Misinformation and the Anti-Vaxx Movement

 

According to the American Psychological Association, civic engagement can be defined as “individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern”.

Among the most notable and first instances of vaccine misinformation was the publishing of an article in a medical journal. In 1998, a UK-based medical journal by the name of The Lancet published a report by gastroenterological surgeon and medical researcher Andrew Wakefield that suggested a link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism in children (“Andrew Wakefield’s”). Shortly after the report was published, medical professionals refuted the study’s claims for issues such as unreliable data, a small data pool, a conflict of interest, ethical issues, and for the connections Wakefield drew between the MMR vaccine and Autism without enough scientific evidence (“Andrew Wakefield’s”). In 2010, after years of scientific evidence and other professionals refuting Wakefield’s claims, The Lancet finally retracted the report and Wakefield was stripped of his medical license (Andrew Wakefield’s). However, the harm of Wakefield’s study had long since gained momentum, the false claims gained the voiced support of influential people in power such as celebrity Jenny McCarthy (“Andrew Wakefield’s”).

Wakefield’s trouble filled report was just the beginning of the slippery slope of misinformation regarding vaccines. In the time following the publishing of Wakefield’s report, numerous studies refuted the claims of connection between vaccines and autism, but it was too late to prevent the misinformation from spreading. Media and celebrities like McCarthy used their platforms to shout out the supposed “dangers of vaccines” wherever they could, with McCarthy herself doing countless interviews and even writing a book which claimed vaccines were the cause of her son’s autism, and later claiming it was cured through home remedies like a special diet etc. (Einbinder, 2019).

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared vaccine hesitancy due to misinformation as one of the top ten threats to public health. This is largely due to vaccine hesitancy and a correlating rise in the occurrence of sickness and deaths from vaccine preventable diseases (WHO). While a large portion of the anti-vaxx community bases their beliefs on the claims that vaccines are not safe for children because the ingredients are ‘unsafe and unknown,’ the fact remains that vaccines for children are among the most thoroughly tested and monitored parts of modern medical trials and data. When vaccines are undergoing trials, they undergo vigorous monitoring: being given to large populations and children in early development stages before being available to the public (Broom and Healy). In addition, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licenses and approves vaccines while closely monitoring the vaccine for some time with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for possible negative effects, being temporarily or permanently pulled if necessary (Broom and Healy).

Despite the many studies refuting vaccine misinformation, public figures and social media remains among the largest spreaders of vaccine misinformation. Among the greatest perpetrator of vaccine information is social media sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other media outlets that provide almost anyone with an anti-vaxx opinion the platform to spread unsubstantiated claims and misinformation. A study collected data from 2009-2015, in which Twitter was monitored for vaccine and autism keywords to map anti-vaxx beliefs throughout the US, and identified California as one of the states with the greatest number of monthly anti-vaxx tweets (Tomeny et al., 2017). Furthermore, this study found a direct correlation between the number of increased anti-vaxx tweets with increased vaccine-related news coverage (Tomeny et al., 2017).

 A graph from the Tomney et al. study depicting the five states with the largest number of anti-vaxx tweets by month from January 09 to July 15.

A graph from the Tomney et al. study showing the percent of anti-vaxx tweets per area. 

Another study found the correlation between the occurrence of anti-vaxx YouTube videos being recommended from other videos about vaccine health or having vaccine related keywords: from a significant occurrence of misinformation anti-vaxx videos being recommended from another anti-vaxx video, to even anti-vaxx videos being recommended following pro-vax videos (Tang). The following graphic depicts a visualization of four YouTube video networks, where each dot is a video, with green dots being pro-vaxx videos and red being anti-vaxx videos. In this graphic, the size of a dot shows the exposure value of said video to anti-vaxx videos.

Perhaps the most influential provider of vaccine information is Facebook itself. The Guardian found that despite comments and claims from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg regarding vaccines as scientifically backed as important for community health, Facebook itself unwittingly steers those who seek out vaccine information towards anti-vaxx and unscientific misinformation groups and propaganda (Wong, 2019).

