Writing Project #5.docx

Daher 1 Gabby Daher Meinhardt UCWR 6 December 2018 Components That Feed the Fire Under the Asses of the Anti-Vaxxers This nation seems to be very confused or torn when it comes to many social subjects: abortion laws, pollution issues, immigration laws, male and female equality, and the effectiveness of vaccinations, to name a few. Some citizens fear the side effects of immunization more than the disease they fight, meanwhile, others push for the creation of new vaccines. Some reports claim that immunizations may or may not cause allergies, autoimmune diseases, and autism; while these reports still warn us of the dangers of certain viral epidemics that can only be stopped by creating more vaccines. This issue has been around for hundreds of years since the relationship between humans and their magical creations have had both successful and adverse effects on us. Many deadly viruses, such as smallpox, polio, and tetanus, no longer pose a threat to humans because of the successful development of an effective vaccine. The creation of these immunizations have saved the world from diseases that could have potentially wiped out the entire population. With the evolution and mutation of these deadly viruses and diseases, it is important that we continue to create and use vaccines on a global scale to combat them effectively. In 1998, a study published in a scientific journal by Andrew Wakefield linked the MMR vaccine with autism. That study was later discredited and proven fraudulent by 25 international research papers involving large population studies, along with 10/12 of the original authors refuting and retracting their statements towards the suggested link. However, ever since then, a small but vocal subset of parents have refused to vaccinate their children. This once small group

Daher 2 of parents has now grown into a widespread movement. Now, measles have returned, along with whooping cough, mumps, and other diseases that were nearly wiped out. Children’s lives are being endangered because some parents are acting on beliefs that no longer have scientific evidence to support their claims. It is important that we understand the hysteria behind this movement, as well as the social, medical, and economic repercussions of it and how the actions of the anti-vaxxer movement will affect future generations. This research paper will look at some of the main components that feed the fire of the anti-vaxxer movement: anti-science/anti-intellectualism, poor education, the parental fear factor, and social media’s influence and ability to spread ideas and false information. According to UNICEF, “smallpox has been completely eradicated and six other major human diseases are under some degree of control – diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever, whooping cough, polio, and measles.” The combination of the amount of control we have over each of these deadly diseases annually saves millions of lives all over the world. In the case of Polio, during the height of its American epidemic, there were over 35,000 reported cases within one year. In 1955, the safe and effective vaccine made to combat polio was created by Jonas Salk. Since then, numbers of the victims have dramatically decreased, and it is reported that 550,000 lives are saved annually. In more recent years, the anti-vaccine movement has continued to spread erroneous claims of higher risks for severe adverse effects associated with immunizations. In turn, this led to years of expensive scientific research to prove those myths wrong. The main danger anti-vaxxers pose is when them and their children spread diseases. In a study done by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it was found that in 2015, vaccine-preventable diseases amongst unvaccinated adults costed the U.S. economy $7.1 billion. The most expensive preventable disease

Daher 3 is the flu virus, which accounted for nearly $5.8 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity. By getting vaccinated, one is not only protecting themselves, but also, their community. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services claims that “when enough people within a group are vaccinated against a certain disease, it’s much harder for others who might not be able to be vaccinated to contract it. This type of protection is called herd or community immunity.” This is of utmost importance because people suffering from a compromised or failing immune system due to cancer, HIV/AIDS, type 1 diabetes, etc. are not able to protect themselves from diseases. If they are surrounded by people who are against immunizations, any disease could spread like a wildfire and potentially kill those who are already predisposed to a weakened immune system. The importance of community immunity is key in the salvation of those who are unable to protect themselves. Even the common flu virus could potentially kill someone with a compromised immune system, this idea of a community protection is one way to safeguard the weak and is vital to our society. Anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, conspiracy theorists; the world is full of people who hold beliefs without any evidence. The psychology behind this idiocrasy involves feeding the sense of powerlessness and gives parents something to blame and avoid. This pseudoscience is rooted and flourishes from fear. This fear can directly and indirectly affect everyone and is detrimental to our economy as well as the overall physical health of society. Susan Senator is an example of an anti-vaxxer who strongly believed that autism in children was linked to the MMR vaccine. In her article “Why I Was an Anti-Vaxxer” published in Psychology Today Magazine, she explains why and how she came to be a part of the anti-vaxxer movement and how she found her way out. “I used to be terrified that vaccines might have caused my oldest son Nat’s severe autism. He struggled on a daily basis, with his frustration at the world’s confusing ways, his sensory deficits,

