is because I'm sick of being presented with "news" which is based on hypothesis, speculation and some talking-head-so-called-expert nattering on in the absence of real information.

And I guess being a mum - and incidentally, both my girls had the MMR with no ill effects - scaremongering on this sort of scale, which is now affecting the lives of our children, it makes me even more angry.

Comments

[teresadivicenzo.livejournal.com]

Putting aside who I agree with on the issue, the reason I'm angry about this is because healthy debate is being stifled. They're using copyright infringement to prevent people legitimately challenging one viewpoint. That's wrong.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

It's completely wrong.

The thing is that debate on this particular issue has been stifled since it emerged, despite the shaky foundations on which the claims are now known to have been based.

[leli-5.livejournal.com]

I can't even talk about this subject because it makes me furious. People (especially those who are not trained in the sciences but even those who are) shouldn't be going around spouting their "expert" opinions without at least doing some reading of PRIMARY material. That means that you don't base your view on an article in the Post or the Times; you go look up the actual study and any peripherally relevant research.

I had a guy in a health food store tell me that a woman came in and (in the course of a discussion on the many other things that he proposed to be linked to omega fatty acid levels, some of which were just silly) told him that low omega-3 levels caused her two miscarriages. "And she's a nurse," he finished with awe. So what? Working in a hospital doesn't make you an expert on any of that stuff.

It drives me nuts. I have to stop typing because this crap literally drives me nuts. And don't even get me started on Jenny McCarthy.

Edited several times because I saw a few typos and then to add: I had measles, actually, when I was seven. I'd been vaccinated but I think that it'd been a bad batch or something because there was a bit of an outbreak in our area and all the affected kids were of approximately the same age. Anyway, I was very, very sick. Fevers in the possible brain damage range all all that. It was awful.

[caz963.livejournal.com]

My oldest friend had measles when she was seven, and she's my age, so it would have been a few years before you had it. And of course, the vaccine hasn't competely eradicated the disease, but I'd imagine that in general perhaps the rare cases that do occur are less severe in children who have been vaccinated.
I'm annoyed on several accounts - that the media blew this up on such flimy "evidence"; people panicked and have now put their own and others' children at risk, and that for so often anyone who contradicted Wakefield was given short shrift.

It's not right that people who aren't qualified to do so - and I'm talking about the media - can affect the lives and health of so many in such an irresponsible manner,

And as Jaz says above, even if you take out the rights and wrongs of the equation, the fact that the broadcasting company is trying to hide behind copyright law is wrong too.

[maidenjedi]

Ditto, big time.

We recently had a scare at the church I work at, when one of the children here was suspected of having whooping cough. Many children hadn't been given the immunization, due in large part to the MMR scare you talk about. It turned out to be a severe allergy that aggravated his asthma, but still - that scare would have been totally avoidable.

And the fact that the doctor's thinking led him to whooping cough in the first place scares me - this is a disease that doesn't happen and yet he knew enough to realize he had to be looking for it, because not every child is properly immunized.

[ozzyols.livejournal.com]

mum was a governess in the UK in the 60's and was trained to recognise whooping cough. When I was about 6 I got what she was certain was whooping cough... we went to 5 doctors who said... no you're doing a 'homebodies' diagnosis, leave it to the doctors and perscribed cough syrup for a chest infection. Finally we went to a friends doctor... Apparently I coughed once and he berated my mum for not bring me in sooner as I had whooping cough... Suffice to say, I was fixed - and yet the other day in a local material shop I heard a little girl whooping all over the place and when I spoke to her mum, the doctors had told her the same thing... it was a cold... normal coughs don't sound like a cross between a cough, a saw, a bird and a tea kettle!

[caz963.livejournal.com]

normal coughs don't sound like a cross between a cough, a saw, a bird and a tea kettle!

You haven't heard Elinor in one of her bad coughing fits. Seriously she sounds like someone who smokes 40 a day!

[caz963.livejournal.com]

Like I said to Leli above, this rings alarm bells on all counts - mostly that the media can jump on something like this without thorough investigation and cause a scare that is affecting peoples' health.

They have resumed vaccinating against whooping cough in the UK - I can't remember exactly when they stopped, but I do know that my youngest (she's 6) had it. Having said that though, according to my mum, I was vaccinated against it, and I still got it when I was about 11 (back in the mid-70s). No vaccination is fool-proof - but it works in the majority of cases.

It worries me that there are comminities in parts of the UK where the vaccination level is around 50% which is nowhere near enough to provide 'community immununity.' Because of the unsubstantiated 'research' of one man, and a ridiculous media frenzy, children have been affected with a horrible disease and some have died.

[ozzyols.livejournal.com]

A few years back, when Elinor was quite young, there was a big ruckus about the MMR triple vaccine. For anyone who's not familar, it's used to immunise children against Measles, Mumps and Rubella, given in two doses, one when they're around three and the other before they start school.

Wow... is this one still around? Back in 1975-77 they had a ban on the triple antigen (MMR) in the UK. As a result I was only able to get the double antigen (measles and mumps - I think). Mum and dad even travelled up to scotland to see and Australian expat doctor up there to see if they could give it. No luck.

As a result I did get chicken pox when I was about 9 years old back here in Oz.

So it would appear most certainly this is not a new thing. We had all but erradicated TB in Australia, but with the influx of immigrants and lack of quarantine protocols we are finding more and more cases of it popping up... and like Josh said... now a days the war front is going to be a man with a little vial...

[caz963.livejournal.com]

No, the MMR is Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German Measles), so I doubt that your catching chicken pox was anything to do with not receiving it. And I haven't heard about a ban in the 70s - I think it was only just beginning to be used, although I think there was a scare about the Whooping Cough vaccine back then, so it might be that one you're thinking of.

In any case, as I've said above, it's still possible to get diseases you've been vaccinated against, it's just that if you're lucky, you won't be as badly affected, and in any case, the vaccines are effective in the majority of cases, which is the issue here.

It's yet another instance of irresponsible journalism, and it's quite possibly led to the death of those two children - and there may well be more to come.

[ozzyols.livejournal.com]

Ack you are right... sorry Talking to mum inbetween posting... It was German Measles and I did end up getting it when I was 3 that's how I found out I have an allergy to penicillin...

I was so young... Iz not remember :D

[anatolealice.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this made me really angry too. I actually had the vaccine myself during the whole drama; I'd missed out one or two when I was away and the council were kind enough to pretend I was a baby so I could have a whole bunch in one go (including hep ones that they didn't give when I was younger). Of course I was an adult and less at risk than a young child but my decision would have been absolutely the same whether it was me or my baby taking it. Immunisation is so important, not for at the individuals level but because it's necessary for the bulk of the population to be immunised in order for it to work.

And yeah, what Ozzyols said about TB, it's really worrying. They haven't immunised against in in a few generations now - I'm 32 and I never had the opportunity. But I think everyone our age in the UK had?

[caz963.livejournal.com]

We stopped vaccinating against TB in the UK as well, although I think it's been brought back now for the same reasons as Ozzy mentioned. I had the jab when I was about 12, which would have been in the mid 70s.

There's another post by Ben Goldacre here (http://www.badscience.net/2008/08/the-medias-mmr-hoax/) in which he quite rightly lays the blame at the feet of (mostly) the media.

[hooloovoo_42]

Ma was too early for the TB jab, although Bro & I had it. She had pneumonia 30 years ago and has had chest problems ever since. When she was working in London in the 90s, her doctor was worried that the increasing number of immigrants with TB, especially as she taught in schools with high immigrant populations, would be dangerous for her. Fortunately, she was fine, but so many TB strains now are resistant to drugs.