Immune to the facts

Abstract

Of Horton R. MMR science & fiction: exploring a vaccine crisis. Granta, 2004 and Fitzpatrick M. MMR and autism: what parents need to know. Routledge, 2004. Both books also reviewed in BMJ - instantly dismissed because they used Elliman & Bedford, who of course are 'tainted'. I had offered my HW review, but they wanted the Horton book as well, and I didn't have time. This is a good review, especially of Fitz. Horton comes in for criticism because "the crux of the issue is missing", ie, why did the claim of association appear in the Results section of the infamous paper, when there was no evidence. (A Dispatches programme (Ch 4, 18 Nov 04) by Brian Deer had interviews with a then-PhD student who categorically said that they simply did not find measles virus where Wakefield expected to find it. See review of programme in BMJ Berger A. Dispatches. MMR: what they didn't tell you. BMJ 2004;329:1293) Quotes Liam Donaldson effectively blaming the whole affair on the Lancet publication, and goes on 'the continued focus of Wakefield, journalists and parents of autistic children on autism's link with measles, coupled with the complacency of a public that has been shielded from the horrors of uncontrolled infections, has supported a continued antivaccination movement', which has had a regrettable influence.