Page 108 - JSOM Summer 2019

PLoS Medicine, “the ‘anti-Vax’ movement began as a fringe Funding
group but has now become a media empire in its own right, The author received no specific funding for this work.
producing hundreds of websites, books, and videos. Even if a
concerted effort were mounted against this movement, it could Competing Interests
take years to be effective.” Despite the volumes of scientific The author’s individual competing interests are available at
research and debate published in the intervening 20 years, http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/s/staff-editors. PLoS is
supporting beyond reasonable doubt the overwhelmingly fa- funded partly through manuscript publication charges, but the
vorable benefit:risk assessment for vaccination against mea- PLoS Medicine editors are paid a fixed salary (their salaries are
sles and other infectious diseases, levels of skepticism clearly not linked to the number of papers published in the journal).
persist and are being propagated in susceptible populations
worldwide. It seems that the growth of social media has facil- Provenance
itated the development of geographically widespread commu- Written by editorial staff; not externally peer reviewed. The
nities with fixed yet indefensible opinions, where hearsay is PLoS Medicine Editors are Philippa Berman, Christna Chap,
spread intensively while robust medical evidence and guidance Thomas McBride, Linda Nevin, Clare Stone, and Richard
hold little sway. Turner.
It would probably be unwise to expect a single approach or References
constituency to be able to change minds opposed to vaccina- 1. WHO. Measles: Key facts. https://www.who.int/news-room
tion. In the case of measles, high-quality surveillance activities /fact-sheets/detail/measles
alongside well-supported and planned vaccination programs 2. WHO. Measles in Europe: record number of both sick and
are essential to bring about progressive reductions in the high immunized. http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections
burden of morbidity and deaths in developing countries. In /press-releases/2019/measles-in-europe-record-number-of
-both-sick-and-immunized
settings where limited public acceptance of measles vaccina- 3. Zipprich J, Winter K, Hacker J, et al. Measles outbreak—Cal-
tion is a danger, imaginative governmental and, where viable, ifornia, December 2014–February 2015. MMWR Morb Mor-
civil society- or NGO-led information campaigns are needed tal Wkly Rep. 2015;64:153–154. from: https://www.cdc.gov
to drive uptake of vaccination, alongside the essential under- /mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6406a5.htm
pinnings of culturally appropriate incentives and legal provi- 4. Washington State Department of Health. Measles outbreak
sions. Healthcare professionals, who in many countries are 2019: measles outbreak in Washington State. from: https://
generally trusted and enjoy a high level of confidence from www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/IllnessandDisease
the public, are likely to be an underused resource in conveying /Measles/MeaslesOutbreak
accurate information and advice on vaccines and vaccination 5. Olive JK, Hotez PJ, Damania A, Nolan MS. The state of the
through formal and informal routes. Ultimately, the question antivaccine movement in the United States: a focused exam-
is one of altruism: everyone who has experienced the silent ination of nonmedical exemptions in states and counties. PLoS
Med. 2018;15:e1002578. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed
but long-lasting protection afforded by vaccination has the re- .1002578
sponsibility to promote understanding and acceptance of the 6. Relief Web. NDRRMC Update Sitrep No.05 re Measles
benefits to others. Our neighbors and, most of all, their chil- Outbreak, 22 February 2019, 5:00 PM. https://reliefweb.int
dren, deserve nothing less. /report/philippines/ndrrmc-update-sitrep-no-05-re-measles
-outbreak-22-february-2019-500-pm
Acknowledgments
PLoS Medicine Editor Richard Turner conceived the idea for
this editorial and wrote the first draft. PLoS Medicine Editors A JSOM Editor’s Note follows.
Philippa Berman, Christna Chap, Linda Nevin, Thomas Mc-
Bride, and Clare Stone all reviewed and edited this editorial.

106 | JSOM Volume 19, Edition 2 / Summer 2019