Personal bias, blind belief driving vaccine-autism link, say experts

Personal bias and blind belief are time and again reigniting the claim that childhood vaccines are increasing the risk of autism a neurological condition said health experts on WednesdayRecently a selfpublished report by the USbased McCullough Foundation claimed that vaccination is ldquothe most significant preventable driverrdquo of autismThe report not being peerreviewed has garnered significant attention from many antivaccine campaigners including Zoho founder Sridhar VembuldquoThere are many people who take an antivaccine stand We saw the damaging effects of their propaganda during the early part of the pandemic when tens of thousands of people died of severe Covid19 simply because they were afraid to vaccinaterdquo Dr Rajeev Jayadevan of the Indian Medical Association Kochi told IANSldquoUnfortunately antiscience views are fashionable in certain circles driven by personal bias blind belief and a fascination with conspiracy theoriesrdquo he addedThe report published on Zenodo and not hosted in any peerreviewed journal questioned the increasing immunisation programmes for children known to prevent morbidity and mortalityDr Shefali Gulati paediatric neurologist at AIIMS said that despite clear evidence of the lifesaving benefits of childhood vaccinations vaccine hesitancy remains a critical challenge in the postCovid19 eraIn an Editorial published in the journal Autism Gulati discussed the revival of vaccinepreventable diseases such as measles in the US and Europe following CovidldquoA key driver of this hesitancy is the enduring myth that vaccines cause autism a theory that has long been debunked but refuses to disappear from public discourserdquo Gulati saidThe antivaccine movement first began with a fraudulent paper published in The Lancet by Dr Andrew Wakefield in 1998 which falsely claimed a link between vaccines and autismldquoAlthough the paper was retracted the damage was already done Many people continued to believe that vaccines cause autism despite numerous wellconducted studies showing no such linkrdquo Jayadevan saidldquoIt is curious that Wakefield is listed among the authors of this new McCullough Foundation report which is not a peerreviewed publication It is merely a compilation that mixes opinion pieces weak reports and genuine studies as though they carry the same scientific weight That is not a valid research methodologyrdquo he told IANSNotably such misinformation can lead to adverse outcomes where parents refuse to vaccinate their children resulting in the return of lethal but vaccinepreventable diseases that had once been conqueredAccording to the World Health Organisation WHO global immunisation efforts have saved around 154 million lives over the past 50 years the majority of them infants under one year of ageGulati urged healthcare professionals to combat vaccine hesitancy with empathy and clear communication focusing on validating parentsrsquo concerns while addressing misconceptionsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever