About
The Anti-Vaccination Movement, also known as the Anti-Vaxxer Movement, is a grassroots medical activist campaign that opposes the practice of vaccination based on fears about the adverse effects of immunization. The movement is most commonly associated with discredited claims that vaccines are linked to autism spectrum disorders.
History
In 1998, the medical journal The Lancet published a paper[1] providing support for the claim that colitis and autism disorders were linked to the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The paper was subsequently discredited with a series of reports released between 2004 and 2010 by British investigative reporter Brian Deer. On September 17th, 2007, the book Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism by Jenny McCarthy was released, in which the actress describes her experiences raising a child with autism. The following day, McCarthy was interviewed on the Oprah Winfrey Show, revealing that she believed an MMR vaccine triggered her son’s autism.
Online Presence
On April 11th, 2001, the anti-vaccination website Vaccination Liberation[10] was launched. On June 22nd, 2007, a page for “Anti-vaccination movement” was created on the wiki site Rational Wiki.[9] On February 2nd, 2009, the website Jenny McCarthy Body Count was launched, which lists the number of illnesses and deaths that have occurred since celebrities began speaking out against vaccinations in 2007. The website has since been renamed “Anti Vaccine Body Count.”[2]
On July 13th, 2013, Something Awful[6] published a compilation of photoshopped parody anti-vaccination ads (shown below).
On March 17th, 2014, Time[8] published an article titled “4 Diseases Making a Comeback Thanks to Anti-Vaxxers,” which listed measles, mumps, whooping couch and chicken pox as preventable diseases that were on the rise due to anti-vaccination efforts. On July 12th, CollegeHumor released part three of the “If Google Was a Guy” sketch comedy series, in which an personified version of the Google search engine provides search results for an anti-vaxxer (shown below).
On December 15th, artist Maki Naro published a webcomic titled “Vaccines Work: Here Are the Facts” on the blogging platform Medium.[7] In January 2015, more than 100 people were diagnosed with the measles in 15 states in the United States, which many speculated was caused by parents refusing to vaccinate their children. In February, critics of the anti-vaccination movement began posting joke reviews on the Amazon[3] page for the book Melanie’s Marvelous Measles by Australian anti-vaxxer Stephanie Messenger.[4] On February 4th, Redditor Thalaas submitted a post titled “How I Think Anti-vaxxers view their kids,” which featured a screenshot of the character Lord Farquaad from the Shrek franchise. In the first week, the post gained over 4,100 votes (92% upvoted) on the /r/AdviceAnimals[5] subreddit.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Brian Deer – Retracted – the Wakefield et al Lancet paper
[2]Anti Vaccine Body Count – Anti Vaccine Body Count
[3]Amazon – Melanies Marvelous Measles
[4]Salon – This Anti Vaxxer Childrens Book is Getting Destroyed
[5]Reddit – How I think Anti-vaxxers view their kids
[6]Something Awful – Anti-Vaccine Ads
[7]Medium – Vaccines Work
[8]Time – 4 Diseases Making a Comeback Thanks to Anti-Vaxxers
[9]Rational Wiki – Anti-Vaccination Movement
[10]Vaccination Liberation – Vaccination Liberation