In a perhaps unprecedented treatment of the topic, Sunday on Dateline, Matt Lauer did an in depth story about the still raging debate concerning a possible link between autism and vaccines. The story focused to a large extent on Andrew Wakefield -- the now infamous British Doctor who is credited with igniting the debate about the link between autism and vaccines via the publication of an article over a decade ago in the medical journal Lancet.

Since publication of his first paper on the topic, hundreds of studies have been published that have found no link between autism and vaccines. In fact, the Lancet and most of Wakefield's co-authors on the original paper have issued retractions of the article because of suspected conflicts of interest and because of issues surrounding how study data was collected. Despite these facts, thousands of parents who have children with autism continue to believe that vaccines were the cause of their child's disease and thousands of other parents are choosing not to vaccinate their children for fear it may cause them to have autism.

In the Sunday episode, Lauer was able to talk with Wakefield directly about the controversy surrounding his work and about recent moves by the British medical establishment to strip him of his medical license. Wakefield continued to defend his work but cautioned that he never suggested that parents not vaccinate their children rather suggested that vaccines should be given separately over a period of time rather than lumped together as is done in the case of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot.

Despite Wakefields claim that he wasn't advocating that parents not vaccinate their children at all - rather give them separately, his work is largely cited as the reason behind the dramatic declines in vaccination rates over the last decade in the UK and in the United States. Since publication of his orginal study and the now hundreds of talks on the topic that Wakefield has given worldwide, the occurrence of dangerous lillnesses like measles and whopping cough have increased. This trend has been suggested as the cause of several deaths in boths countries.

Public health experts have suggested that one reason for the continued belief by some parents of an autism-vaccine link is the media coverage of celebrities that advocate such a link. One of the most visable celebrities who advocates such a link is Jenny McCarthy who, along with her partner Jim Carrey, say that vaccines caused her son's autism. McCarthy has shared her beliefs on many popular television shows including shows by Larry King and Opray Winfrey.

The Dateline episode also included interviews with Brian Deer, the British journalist who first uncovered conflict of interest problems with the Wakefield study, Dr. Paul Offit, author of the book "Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure" , and Dr. Eric Courchesne, a leading expert on the neurobiology of autism and Director of the UC San Diego Autism Center of Excellence.

The Lauer study ended with a strongly worded statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics that stated that vaccines do not cause autism and said that a parent's best strategy to protect their chidlren against dangerous diseases is to vaccinate them. The American Academy of Pediatrics has published a fact sheet for parents about autism and vaccine safety.

Other Recent Living the Science News:

Call for Whole Foods Boycott Picks Up Steam
Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Reduces Alzheimer Risk

Massachusetts Issues Public Health Advisory About BPA