The Social world of the Vaccine/Autism Debate

Today the New Republic has posted an article on the Vaccine/Autism debate, that does a good job, in it's words of "Why it's dangerous to believe that vaccines cause autism--and why those who understand that should guard against smugness."

A couple parts:

One of my first forays in the internet badlands was a February 2008 HuffPo column titled "No, Vaccines aren't behind the rise in autism." That column harshly criticized the otherwise-enjoyable ABC series, "Eli Stone" for airing a thinly-disguised and quite misleading account of the thimerisol controversy. I'm still getting hostile emails for that one, but I stand behind what I wrote: Vaccines must be carefully regulated. Some vaccines have harmed specific children. Yet the alleged link between vaccines and the rising prevalence of diagnosed autism has been thoroughly debunked. There is simply no scientific debate here.

The author goes on to discuss why the debate continues in spite of that certainty.

On one side, the vaccine-autism controversy features heart-wrenching testimony from parents such as Jenny McCarthy who faithfully took their child in for shots, only to witness the onset of autism following close behind. On the other side, the debate features.... Big Pharma. Need I say more?

Why it is important to keep people informed, for all our sakes

We don't have to vaccinate everyone to protect ourselves against an infectious disease. We must merely vaccinate enough people to reach what epidemiologists call "herd immunity," in which we cross a critical threshold sufficient to prevent outbreaks from taking hold. When herd immunity is achieved, local outbreaks may occur, but they cannot become self-sustaining.

Without most everyone opting into vaccinations, we put everyone at risk of bringing back horrible diseases that it took a miracle scientific breakthrough to get rid of in the first place. But it won't be easy to convince people.

Parents believe that vaccines cause autism because they do not trust medical authorities and pharmaceutical companies. Thus they do not believe claims that vaccines are safe. Such distrust runs deep, and is hardly confined to vaccination issues. It is impossible to understand the popularity of complementary and alternative medications, for example, without acknowledging their appeal in offering patients an escape from traditional medicine.

The whole article is worth reading. If you want to read another take on it, Salon also posted an article today.