Daher 4 his clueless parents. But back then a lot of my sympathy, I’ll admit, was for myself and my struggles with Nat's autism. And I needed to find something to blame.” (Senator). The author flat out admits that she needed to blame something for her child’s autism. The mere happenstance that this could have happened to anyone else’s child, but it happened to her first born, was something she could not accept without a reason. By the time she had her third child, she felt the need to do more research on the subject in order to fully understand it. “I felt I had to do more digging and discovered the maelstrom that had followed Wakefield’s study. His "research" had been debunked. More studies were done. None established a connection between MMR and autism. And yet still, no one knew exactly what did cause autism. Ultimately, I began to be convinced by science— however compelling the anti-vaccine stories.” (Senator). Senator’s testimony on her growth through research outside of YouTube videos and Facebook articles, is important because it shows that once she was better informed on the topic, she ridded herself of her anti-vax views and accepted that science was not to blame for her son’s autism or the supposed link between autism and vaccinations. Senator is a great example of the sociological understanding of embedded elaboration. Dr. Judson G. Everitt, a professor of sociology at Loyola University Chicago, specializes in cultural sociology, inhabited institutionalism, and social psychology. In an interview, he explains his concept of embedded elaboration and its relevance to this topic: “Experience through interaction over time, combined with the institutional environment they operate in tends to play out in a process where the way people make sense of the world, is through this ongoing elaboration of meaning; it’s very rare that people wake up one morning and turn over a new leaf, and completely change their attitudes and world views. We’re constantly elaborating how we understand the world and that’s always building upon and modifying what we believed prior to and all new subsequent

Daher 5 interactions are filtered through and modify those prior interactions.” (Everitt 2). He later adds on that “the way that this is relevant to your topic is that there were lots of people that had sentiments rooted in experience and prior interactions that made them receptive to this [anti-vax movement] and then they had these interactions that pushed them to look anti-vax, something about that felt confirming to them, it felt true. And when that happens, people are much more inclined to believe that and perpetuate those meanings.” (Everitt 3). Senator’s experience with her eldest son being autistic left her vulnerable to the idea that his infantile immunizations were the cause of it since she couldn’t quite grasp the reality of the situation. “Wakefield’s theory seemed to make so much sense. I imagined how immune-compromised baby bloodstreams could become filled with what the doctor had called “opiate-like substances,” that caused the terrible autistic behavior of preferred isolation, spaciness and aggression. This felt so true, it found a home in my sore soul. It gratified my instinctive feelings that autism was unfair for what it did to kids, and that we as a society are so careless with our medications!” (Senator). With this quote, Senator is confirming Everitt’s concept of embedded elaborations. Her impotence in her newest hardship left her susceptible to ideas that had any relevance to her issue and since it offered a reason to something she did not fully understand, she grasped onto it. The fact that science is not right 100% of the time, does not mean that it is an unreliable source of information. How many things in your daily life does one completely take for granted that are brought to us by science? To name a few things: clean water, structurally sound buildings, infrastructures that transport us wherever we need to be, vast amounts of electricity, the ability to check the weather, food that does not kill us when we eat it, etc. It is patently hypocritical for antivaxxers to find science unreliable when they rely on it for every other aspect of their life. In today’s society, one simply can’t not rely on the advances in technology science has brought to us. Since

Daher 6 anti-vaxxers do not accept that science is an effective and objective method that generates safe and useful tools and knowledge, they often attack science and researchers when they try to present new findings and evidence that are able to further debunk Wakefield’s original claim of a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. When asked his opinion on the research presented to anti-vaxxers, Everitt responded “Science has gotten things wrong in the past and has done so in ways that have harmed people, that doesn’t mean it’s always wrong. But to an extent people that have been inclined to feel a distrust of science in general, what they would view as intellectual elites, will cherry-pick those things as “evidence” even though they are exceptions rather than norms. With that being said, I believe that the anti-vaxxer phenomena is one component of anti-intellectualism.” (Everitt, 3). Anti-intellectualism is the hostility, mistrust, and dismissal of science and education, Everitt believes that this is another component of why anti-vaxxers are unable to change their views even after concrete evidence has been presented. Poor education, or lack thereof, also greatly contributes to the anti-vaxxer movement. The majority of people who support this movement are not properly educated on the toxicology or chemistry that goes into the creation of vaccines. When it comes to the science behind immunizations, anti-vaxxers’ go-to argument are the chemicals used in the creation of them. It is true, vaccines have contained aluminum, mercury, and formaldehyde. These chemicals, in large quantities, can be toxic. However, the same argument can be said for water, in large doses it, too, can kill you; too much of anything can. Obviously, an increase in the quantity of a chemical has a direct correlation to the toxicity of it and according to the FDA, the World Health Organization, and PublicHealth.org, the doses of the chemicals in vaccines are negligible. Another example of a component that worries parents is the use of aluminum in vaccines since there has been some evidence that shows brain and bone related diseases in response to high amounts and long-term

