Debunking Dr Sears

On MMR and autism (updated 9/08)

• Dr Sears bases his recommendation to delay the measles vaccine (thereby necessitating splitting the MMR) on a 1998 study reported in The Lancet, by Dr Wakefield suggesting that persistent measles virus in the intestine may be the trigger for autism, citing an association between the two entities.
• The Lancet complained in 2004 that the Wakefield had concealed a conflict of interest. His autistic probands were clients of a prosecution attorney. Ten of his co-authors retracted the paper’s implication that the vaccine might be linked to autism. Three of the authors are now defending themselves before a fitness-to-practice panel in London on charges related to their autism research.
• Multiple other studies contradict the Wakefield study. They were also better designed. For example, Wakefield used adult ranges for his immunoglobin level norms vs pediatric ranges. In 2006 (citation 1) Using more rigorous genetic techniques, the genetic primers originally used (in the several studies that followed Wakefield) were proven to produce false-positives. Using these better genetic techniques, it was shown that the measles virus genome was not present in children with ASD who had received MMR. The original labs that produced the false-positives were sent known samples on more than one occasion and the labs made so many errors that their certification should have been revoked.
• A multicenter study (Harvard, Columbia, Mass General, CDC, and the AAP) involving 38 children (25 with Autism and 13 without) was released on Sept 3, 2008. It refutes the Wakefield study, saying "strong evidence against an association of autism with persistent Measles Virus RNA in the GI tract or MMR vaccine exposure

Dr Sears is a listed member of AAP, but his opinion on vaccinations does not reflect the majority.

Citations:

1. PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 4 October 2006, pp. 1664-1675 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1262) No Evidence of Persisting Measles Virus in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells From Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder