Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2018-08-13.
Di questi tempi fa grande scalpore la discussione se vaccinare o meno i bambini. Le persone fragili non leggano questo articolo e si accontentino della foto del vermaio.
Fa abbastanza specie che ne parlino accoratamente media e persone che non abbiano la minima preparazione scientifica: anzi, meno sono del mestiere e più si dimostrano essere certissimi di ciò che dicono.
Basterebbe leggersi qualche lavoro scientifico pubblicato su riviste internazionali con peer review per restare sconcertati dall’uso estensivo del tempo condizionale e dei verbi ausiliari di potenzialità. Il vero ricercatore sa quanto sia fcile far errori anche senza volerlo.
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Nel 1998 Dr Andrew Wakefield pubblicò sul Lancet, una delle più quotate riviste medico – cliniche il seguente lavoro:
Wakefield, AJ. Autism, inflammatory bowel disease, and MMR vaccine. Lancet. 1998; 351: 1356
L’autore collegava la somministrazione di vaccini Mmr all’insorgenza successiva di autismo e di patologie infiammatorie intestinali.
Il lavoro fu accolto con molto scetticismo negli ambienti scientifici.
La metodologia era fortemente scorretta, essendo uno studio retrospettivo e non prospettico. Non solo, il campione studiato era esiguo ed i rapporti causa – effetto fatiscenti.
Così lo tratteggia il prof. Christopher Payne:
«18 children with a diagnosis of autism, born between 1990 and 1994 were identified, 16 of whom had received MMR vaccination, giving a first-dose MMR vaccination rate for children with autism of 88·9%.»
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In questo link il Lettore potrà trovare gli 898 articoli al momento disponibili nella confutazione di quanto asserito dal dr. Wakefield.
The Lancet
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In breve fu evidente come la pubblicazione del dr. Wakefield fosse stata inventata di sana pianta, ed anche male.
Fiona Godlee. Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent. BMJ 2011;342:c7452. Link.
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«Clear evidence of falsification of data should now close the door on this damaging vaccine scare.»
Alla fine anche il Lancet fu obbligato da onestà a pubblicare una ritrattazione del lavoro, come si legge nella fotocopia iniziale.
The Editors of The Lancet.
Retraction—Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children
Lancet. Volume 375, ISSUE 9713, P445, February 06, 2010
«Following the judgment of the UK General Medical Council’s Fitness to Practise Panel on Jan 28, 2010, it has become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al1 are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation.2
In particular, the claims in the original paper that children were “consecutively referred” and that investigations were “approved” by the local ethics committee have been proven to be false. Therefore we fully retract this paper from the published record.»
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Resta aperta una questione la cui risposta sarebbe peraltro scontata.
Perché il Dr Andrew Wakefield ha fatto ciò che ha fatto? Essendo del mestiere ben avrebbe dovuto saperlo che sarebbe stato scoperto in breve tempo. Eppure lo ha fatto.
Denaro.
Retracted autism study an ‘elaborate fraud,’ British journal finds
«A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an “elaborate fraud” that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday. ….
An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes the study’s author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study — and that there was “no doubt” Wakefield was responsible. ….
Britain stripped Wakefield of his medical license in May. “Meanwhile, the damage to public health continues, fueled by unbalanced media reporting and an ineffective response from government, researchers, journals and the medical profession ….
The now-discredited paper panicked many parents and led to a sharp drop in the number of children getting the vaccine that prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Vaccination rates dropped sharply in Britain after its publication, falling as low as 80% by 2004. Measles cases have gone up sharply in the ensuing years. ….
But perhaps as important as the scare’s effect on infectious disease is the energy, emotion and money that have been diverted away from efforts to understand the real causes of autism and how to help children and families who live with it ….
Most of his co-authors withdrew their names from the study in 2004 after learning he had had been paid by a law firm that intended to sue vaccine manufacturers — a serious conflict of interest he failed to disclose. After years on controversy, the Lancet, the prestigious journal that originally published the research, retracted Wakefield’s paper last February. ….
“falsifying medical histories of children and essentially concocting a picture, which was the picture he was contracted to find by lawyers hoping to sue vaccine manufacturers and to create a vaccine scare.” ….
According to BMJ, Wakefield received more than 435,000 pounds ($674,000) from the lawyers ….
But it does seem a financial motive was underlying this, both in terms of payments by lawyers and through legal aid grants that he received but also through financial schemes that he hoped would benefit him through diagnostic and other tests for autism and MMR-related issues ….»
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