Immune System 4 - MT3 - Part 2

Question 1

MMR

Answer 1

Measles, Mumps and Rubella

Question 2

What does the Wakefield paper of 1998 talk about?

Answer 2

The implication of MMR vaccine in the rise of autism

- wondered if there was a connection between vaccine and autism

Question 3

What did the case series about autism show?

Answer 3

• 12 kids showed up the clinic
• they had bowel problems and behavioural developmental issues
• 8 of the 12 kids showed symptoms after they got the vaccine
• this paper suggest hypothesis but nothing else (could not prove anything)

Question 4

What 4 ethical concerns did people have about MMR vaccinations?

Answer 4

1. That you should not be getting a triple injection
   - needs to be spread out
2. The law firm was getting paid to establish a connection
   - non-disclosure
   - need to publicly declare you are receiving money because if you keep it a secret it looks suspicious
3. The patients were not random
   - were told if they had certain symptoms after the vaccine to come here
   - beacon problem
4. Did invasive procedures on kids without permission

Question 5

What happened to the Wakefield paper?

Answer 5

It got retracted

- was erased all values of the paper might have because of false collection of information

Question 6

What do case studies ask about the connection of autism and vaccines?

Answer 6

Asked if people with autism and people without autism differed in the MMR vaccination status
- most studies have concluded no

Question 7

What is an example of a cohort study in Denmark?

Answer 7

• they followed every child born there between 1991-1998
• 440,655 vaccinated children
• 96,648 unvaccinated children
• no difference between the 2 groups in rates of autism and autism spectrum disorder was found
• stats to appear after the age of 1

Question 8

What 2 celebrities campaigned against MMR?

Answer 8

Jim Carry and Jenny McCarthy

- had a kid that showed symptoms of autism after getting the vaccine

Question 9

What was the “too much too soon” phenomenon?

Answer 9

To be safe we should spread the vaccines out

• give 3 antigens simultaneously the immune system is over whelmed and there is too much work for it to do
• not really true because the amount of antigens we are exposed to are constant

Question 10

What is the effect of the controversy?

Answer 10

Vaccination rates have fallen and measles rates have risen

Question 11

What is cochrane?

Answer 11

Is an international collaboration of scientist volunteers who conduct systematic reviews of the medical research literature

Question 12

What is a systematic review?

Answer 12

Is a review of randomized clinical trials that have been done to answer a certain question
- most scientific papers are narrowly focused

Question 13

What does the review do?

Answer 13

Assembles all the relevant studies, assigns each of them a grade that expresses their methodological quality and draws conclusions, often with the use of meta-analysis statistical techniques

• asses the paper based on a criteria
• doesnt care about the conclusion