Vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), human papillomavirus (HPV), and influenza are three of the most controversial subjects in medicine. Over the last few years, there have been misconceptions among the media concerning these vaccines causing panic among parents and having them refuse to vaccinate their children. What parents are not realizing is that vaccines have the ability to protect their children from getting sick or potentially dying. There is nothing more heartbreaking to parents than the loss of a child to one of these diseases. Instead, parents continue to choose to believe all the false claims about vaccines and have started to show resistance and question the medical professionals about the validity and the effectiveness of the vaccines. Parents need to become proactive and educate to themselves about the benefits of vaccines. .
The myth about the MMR vaccine started in 1998 when a British gastroenterologist, Andrew Wakefield published a report stating that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. Since the reports were published, parents became alarmed, and began refusing the vaccine for their children. According to an article in The Week Staff, subsequent studies failed to replicate Wakefield's findings, and an investigation found that his study was an elaborate fraud with deliberately falsified data. A group called the anti- vaccination movement continues to believe that the MMR continues to be linked to autism. In the same article in The Week Staff, "anti-vaccination group continues to believe that the MMR is responsible for autism despite countless studies that show no link between the two." .
There are currently reports of outbreaks of MMR occurring in California, New York, and Ohio. Parents are stuck on their ideas of the dangers of what side effects this vaccine can give their children, but they are not aware of the harm of not vaccinating their children against this disease.
