LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Comment on Dr. Joel A. Harrison´s "Wrong About Vaccine Safety"

Abstract

I have been working at the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm and as Senior Medical Officer in the Department of Communicable Disease and Prevention in Stockholm County and after retiring I worked in the Department of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Uppsala University Hospital. My medical research, besides epidemiological measures, has had a major focus on vaccines, their effectiveness, safety, and implementation. I recently read Dr Harrison`s paper in this journal. I was amazed that Dr Wakefield, in both a 2000 article and in his book, claimed I told him that we in Sweden did not concern ourselves with vaccine safety nor were aware of anyone else who did so. During my career I communicated with many people but I do not recall any contact with Dr Wakefield. Actually, I have never heard his name before. However, what Dr Wakefield wrote could not possible be true as we in Sweden are very aware of the possibility of side effects to vaccinations. It is obligatory for all