Andrew Wakefield and MMR Flashcards
1
Q
Summarise the MMR scandal?
A
- Exploited vulnerable people by weaponising disinformation.
- Claimed that the MMR vaccine had caused autism in a 1998 article in the lancet. He based his beliefs on a study of 12 children, 8 of whom had autism which he blamed on the MMR vaccine.
- His theory was that the combination overwhelmed the children’s immune system.
- The MMR vaccine is delivered at the same time autism begins to present: at 18-24 months. This was therefore easy to exploit.
