Folk epidemiology of autism

Folk epidemiology of autism refers to the popular beliefs about the origin of autism.[1] Without direct informed knowledge of autism, a complex disorder, members of the public are influenced by rumors and misinformation presented in the mass media and repeated on social media and the internet.[1][2] These misinformed beliefs persist even when contradicted by scientific evidence.[2][3] Folk epidemiology persists because people seek, receive, and preferentially believe information that is consistent with their existing views;[2] misjudge the reliability of their sources of information, and are misled by anecdotal evidence;[1][3] and tend not to revise their opinions even when their original sources of information are shown to be wrong.[2]

The scientific consensus is the MMR vaccine has no link to the development of autism, and that the vaccine's benefits greatly outweigh its risks.[4] Folk beliefs that the MMR vaccine causes autism led to a sharp drop in rates of vaccination in the UK and Ireland after 1998 and corresponding increases in the incidence of vaccine-preventable childhood illnesses, disability, and death.[5][6]

MMR vaccine and autism

In 1998 Andrew Wakefield published a fraudulent article in a The Lancet, a prominent British medical journal, claiming that the MMR vaccines caused autism.[7] Although the article was later retracted, the idea that vaccines cause autism became a major news story.[8] By the time that scientists had shown the narrative to be false, it had become part of the folk epidemiology of autism.[1][7] The narrative was easy to understand and apparently consistent with anecdotal evidence of children receiving autism diagnoses shortly after having been vaccinated. Doctors were highly critical of the media coverage for triggering a decline in vaccination rates.[9] The false belief has persisted despite a public information campaign aimed at making parents aware that by refusing vaccinations they are putting their children at risk of contracting infectious diseases that are frequently fatal.[4]

Mass media

Observers have criticized the involvement of mass media in the controversy alleging that the media provided Wakefield's study with more credibility than it deserved.[10] Endorsements by celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were highly publicized.[11] Later commentary faulted the coverage for giving a misleading impression of the degree to which the evidence supported a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.[12][13][14][15]

Consequences

The scientific consensus is that the MMR vaccine has no link to the development of autism, and that the vaccine's benefits greatly outweigh its risks.[4] The false belief that the MMR vaccine causes autism led to a sharp drop in rates of vaccination in the UK and Ireland after 1998, creating a major public health risk. Lower vaccination rates were followed by increases in the incidence of measles and mumps, and the resulting cases of permanent disability and death.[5]

Public fears about vaccination have consumed resources that might otherwise have advanced research into the real causes of autism.[11] There have been thirteen studies that properly followed the scientific method and contained large numbers of participants that failed to connect autism to the MMR vaccine.[16] There have been seven well-constructed studies that have attempted to link autism to thiomersal in vaccines and were unsuccessful.[16] Special interest groups continue to push for more research on the link between vaccines and autism.[11][16] Further research motivated by the folk epidemiology of autism would represent a lost opportunity to investigate autism's true causes.[11]

See also

References
  1. Moore, Alfred; Stilgoe, Jack (2009). "Experts and Anecdotes". Science, Technology, & Human Values. 34 (5): 654–677. doi:10.1177/0162243908329382. ISSN 0162-2439.
  2. Lewandowsky, Stephan; Ecker, Ullrich K. H.; Seifert, Colleen M.; Schwarz, Norbert; Cook, John (2012). "Misinformation and Its Correction". Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 13 (3): 106–131. doi:10.1177/1529100612451018. ISSN 1529-1006. PMID 26173286. S2CID 42633.
  3. Sharts-Hopko, Nancy C. (2009). "Issues in Pediatric Immunization". MCN: The American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 34 (2): 80–88. doi:10.1097/01.NMC.0000347300.39714.19. ISSN 0361-929X. PMID 19262260.
  4. "MMR The facts". NHS Immunisation Information. 2004. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
  5. McIntyre P, Leask J (2008). "Improving uptake of MMR vaccine". The BMJ. 336 (7647): 729–30. doi:10.1136/bmj.39503.508484.80. PMC 2287215. PMID 18309963.
  6. Pepys MB (2007). "Science and serendipity". Clinical Medicine. 7 (6): 562–78. doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.7-6-562. PMC 4954362. PMID 18193704.
  7. Taylor, B. (2006). "Vaccines and the changing epidemiology of autism". Child: Care, Health and Development. 32 (5): 511–519. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00655.x. ISSN 0305-1862. PMID 16919130. S2CID 26423046.
  8. Goldacre B (30 August 2008). "The MMR hoax". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 2008-08-30. Alt URL
  9. "Doctors issue plea over MMR jab". BBC News. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  10. Moore Andrew (2006). "Bad science in the headlines: Who takes responsibility when science is distorted in the mass media?". EMBO Reports. 7 (12): 1193–1196. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400862. PMC 1794697. PMID 17139292.
  11. "How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endanger Us All". WIRED. October 19, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2019.
  12. Hilton S, Petticrew M, Hunt K (2007). "Parents' champions vs. vested interests: Who do parents believe about MMR? A qualitative study". BMC Public Health. 7: 42. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-7-42. PMC 1851707. PMID 17391507.
  13. Speers T, Justin L (September 2004). "Journalists and jabs: media coverage of the MMR vaccine". Communication and Medicine. 1 (2): 171–181. doi:10.1515/come.2004.1.2.171. PMID 16808699.
  14. Jackson T (2003). "MMR: more scrutiny, please". The BMJ. 326 (7401): 1272. doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7401.1272. PMC 1126154.
  15. Dobson Roger (May 2003). "Media misled the public over the MMR vaccine, study says". The BMJ. 326 (7399): 1107. doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7399.1107-a. PMC 1150987. PMID 12763972.
  16. Gerber, Jeffrey S.; Offit, Paul A. (2009). "Vaccines and Autism: A Tale of Shifting Hypotheses". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 48 (4): 456–461. doi:10.1086/596476. ISSN 1058-4838. PMC 2908388. PMID 19128068.
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