Opinion: Vaccine myths putting children at risk

A close up photo of the MMR (Measles Mumps and Rubella Virus vaccine).

Once again, vaccine safety is in the spotlight after two screenings of the controversial movie Vaxxed in Tauranga.

The movie, directed by discredited former doctor Andrew Wakefield, has been causing a stir nationally and worldwide with its claims of a conspiracy to cover up a link between vaccines and autism.

Wakefield and colleagues published a study in the Lancet in 1998 suggesting the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine predisposed children to autism. Vaccination rates began to drop immediately.

Numerous studies since then have shown there is no link between autism and vaccinations.

One study by University of Sydney researchers examined five cohort studies involving more than 1.25 million children. It found no link between numerous vaccines, including MMR, and autism. The same review also found the use of thimerosal or mercury in vaccines was not associated with the development of autism.

The Lancet retracted Wakefield's study in 2010 and, later that year, the General Medical Council found him guilty of serious professional misconduct over the way he carried out his research, and he was struck off the medical register.

As New Zealand's own Ministry of Health says, strict procedures are followed when vaccines are made, and the manufacturer has to demonstrate evidence that it is safe before it can be approved here. Testing takes years and includes trials of human volunteers.

After all this evidence, there are still people out there who believe in Wakefield's claims and refuse to vaccinate themselves and their children.

These people distrust their GPs when they're told vaccines are safe, but most will still take their child to the doctor with a broken bone or a bad rash.

It angers me that children and adults are being left vulnerable to serious, even deadly, diseases because of these myths.