What is vaccine misinformation?

Vaccine misinformation refers to information shared about vaccines that is false. These could be untested theories linking vaccines to negative side effects, often linked to anecdotal experiences. For example, during the Covid vaccine rollout Nicki Minaj tweeted:

"My cousin in Trinidad won’t get the vaccine cuz his friend got it & became impotent. His testicles became swollen. His friend was weeks away from getting married, now the girl called off the wedding. So just pray on it & make sure you’re comfortable with ur decision, not bullied"

Link to Tweet from Nicki Minaj published September 2021. Accessed August 2023

This claim lacked evidence and led to critisim from many public figures, including the Chief Medical Officer in England:

"people that go around trying to discourage other people from taking a vaccine which could be life-saving or prevent them from having life-changing injuries to themselves".

(Chris Whitty, September 2021)

Firstly, what is Autism and where does the MMR vaccine come into it?

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that affects how people communicate and interact with the world. For example, autistic people might find it hard to understand how other people think or feel, or might become overwhelmed or uncomfortable from things like bright lights or loud noises.

The MMR vaccine is often given to children to protect them against the measles, mumps, and rubella viruses, and is given in two doses.

In 1998, a British doctor called Andrew Wakefield published a paper suggesting that autism can be a rare side effect of the MMR vaccine. This was eventually found not to be true. However, the publication of this paper and the misinformation about the MMR vaccine led to a significant decrease in parents taking their children to have the vaccine. This led to an increase in measles cases, which can be fatal.

You can read the Guardian article ‘Andrew Wakefield found 'irresponsible' by GMC over MMR vaccine scare here.

Sharing mininformation can lead to a decrease in the uptake of vaccinations. Roald Dahl, the children's author, daughter died when she was just 7 years old after catching measles. At this point in time, the MMR vaccine wasn't available. Had the vaccine been available, Dahl believes his daughter would have survived.

• Below is a letter Roald Dahl wrote encouraging parents to immunise their children.

   

  "Olivia, my eldest daughter, caught measles when she was seven years old. As the illness took its usual course I can remember reading to her often in bed and not feeling particularly alarmed about it. Then one morning, when she was well on the road to recovery, I was sitting on her bed showing her how to fashion little animals out of coloured pipe-cleaners, and when it came to her turn to make one herself, I noticed that her fingers and her mind were not working together and she couldn’t do anything.

  “Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.

  “I feel all sleepy,” she said.

  In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.

  The measles had turned into a terrible thing called measles encephalitis and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. That was twenty-four years ago in 1962, but even now, if a child with measles happens to develop the same deadly reaction from measles as Olivia did, there would still be nothing the doctors could do to help her.

  On the other hand, there is today something that parents can do to make sure that this sort of tragedy does not happen to a child of theirs. They can insist that their child is immunized against measles. I was unable to do that for Olivia in 1962 because in those days a reliable measles vaccine had not been discovered. Today a good and safe vaccine is available to every family and all you have to do is to ask your doctor to administer it.

  It is not yet generally accepted that measles can be a dangerous illness. Believe me, it is. In my opinion, parents who now refuse to have their children immunized are putting the lives of those children at risk. In America, where measles immunization is compulsory, measles like smallpox, has been virtually wiped out.

  Here in Britain, because so many parents refuse, either out of obstinacy or ignorance or fear, to allow their children to be immunized, we still have a hundred thousand cases of measles every year. Out of those, more than 10,000 will suffer side effects of one kind or another. At least 10,000 will develop ear or chest infections. About 20 will die.

  LET THAT SINK IN.

  Every year around 20 children will die in Britain from measles.

  So what about the risks that your children will run from being immunized?

  They are almost non-existent. Listen to this. In a district of around 300,000 people, there will be only one child every 250 years who will develop serious side effects from measles immunization! That is about a million to one chance. I should think there would be more chance of your child choking to death on a chocolate bar than of becoming seriously ill from a measles immunization.

  So what on earth are you worrying about? It really is almost a crime to allow your child to go unimmunized.

  The ideal time to have it done is at 13 months, but it is never too late. All school-children who have not yet had a measles immunization should beg their parents to arrange for them to have one as soon as possible.

  Incidentally, I dedicated two of my books to Olivia, the first was ‘James and the Giant Peach‘. That was when she was still alive. The second was ‘The BFG‘, dedicated to her memory after she had died from measles. You will see her name at the beginning of each of these books. And I know how happy she would be if only she could know that her death had helped to save a good deal of illness and death among other children."

  Roald Dahl Letter

Countering misinformation

One method of countering misinformation has been through producing videos. The below video was created by The Vaccine Knowledge Project, which is run by researchers at the University of Oxford and is classified by the World Health Organization to provide good quality information about vaccine safety. 

Change in Action

Showing that you care about driving positive change is key to any successful healthcare application or interview. Share your thoughts on this issue and have a go at planning out how you would put change in action. 

Change in Action: Tips

• Imagine your target audience

  How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests? 

• Be specific

  It's okay that you can't say everything! What is the specific message you want to communicate? 

• Think - how do you like to learn new information?

  Reading? Listening? Does it need to be visually appealing? online or in-person?