Children’s Hospital reacts to retraction of link between immunizations and autism
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
NEW ORLEANS – The British medical journal The Lancet today retracted a controversial 1998 paper that linked the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism because the research involved in the study has subsequently been discredited. The study's lead author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, was found to have acted unethically in conducting the research.
Jodi Kamps, Ph.D., director of Children’s Hospital’s Autism Clinic and assistant director of the psychology department, said news of the retraction did not come as a surprise. “Since 1998, when Wakefield’s study was published, no one has been able to replicate it or find a link between autism spectrum disorders and the MMR vaccine,” Kamps said.
According to the American Medical Association, a 2004 report by the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee carefully reviewed all of the published scientific literature and concluded that there is no link between autism and the MMR vaccine.
“This is good news,” said Charmaine Allesandro, director of the Greater New Orleans Immunization Network, a program focused on increasing the immunization rates for children by age two. “The primary objective of the Greater New Orleans Immunization Network is to protect all children from vaccine preventable diseases. Hopefully, parents who have not vaccinated their children will realize that there is no scientific proof linking autism and immunizations, get their children immunized, and make the entire community safer.”
About Children’s Hospital
Since its opening in 1955, Children's Hospital has continually offered the most advanced pediatric care. With more than 40 specialties, 235 beds and nearly 400 physicians, it is the only full-service hospital exclusively for children in Louisiana and the Gulf South. As a not-for-profit medical center, the hospital has no stockholders or dividends to pay. It is governed by an independent board of trustees made up of community volunteers. Revenue generated is used to operate the hospital and to expand and advance its services. In 2008, Children’s Hospital treated 56,105 unique children from all 64 Louisiana parishes, 42 states and thee foreign countries.
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