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The Media’s Role in Vaccine Misinformation

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Vaccinophobia and Vaccine Controversies of the 21st Century

Abstract

Prominent vaccine advocate Dr. Paul Offit aptly summarized the relationship between the press and modern vaccinophobia by stating, “the news media are, at best, an imperfect window to the truth about vaccines” (Offit, Expert Rev Vaccines 2(1):1–3, 2003). The goal of this chapter is to review the media’s role in vaccine controversies of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century by highlighting specific examples in which the media was directly responsible for propagating misinformation on the safety of vaccines. Tangible solutions to guide responsible dissemination of public health information are proposed in an effort to avoid other similar crises in the future.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The role of the internet will be discussed separately in Chap. 22.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hospital Medicine, All Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Outpatient Care Center 5th Floor, 601 5th Street South, St Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Paola Dees M.D.

  2. Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, All Children’s Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Outpatient Care Center 5th Floor, 601 5th Street South, St Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    David M. Berman D.O., F.A.A.P.

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  1. Paola Dees M.D.
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  2. David M. Berman D.O., F.A.A.P.
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Correspondence to Paola Dees M.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Medicine, Creighton University, North 30th Street,Suite 6814 601, Omaha, 68131, Nebraska, USA

    Archana Chatterjee

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Dees, P., Berman, D.M. (2013). The Media’s Role in Vaccine Misinformation. In: Chatterjee, A. (eds) Vaccinophobia and Vaccine Controversies of the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7438-8_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7438-8_21

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