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Among the research results were books and movies that clearly explained their anti-vaccination stance in their titles, such as the films "We Don & # 39; t Vaccinate!" and "Shoot Em Up: The Truth About Vaccines".
But perhaps more troubling from a public health and disinformation point of view, there were also books that people simply looking for information – new parents, for example – might take for something offering neutral information accepted by the public health community, such as "Miller's Review of Critical Vaccine Studies: 400 Important Scientific Papers Summarized for Parents and Researchers" and "The Vaccine-Friendly Plan: A Safe and Effective Approach to HIV / AIDS" 39 Immunity and Dr. Paul's Health – From Pregnancy to Teen ", both presented by the" Best Seller "of Amazon etiquette.
Amazon declined to say how much she had been paid for advertising "Vaccines on Trial" or whether she had accepted money to promote other anti-vaccination books or films.
The findings of CNN Business shocked at least one expert in the field.
"It's dirty money," said Dr. Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a great advocate for immunization, about the announcement. published by Amazon. "What Amazon is willing to do is, at a reasonable price, to disseminate misinformation – they should be held accountable – there are no two sides to science." Vaccines do not cause autism , diabetes, MS, or any of the other advocates of chronic anti-vaccination claims. "
Technology companies under fire
"The algorithms that feed social media platforms as well as Amazon's recommendations are not designed to distinguish quality information from misleading or misleading information, so harmful anti-vaccine messages may have developed." and spread, "Schiff said in a CNN Business News. "Every online platform, including Amazon, must act responsibly and be careful not to contribute to this growing public health disaster."
In a statement sent to CNN earlier this month, a Facebook spokesman said he "had taken steps to reduce the spread of fake health information on Facebook, but we know that we still have a lot to do. "
"We are currently working with external experts on other changes that we will announce soon," said the spokesman.
"Disinformation is a difficult challenge and any misinformation on medical topics is particularly worrying," a spokesman for YouTube told CNN Business on Monday.
"We have taken a number of steps to address this issue, including providing more authoritative content on our site for people searching for immunization-related topics, beginning to reduce the recommendations of some anti-HIV videos. and by displaying information panels containing more sources to verify the information themselves, and like many algorithmic changes, these efforts will be gradual and more and more accurate over time. "
Measles outbreak linked to unvaccinated persons
In February, the CDC reported that 159 measles cases had been confirmed in 10 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, and Oregon. , Texas and Washington. The CDC partially attributed the outbreak to "US communities with pockets of unvaccinated people".
According to the CDC, the majority of people who have had measles have not been vaccinated.
Offit said that the measles outbreak is a sign that the anti-vaccine movement has real consequences.
"Should we wait until there are a few thousand cases of measles and children start dying? Will it affect us?" he said. "Invariably, it is the children who will suffer from our ignorance."
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