Wednesday was when NOVA’s documentary Vaccines – Calling The Shots aired, and the #vaccinesNOVA hashtag was intended to enable a national discussion between parents, medical professionals and others on the issues surrounding infectious diseases and vaccines.
Instead, those looking for a serious and informative conversation were all but drowned out as anti vaccination advocates co-opted the hashtag along with their own: #CDCWhistleblower – a hashtag promoting an alleged cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on MMR vaccine and autism research.
Despite being a topic of vigorous discussion amongst anti vaccine advocates, the CDC whistleblower story hasn’t hit the mainstream headlines in a big way, probably leaving a number of genuine #vaccinesNOVA followers somewhat mystified.
The story revolves around a 2004 paper examining associations between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism in children, and William W Thompson – a researcher at the CDC, and co-author on the paper. Thompson, it was recently revealed, had reservations about how the study data were analyzed, and the resulting conclusions drawn.
In August, vaccine critic Brian Hooker published a re-analysis of these data in a paper that has since been withdrawn, which claimed that there was “new evidence of a statistically significant relationship between the timing of the first MMR vaccine and autism incidence in African American males.”
Based on the story, anti vaccine advocates have been aggressively accusing the CDC of fraud, while using the incident to press their case that vaccines are harmful, and that the truth of the associated risks is being covered up by the medical establishment.
The truth of the matter? One of the clearest and most precise analyses of the issue to date can be found over at the Harpocrates Speaks blog – it’s well worth reading, whichever side of the vaccine discussion you are on.
And the bottom line?
Despite much noise being made by the small, yet incredibly vocal, anti-vaccine community, there is no evidence of fraud on the part of the CDC, nor is there convincing evidence of any cover-up. Brian S. Hooker’s study contains a number of flaws leading to a spurious, and biologically implausible, conclusion. In fact, the quality of the study is such that the journal that published it withdrew it pending further investigation, citing serious concerns about the validity and potential conflicts of interest. This entire issue is, in reality, much ado about nothing.
Update September 14 2014, 7:00 AM: Clarified that at NOVA – Calling The Shots aired on Wednesday September 10 in the opening paragraph. Shortened the quote from Harpocrates. Added a feature image.