CNN 2010-02-10

To vaccinate¹ or not to vaccinate? It's a debate that raged among parents and one that's divided the autism community. Now one journal that put out a paper showing an autism vaccine² link is retracting⁴ it.

 

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with all the details on this.

 

Wow, it's like what do you believe?

 

Right, well, I got to tell you. This isn't just "a" paper that seemed to show a link. This is kind of "the" paper. This is the paper that started off the entire debate and got people like Jenny McCarthy and others to say, wait a minute, we don't want to vaccinate our children.

 

So let's take a look. This gets a little complicated so I want to make sure that we all get this.

 

What happened was that in 1998, a journal-- a study rather was published in "The Lancet," which is a British medical journal, that showed or it sort of indicated a link between autism and childhood vaccines⁵. And then in 2010, "The Lancet" editors said, whoa, hold on a minute, we're retracting that study.

 

They said that the study wasn't done right, that there were certain issues with it and they say that they want to retract³ it from the public record.

 

Well, what has been the word from Dr. Wakefield?

 

Right. Of course, Dr. Wakefield, I'm sure it was sort of surprised to hear that the person who published the study is now retracting it. So we got a statement from him. And what he said is, "The allegations against me and my colleagues," meaning his co- authors, "are both unfounded and unjust. Research into that possible connection between autism and vaccines is still going on."

 

Now it's interesting that he names his colleagues. His co- authors actually disowned the paper -- almost all of them, disowned the paper years ago.

 

All right. So bottom line, does this change the debate?

 

You know, I think for parents who were kind of on the fence and weren't sure quite which side to believe, now I think they might see, well, wait a minute, the people who published that original paper showing a link now are retracting it.

 

I think, though, for people who truly believe that there is a link between autism and vaccines, I think this won't change anything for them. They still believe there is a link. For example, we got this statement from actress and activist⁶ Jenny McCarthy. She says, "This is nothing more than a witch hunt. The evidence finding a connection between vaccines and autism continues to grow unabated."

 

Now, Kyra, we should add here that pretty much every single pediatrician you could ever ask will tell you get your children vaccinated⁷. The Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine -- I could go on and on -- all say no link between autism and vaccines. Get your kids vaccinated.

 

The heartbreak over the human toll⁸ of these failures is starting to surface. In Houston, a grieving husband is suing Toyota now, alleging⁹ that a faulty gas pedal led to his wife's death.

 

We don't have closure. We don't have a closure,  we don't have answers as to why. Nothing else makes sense.

 

You know, they built a death trap. They need to stop it. They're aware of it. They know it. They knew it. They need to put a stop to it.

 

The lawsuit¹⁰ names Toyota, the manufacturer of the suspect gas pedals, and the local Toyota dealer¹¹ who sold the car. Michael Harris says his wife's 2009 Corolla took off and crashed into a wall that killed her on impact. The model is one of those now being recalled.
 

1 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

4 retracting   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的现在分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• The cart can automatic retracting, releasing and laying cables. 本收放车具有自动收线、放线、排线功能。 来自互联网
• I mean, is the art of retracting just too much for you? 我是说，这个缩进技术对于你太难了吗？ 来自互联网

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

7 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

10 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

11 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。