This lecture separates fact from fiction in the current debate over measles. It addresses what herd immunity is and what it is not, in both the pre-vaccine and vaccine eras. It examines the consequences – real and potential – for vaccines that do not reproduce natural immunity. It addresses the question of should we fear measles and if so, why?
Andrew Wakefield, MBBS Wakefield has been likened to the Dreyfus of his generation, a doctor falsely accused of scientific and medical misconduct, whose discoveries opened up entirely new perceptions of childhood autism, the gut-brain link, and vaccine safety.
As an ‘insider’, the price for his discoveries and his refusal to walk away from the issues they raised, was swift and brutal, with loss of job, career, reputation, honours, colleagues, and country. And yet he enjoys a huge and growing support from around the world. Wakefield’s stance made him a trusted place for whistleblowers from government and industry to confess and ‘download’.
He has extraordinary stories to share. Wakefield is now an award-winning filmmaker. Despite elaborate attempts at censorship, his documentary VAXXED – the revelations of a vaccine scientist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- changed the public mindset on the truth about vaccine safety.
Wakefield’s is a story that starts with professional trust in the instincts of mothers, choice and consequences, a quest for truth, and perseverance against overwhelming odds.
This was in June 2019 and it was very prescient of the situation with the Covid vaccine in 2021. Very interesting science.