An expert on infectious diseases has said the discrediting of a controversial study into the link between the MMR vaccine and autism is a confidence boost for vaccination.
Dr Darina O'Flanagan of the National Disease Surveillance Centre said anything that encourages parents to have their children vaccinated against measles is to be welcomed.
The British Health Secretary, John Reid, has called for an inquiry into why the flawed study claiming a link between the vaccine and autism was published by the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet in 1998. The study was carried out by Dr Andrew Wakefield.
The Sunday Times newspaper showed that Dr Wakefield's research was being funded through solicitors seeking evidence to use against vaccine manufacturers, a fact the doctor kept from his medical colleagues and The Lancet.