Daher 7 exposure. However, the World Health Organization claims that aluminum is the “third most common naturally-occurring element, after oxygen and silicon. It is found in plants, soil, air, and water.” Vaccines contain about 0.125 milligrams per dose of aluminum but, the average person intakes around 30-50 milligrams everyday through food and drink. According to the FDA, “aluminum is used as an adjuvant in vaccines. That is, makes them more effective by strengthening the immune system response. Thanks to adjuvants, people need fewer doses of vaccine to build immunity.” By adding aluminum into certain immunizations, it’s making them more effective and efficient. There are hundreds, if not, thousands more combinations of chemicals in vaccines. If anti-vaxxers took the time to research and truly understand the toxicology and chemistry behind every added ingredient, they would learn that there is a specific reason and job each component has. Social media has greatly contributed to the widespread knowledge of the anti-vaxxer movement. Tanushree Mitra in her research paper “Understanding Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Social Media,” she looks at the main social media outlet that encourages the popularization of the anti-vaxxer movement; her main focus being “social media’s purported role in disseminating antivaccine information, it is imperative to understand the drivers of attitudes among participants involved in the vaccination debate on a communication channel critical to the movement: Twitter.” (Mitra 1). Her research reveals that “long-term anti-vaccination supporters are resolute in their beliefs and they tend toward categorical thinking and conspiratorial worldviews. New antivaccination adoptees share similar conspiracy thinking and hence are predisposed to develop attitudes aligned with the cohort of believers of vaccine myths. These new members tend to be less assured and more social in nature, but with a new and continued focus on health concerns.” (Mitra 9). Although only one media outlet was tested, this research shows the significant effect social

Daher 8 media has on the popularization and vastness of the anti-vaxxer movement. Through social media and well resourced, influential figures and organizations, this once fringe phenomena was given a public voice through media and, as a result, is no longer fringe. Many components contribute to the rise and popularity of the anti-vaxxer movement, some of which being anti-science or anti-intellectualism, social media’s influence, as well as the parental fear factor. Everitt claims that a reason many people might join the anti-vaxxer movement is because they identify and feel at home with what the majority of other group members are saying. He further explains that many anti-vaxxers “might have slices of all these components and had a number of their own experiences and interactions that have shaped those ideas and meanings, then they start to see these new sources of information that confirm things that they feel like they already deeply believe but maybe take it in a different direction specific to anti-vaxxers and that is a social psychological recipe for buying into that. So it’s not just that a bunch of people woke up one morning… There were these constellations of factors that people were already identifying with and then had subsequent interactions that confirmed those original beliefs in a new way, linked specifically to vaccinations and the idea became very compelling to them.” (Everitt 3). Humans are veracious meaning makers, we have to make sense of the world around us because we can’t not feel like we know what is going on. There is a constant need for that sense of stability; that we understand our world and our proper place in it. Anti-vaxxers see the world from a defensive point of view and feel the need to control their environment; avoiding vaccinations because of their belief in its harm is one way of guiding or avoiding problems they foresee. Steps need to be taken to change the perspectives of the anti-vaxxers. We cannot idly stand by and watch this movement engulf our society because it will literally kill everyone that is not already immune; the majority of which are young children. We have to be very strategic about

