Jenny McCarthy, a purveyor of the false autism-vaccine link, has a deal with Oprah’s production company for a talk show and blog. McCarthy has published a book on how she has “cured” her son’s autism by diet and has been outspoken on the autism-vaccine non-link.
Jenny McCarthy is the worst type of anti-science fighter, the self-styled expert (more on this later in the week). The anti-vaccine campaign has real consequences, more sick children. England is experiencing its largest measles outbreak in 20 years because the rate of vaccination has decreased because of the autism scare.
The latest research has shown a very strong genetic component to autism. The link of autism with vaccines was first proposed in a paper by Wakefield in 1998, which has been shown to be fraudulent. All the co-authors have withdrawn their names from the paper.