Authors: Mic Fitzpatrick, Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, D. Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick MIC
ISBN-13: 9780415321792, ISBN-10: 0415321794
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Taylor & Francis, Inc.
Date Published: August 2004
Edition: (Non-applicable)
The Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccine controversy has been characterized by two one-sided discourses. In the medical world, the weight of opinion is overwhelmingly in favor of MMR. In the public world, the anti-MMR campaign has a much greater influence, centered on the fears of parents that the triple vaccine may cause autism in their children. Both professionals and parents struggle to cope with the anxieties this creates, but find it is difficult to find a balanced account of the issues.
In MMR and Autism , Michael Fitzpatrick, a general practitioner who is also the parent of an autistic child, explains why he believes the anti-MMR campaign is misguided in a way that will reassure parents considering vaccination and also relieve the anxieties of parents with autistic children. At the same time the book provides health care professionals and health studies students with an accessible overview of a contemporary health issue with significant policy implications.
I | Introduction : what parents need to know | 1 |
1 | How the risk society turned on its own children | 10 |
2 | The MMR debacle | 10 |
3 | The trouble with vaccines | 18 |
4 | Age of anxiety | 39 |
II | How parents turned against MMR | 58 |
5 | Autism and parents | 58 |
6 | Alternative autism | 78 |
7 | The campaign against MMR | 101 |
III | The problem of junk science | 118 |
8 | The Lancet paper | 118 |
9 | Missing links | 138 |
10 | The metamorphosis of Andrew Wakefield | 157 |
11 | Epilogue : what doctors need to do | 177 |