Kaiser Health News

Four ways vaccine skeptics are misleading the public on measles and other infectious diseases

May 24, 2024

Unvaccinated people, or those whose immunization status is unknown, account for 80% of measles cases this year. Yet a growing number of parents are opting not to vaccinate their children against measles and other diseases, due to misinformation eroding confidence in established science. Here are four talking points vaccine skeptics use that you may hear from your patients, and what you can say to counter them:

1. The No-Big-Deal Trope. A common distortion is that vaccines aren’t necessary because the diseases they prevent aren’t that dangerous, or are too rare. However, measles kills roughly 2 of every 1,000 children infected. Also, as parents decline vaccination and protective group immunity drops, outbreaks grow larger and faster, such as the one that hit an unvaccinated population in Samoa in 2019, killing 83 people in four months.
2. The ‘You Never Know’ Trope. Skeptics have blamed vaccines for various conditions, including autism, and say that vaccines haven’t been adequately tested, when in fact, they’re among the most studied medical interventions. Epidemiologists have conducted more than a dozen studies searching for a link between vaccines and autism, and repeatedly found none.
3. The Too-Much-Too-Soon Trope. Several bestselling books encourage parents to skip or delay children’s vaccines. But CDC has tailored its recommended vaccination schedule to protect children when they’re most vulnerable and minimize side effects. For instance, the agency recommends that children receive a second MMR vaccine dose when they’re 4 to 6 years old; data suggest that those who delay them until they’re 10 or older have a higher chance of adverse reactions, such as seizures or fatigue.
4. ‘They Don’t Want You to Know’ Trope. Vaccine skeptics claim scientific institutions try to censor conversations about vaccine harms. But federal agencies have been transparent about possible reactions such as seizures and arm pain, and the government has established the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. While around 1 to 3.5 of every million doses of the MMR vaccine can cause a life-threatening allergic reaction, one’s lifetime risk of death by lightning may be as much as four times higher.

Source:

Maxmen A and Gounder C. (2024, May 22). KFF Health News. 4 Ways Vaccine Skeptics Mislead You on Measles and More. https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/measles-how-vaccine-skeptics-mislead-public/