 

The spread of vaccine misinformation has led to detrimental trends in vaccine administration and the increase of otherwise preventable diseases. The WHO cites a 30% increase of measles globally, however the WHO notes that some of the increase is due to resurgence of the disease in other countries with less efficient vaccination processes, if any exists.

 

Zhang et al. (2021). 

It is crucial that media outlets and those with an influence base do their best to ensure that vaccine misinformation is not spread, but rather debunked for the benefit of the greater public health. Vaccines are an effective form of preventive health care to ensure that individuals remain safe from otherwise preventable but harmful illnesses. This includes populations that are otherwise unable to take vaccines, such as babies or immunocompromised individuals, as well as those with less access to vaccines who may be of lower socioeconomic status, etc. The widespread use of vaccines has led to a decline of these illnesses and allowed for a healthier population and saved the lives of many. By stopping vaccine misinformation, more lives can be saved from potential disease exposure or even death.

 

The social issue of vaccine misinformation and the anti-vaxx movement directly impacts my community and myself as I have personally seen the effects of misinformation through my work and in my distant family friends. I previously worked in a local hospital as a student nurse. There, I experienced many mothers refusing to vaccinate their children or attempting to get vaccine waivers from their doctors citing personal beliefs in which they directly mentioned “information” they had seen on Facebook or from a social media influencer. These anti-vaxx sentiments impacted not only those children, but their peers, as California schools require vaccinations for enrollment and those without vaccinations could become sick or be carriers of diseases to other children. Furthermore, this also impacts herd immunity in which a largely vaccinated population reduces the chances a person who cannot be vaccinated gets sick with a vaccine-preventable disease. I also chose this issue as vaccine misinformation and distrust recently came to the forefront of the media and the general public with the spread of COVID-19. The spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19 as “fake news” I feel attributed to the spread of the global pandemic in the US, which was also hurt by the distrust and misinformation regarding vaccines in general, and the speed at which they many COVID-19 vaccines were developed.

 

 

Resources

 

Andrew Wakefield’s Harmful Myth of Vaccine-induced "Autistic Enterocolitis". (2011). Retrieved October 4, 2018, from https://www.badgut.org/information-centre/a-zdigestive-topics/andrew-wakefield-vaccine-myth/

Broom, Julie A, and Mary Healy. “Standard Childhood Vaccines: Parental Hesitancy or Refusal.” UpToDate, UpToDate, 27 Nov. 2018, www.uptodate.com/contents/standard-childhood-vaccines-parental-hesitancy-or-refusal.

“Civic Engagement.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 2009, www.apa.org/education/undergrad/civic-engagement.

Einbinder, Nicole. “How Former 'The View' Host Jenny McCarthy Became the Face of the Anti-Vaxx Movement.” Insider, Insider, 30 Apr. 2019, www.insider.com/jenny-mccarthy-became-the-face-of-the-anti-vaxx-movement-2019-4.

Tang, L., Fujimoto, K., Amith, M. T., Cunningham, R., Costantini, R. A., York, F., ... & Tao, C. (2021). “Down the Rabbit Hole” of Vaccine Misinformation on YouTube: Network Exposure Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(1), e23262.

Tomeny, T. S., Vargo, C. J., & El-Toukhy, S. (2017). Geographic and demographic correlates of autism-related anti-vaccine beliefs on Twitter, 2009-15. Social science & medicine, 191, 168-175

WHO. “Ten Health Issues WHO Will Tackle This Year.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019.

Wong, Julia Carrie. “How Facebook and YouTube Help Spread Anti-Vaxxer Propaganda.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 1 Feb. 2019, www.theguardian.com/media/2019/feb/01/facebook-youtube-anti-vaccination-misinformation-social-media.

Zhang, J., Featherstone, J. D., Calabrese, C., & Wojcieszak, M. (2021). Effects of fact-checking social media vaccine misinformation on attitudes toward vaccines. Preventive Medicine, 145, 106408.