Only the provision of clean water has been more effective in reducing the burden of infections worldwide.īefore the invention of vaccines, many infectious diseases were widespread, had a significant impact on well-being, and regularly led to death.įor example, polio is a highly infectious disease that damages the nervous system, which can lead to paralysis and death. Vaccines are among the most important advances in medicine. The WHO have outlined comprehensive responses to each of these misconceptions, providing evidence to the contrary.

Giving children multiple vaccines at once increases the risk of harmful side effects.

The diseases that vaccines prevent are no longer prevalent, so there is no need for vaccines.

Vaccines cause many harmful side effects and illnesses.

Some batches of vaccines are safer than others.

Most people who get diseases are already vaccinated.

Diseases were already declining before the invention of vaccines due to improvements in hygiene and sanitation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) highlight six common misconceptions about vaccines: It also estimates that social media outlets could be making about $1 billion from advertising every year.įacebook and other social media platforms regularly receive criticism for the extent of misinformation spreading within these communities. However, there are many active communities on the internet and social media platforms.Īccording to a recent report in The Lancet Digital Health, around 31 million people follow anti-vaccine groups on Facebook. The team found that MMR vaccinations prevented infections in children and did not increase the risk of autism or encephalitis.Īnti-vaxxers still represent a minority of people. There is still no scientific study showing a link between MMR and autism.Ī systematic review of the topic in 2020 included more than 23 million children from 138 studies.

Wakefield’s medical license, declaring that he abused a position of trust and acted unethically to provoke a dishonest and callous controversy.ĭespite this, the scandal led to a drop in MMR vaccinations that remains today. The United Kingdom’s General Medical Council revoked Mr. Wakefield guilty of deliberate fraud, as a ruling deemed that he and his research team had picked and chose data that suited their case, while falsifying facts in their studies. Wakefield failed to declare several conflicts of interest, including involvement in a lawsuit for claiming links between MMR and autism.Ī British Medical Journal investigation later found Mr. However, The Lancet withdrew his article in 2004 after an investigation found major flaws in his study.

The Lancet, a respected scientific journal, initially published his research. In 1998, Andrew Wakefield, a former medical doctor, suggested a possible link between the MMR vaccination and autism in children. The anti-vaxxer movement began in the 18th century in the U.S., with religious leaders describing them as the “devil’s work.” The campaign grew in the 19th and 20th centuries as a matter of human rights. Why do anti-vaxxers not believe in the benefits of vaccinations?

Anti vaxxers hold up there backaroo