Medical research linking MMR jab with autism retracted by the Lancet

The discredited research linking autism with the MMR vaccination has now led the medical journal it was originally published in to print a retraction.

The MMR study by lead researcher Andrew Wakefield, published on 28 February 1998, caused a mass panic amongst parents.

The repercussions of this still stop parents from letting their child have the MMR today.

The low uptake of the vaccination led to a rise in the number of cases of measles in children, a potentially fatal illness.

The Lancet has now officially retracted the paper, accepting that the claims made were ‘false’.

Last week, the General Medical Council ruled that Dr Wakefield had acted in a dishonest manner whilst conducting his research.

The MMR is a combined vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella.

The study by Wakefield linked the jab with autism and bowl disease.

Though the General Medical Council investigated the rules and ethics on how the research was carried out, the paper has since been discredited by other medical experts.

Welcoming the Lancet’s retraction of the MMR study, Editor of the BMJ, Dr Fiona Godlee said: “This will help to restore faith in this globally important vaccine and in the integrity of the scientific literature.”