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Good morning and good Monday, readers. I hope you enjoyed your weekend.
Another week, another alarming report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on the historic measles epidemic in America. On May 10, 839 cases of measles were confirmed in 23 states, an increase of 75 cases last week, according to the agency. There are now more than ten times more cases of measles confirmed in 2019 than in 2010, when the highly infectious disease was almost eliminated in the United States.
We have spent a lot of space on the public health agenda of anti-vaccination movements and how social media platforms like Facebook make it easier than ever before to spread false anti-vaccine propaganda. But it's worth exploring: what makes someone a skeptic about the vaccine or an "anti-vaxxer?"
This is a fascinating question, as some members of groups who are skeptical about the vaccine or hostile to the vaccine do not have a perceptible relationship with each other. There are conspiracy theorists who believe that vaccines are a bad government tool, and that vaccination campaigns are organized by a dark cabal of representatives of the federal government and the big pharmaceutical companies. The anti-vaxxers are present across the political spectrum – among the right-wing critics of the big government who dictate what we put in our body and the anti-corporate Liberals who believe that vaccines are a scam looking for something to do. money. I read a tweet from a health reporter reporter this morning saying that an anti-vaxxer had sent her an email asking her to insist that she be (in his eyes more faithfully) called "anti-toxic" instead.
Fascinating sociological research has been conducted on what unites (and divides) the various degrees of anti-vaccination activists. And these types of subtleties are important for the broader work of public vaccination campaigns.
"While many people can say that everyone who refuses vaccines is an anti-vaccine or a vaccine denier, there is actually a wide range of people who choose not to get vaccinated or their children," Tara C wrote. from Kent State University. Smith in a 2017 article. "These range from people who are strong antivirals, often referred to as" vaccine rejecters "(VRj), to those who can accept or even defend most vaccines but who have concerns about a vaccine. or more than one vaccine. "
Smith continues by explaining on a three-part taxonomy that people who do not trust one or more types of vaccines: people who reject vaccines, people who refuse vaccines and the vaccine hesitant, in descending order of resistance to the vaccination. And while the group of "vaccine rejects" tends to attract media attention, Smith points out that it is possible that the vast majority of those who challenge vaccines fall into these last two cohorts. – and that science can still persuade them.
But it also depends on an effective communication strategy. As many studies have shown, shouting: "You're wrong!" Against proven anti-vaxxers tends to push people into their entrenched positions. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a useful guide on how to deal with anti-vaxxers. Some of the main pieces of advice? Know exactly who your audience is (and adjust accordingly), speak with respect, and bring the issue back to science while emphasizing everyone's common goal of protecting our children and preventing human suffering.
Read on for the news of the day.
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