Daher 9 how we engage in our dialogue with supporters of this movement. Along with accepting the fact that there is only so much we can control, those who strongly stand by their anti-vaccine beliefs have to find some way or reason to receive the messages we’re sending. One way to encourage the anti-vaxxers to keep an open mind is to reduce the sense of threat that they feel; people are more inclined to entertain any notion when they do not feel attacked for their beliefs. When asked the steps that need to be taken to combat this social psychological issue effectively, Everitt responded: “It’s not just that this is false, we have to push back the falseness of the anti-vaxxer movement and rather look at the underlying sociological phenomena that have produced the anti-vaxxer movement and start there and use our understanding of social psychology to know that shoving a bunch of data in front of somebody and calling it evidence as to why they are wrong is ineffective. In fact, not only is that method not going to work, it’s going to solicit the 180 degree opposite effect that you want because not only are they not going to change their mind, they’re going to double down and push back harder – they’re going to retrench on their perspective. It’s a very counterintuitive thing for people to embrace.” (Everitt 4). Our belief systems are the product of very elaborate experiences that are embedded in institutional environments, of which are extremely difficult to change. Even if confronted with strong, empirical evidence, one might feel threatened; even if certain facts are not personally threatening, this type of confrontation can threaten the way someone understands the world which can be very distressing. Everitt explained this response as epistemic distress, it feels like turmoil and causes people to push back in a very frustrated and closed-off way. This doesn’t mean people don’t change, we are usually making small adjustments based on accepted new or changing stimuli. This topic has been discussed for hundreds of years and still maintains its relevance in our society. This issue is able to hold its importance because with advances in technology, there are

Daher 10 more discoveries within science and medicine that, not only enable different ways of finding cures, but also in reducing the possibilities and types of side effects one might experience. These advances in technology not only drives science but has contributed to the spread of the anti-vax idea with the relatively new popularity of social media. What was once a knee jerk, mass hysterical response to an incorrect scientific study, has now grown into a dangerously more sophisticated movement that continues to be driven by erroneous claims; claims that are now mass-spread through social media. Through anti-intellectualism and poor research and education, the continuation of misguided information continues to circulate throughout society. People give into the belief because they want to hear that there is a reason, a direct correlation with immunizations and autism. Anyone today can research the usage, affects, and components of any chemical or vaccine in existence that are backed up by several reputable sources. Those who chose to ignore the data and refute it with no substantial evidence or plead ignorance, are only contributing to the destruction of the well-being of society. The anti-vaxxer movement was born out of fear; parental fear of not being able to keep their own child safe from an invisible monster. Once the link between MMR and autism was announced, it did not matter how many qualified individuals, scientists, doctors, or researchers refuted it; parts of society had already latched on to the idea of it and refused to let go because they wanted a reason and needed something to blame. The off chance that someone might experience adverse effects of vaccines, scares people more than the deadly diseases themselves. This fear lies within large pockets of the population and as long as they continue to refuse to take vaccines and convince others to do the same, no virus or disease can ever be completely eradicated again.

Daher 11 Works Cited Benios, Thania. “Unvaccinated Adults Cost the U.S. More Than $7 Billion a Year.” UNC News, 12 Oct. 2016. Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Vaccine Safety & Availability - Thimerosal and Vaccines.” US Food and Drug Administration Home Page, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Disease Eradication.” History of Vaccines,www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/diseaseeradication. Everitt, Judson G. Personal Interview, November 30, 2018. Gelling, Peter. “Australia Imposes Penalties on Anti-Vaxxers.” Public Radio International, PRI. Mitra, Tanushree, et al. Understanding Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Social Media. “Nonclinical Evaluation of Vaccines.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 21 Nov. 2014. “Parents Who Have Not Vaccinated Their Kids Are Not Welcomed Here.” Small Joys, 28 Nov. 2018. Senator, Susan. “Why I Was an Anti-Vaxxer.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers. Skloot, Rebecca. “Under the Skin: A History of the Vaccine Debate Goes Deep but Misses the Drama.” Columbia Journalism Review, vol. 4, no. 5, Jan. 2007, pp. 59–61. “Social Medicine: The Effect of Social Media on the Anti-Vaccine Movement.” Infectious Disease Advisor, 31 Oct. 2018. “The Lancet Retracts Andrew Wakefield's Article.” Science-Based Medicine, 26 Apr. 2012. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Vaccines Protect Your Community.” Vaccines.gov, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 11 Oct. 2006.

Daher 12 “Vaccines Bring 7 Diseases under Control.” UNICEF. “What Goes Into a Vaccine?” PublicHealth.org, PublicHealth.org. Zipursky, Simona, et al. “Polio Endgame: Lessons Learned From the Immunization Systems Management Group.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 216, no. Suppl 1, 2017, pp. S9–S14.