2010 Science News of the Year: Science & Society
By Science News
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Vaccine link to autism dismissed
In February, Lancet formally retracted a 1998 study that had kindled a storm of opposition to vaccines (SN Online: 2/3/10). The research suggested that autism arose in a handful of children after the kids received shots to prevent measles, mumps and rubella. The study’s lead author committed several ethical breaches, and the selection of participants in the study may have been biased, the U.K. General Medical Council reported in January following an investigation. Following suit, Lancet retracted the paper, noting that “several elements” of the study were incorrect. Alarms that the study raised about vaccines, though, continue to reverberate despite subsequent research in Britain, Japan and Finland that has found no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Lingering effects Many emergency responders to the 9/11 attack in New York City (above) still have breathing problems (SN: 5/8/10, p. 12).