The British researcher whose work triggered the childhood-vaccines-cause-autism movement witnessed more tarnishes on this reputation. The week brought shame to researcher Andrew Wakefield following publication of a report in a prominent medical journal that the data used by him for his study is fake.

However, many are scrambling to know that if all this would actually affect him.

Many are of the belief that the latest news will hamper the reputation of researcher Andrew Wakefield, consequently landing the claim of scientific underpinnings for the anti-vaccine movement to an end. However, there are a few who think that he would be unperturbed by all this.

Following the release of his study in 1998 in the Lancet that linked measles-mumps-rubella vaccine with autism, Wakefield was all over the news.

"Clearly, the results of this (Wakefield) study have had repercussions", posted Dr. Michael Smith, a University of Louisville infectious diseases expert who has studied the autism controversy's effect on immunization rates.

Wakefield's study has been verified by a spate of other researchers who failed to confirm a link between vaccines and autism. It is claimed that it has been dissected by experts, and 10 of the article's 13 authors have renounced the work.