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Although vaccinations have been used widely for the past century, apprehension

towards them has existed since the first vaccine creation in 1796. Despite their use having

saved millions of lives, the general population still shows fear and mistrust in the modern

medicine. Parents especially show hesitation in following the proper timeline for vaccinating

children according to the CDC’s guidelines. Even in the healthcare field, some professionals are

questioning the validity of vaccines and their safety. This paper aims to dispel misconceptions

about vaccines by educating the reader on the history of vaccines and the events that

influenced public opinion of vaccines. It will also address the spread of misinformation through

the internet and personal experience that’s resulted in misconceptions of vaccines and their

effects.

Children's Hospital. “Vaccine History: Developments by Year.” Children's Hospital of

Philadelphia, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 20 Nov. 2014,

www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-

history/developments-by-year.

Edward Jenner created the first vaccine for smallpox in 1796. By the 1940’s, the DTP

vaccine (Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis) was routinely recommended alongside the smallpox

vaccine. In 1955, Jonas Salk created the polio vaccine with the MMR vaccine (Measles,

Mumps, Rubella) following suit in the 1960’s. By the 1970’s smallpox was considered eradicated

and removed from routine vaccinations. From 1980 to 1995, the hepatitis B vaccine transitioned

from a vaccine only for high risk individuals to one routinely given. From 1995 onward, the

varicella (chicken pox), rotavirus, hepatitis A, and pneumococcal vaccines were developed and

implemented with some routine vaccines being altered.

From the 1950’s to the 1980’s, children received 5 shots by the age of two with no more

than one shot given per visit. As a result of modern medicine’s growth, the amount of
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vaccination shots given by the age of two has grown to 24. With the vaccine schedule for

children now much more complex, many parents are concerned with the effect of so many

vaccines on their children's immune system. Fortunately vaccines are being combined to reduce

the amount of shots needed and they are still a much safer way of immunization than natural

infection.

Vaccines for adolescents and adults have become more common as well. For

adolescents, vaccines for meningococcus and HPV are recommended with new forms of the

influenza and pertussis vaccines available as well. The Tdap and influenza vaccines are

recommended for adults with the Tdap vaccine preventing the spread of pertussis to those

without immunization. While childhood vaccines are required for public education, adult

vaccines are not mandated- but a vaccine schedule for adults is available.

The web page depicts the development of vaccines and their usage/discontinuation

throughout the years. The information provided is updated and sourced through the CDC, with

regular reviews by The Vaccine Education Center (a member of the World Health Organization).

Although the web page is only informative, the chop.edu website provides information dispelling

common misconceptions on vaccine safety and addresses concerns that future parents may

have about the vaccination schedule.

Duffy, Bobby. “Autism and Vaccines: More than Half of People in Britain, France, Italy

Still Think There May Be a Link.” The Conversation, 14 Sept. 2018,

theconversation.com/autism-and-vaccines-more-than-half-of-people-in-britain-france-

italy-still-think-there-may-be-a-link-101930.

The article discusses a recent outbreak of measles in England and public reception of

vaccines in 2018. An increase in measles cases in Europe may be the result of individuals

receiving no vaccinations as children and thus having no immunity against vaccine preventable
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diseases like measles today. This is thought to be a result of Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 study

falsely suggesting a link between vaccines and autism, causing parents to not vaccinate their

children at the time. Additionally, political figures like President Trump suggesting this link

through public comments has only increased the public’s distrust of vaccines.

A multi-country study involving 38 nations asked people if a statement was true or false,

“Some vaccines cause autism in healthy children.” The results showed the majority of nearly

every country don’t know or believe there is a link between vaccines and autism. The USA

showed 19% answering true, 29% answering unsure, and 52% answering false. The article

goes on to explain possible reasons for this continuing uncertainty and the belief in a vaccine-

autism link.

Vaccines are a ‘highly emotive’ issue: the experiences of parents raising children with

autism often overshadow the scientific evidence that denounces any link between vaccines and

autism. Secondly, the content and application of vaccines is largely not understood or capable

of being easily explained to the majority of the population. The same goes for ASDs as science

and modern medicine are still trying to find the cause of these social disorders. Thirdly, media

can inflate these issues: We live in an age where political figures and celebrities are able to

easily influence the beliefs of a population without regard to scientific evidence. Social media,

television, and news outlets can also perpetuate false ideas through unbalanced reporting-

meaning certain narratives, hesitation to vaccinate and distrust of vaccinations for example, can

be encouraged and supported without question. This means someone like Jenny McCarthy, a

celebrity who’s a mother to an autistic son, has a powerful sphere of influence- one that’s

caused many parents to believe vaccinating their children will cause them to become autistic

because her child did.

The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit site with fully available articles that

originated in the U.K. but established a U.S. site in 2014. The authors are professional

journalists and academics; The article was written in August of 2018 by Bobby Duffy, the
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Chairman of the Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute. The resulted findings on public

perception regarding vaccines were based on a survey by Ipsos MORI involving roughly 29,000

interviews between September 28th and October 19th in 2017. The interviews were across 38

countries, with approximately 1000 individuals between 16-64 surveyed in America.

Karafillakis, E., and H. J. Larson. “The Paradox of Vaccine Hesitancy among Healthcare

Professionals.” Clinical Microbiology And Infection: The Official Publication Of The

European Society Of Clinical Microbiology And Infectious Diseases, vol. 24, no. 8, Aug.

2018, pp. 799–800. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.cmi.2018.04.001.

https://www.clinicalmicrobiologyandinfection.com/article/S1198-743X(18)30326-4/fulltext

The Professional Journal Article describes how HCPs (health care

professionals/providers) influence their patients’ views on vaccination. To most patients, HCPs

are regarded as the most trustworthy source of medical information. So if an HCP shows

hesitancy or lack of confidence in vaccines, it can easily sway a patient’s choice to vaccinate

themself or their children. Both patients and healthcare providers can be easily influenced by

social media and misinformation spread through the internet. It’s more important now than ever

to re-establish HCPs’ trust in vaccines and focus on communication between HCPs and

patients.

Although communication between patients and HCPs needs to be improved, the core

issue is confidence in HCPs themselves. HCPs are receptive to both emotional experiences and

scientific evidence, so appealing to both is important in building an HCP’s confidence in

vaccines. Inclusion and engagement of them in new vaccine recommendations and vaccine

policies would help build trust in public and government health authorities as well. All in all,

HCPs need to be able to confidently address patient concerns while maintaining a confident

stance on vaccine safety and necessity. “HCP endorsement of vaccination is essential to

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restore and maintain vaccination as a norm among the health community,” (Karafillakis and

Larson).

The Professional Journal describes how the relationship between healthcare

professionals and their patients can affect a patient’s view of vaccines. The authors wrote the

commentary based on The Vaccine Confidence Project in 2018. Sources for statistics and

References are clearly listed at the bottom of the article. This article helps provide perspective

from healthcare workers in terms of vaccination advocacy. By establishing a relationship

between healthcare provider and patient, HCPs can address better ways to communicate the

benefits and safety of vaccines to patients while still remaining empathetic to patients

experiences and concerns.

"Opposition to Vaccines Has Existed as Long as Vaccination Itself." Vaccines, edited by

Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010938203/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=

c87b6952. Accessed 4 Oct. 2018. Originally published as "History of Anti-Vaccination

Movements,", 16 Jan. 2014.

This opinion piece addresses the idea that opposition to vaccination has existed since

the very first vaccination movement. The events covered range from the conception of the first

vaccine to media reception in the 21st century. The opinion piece covers public reaction to the

smallpox, DTP, and MMR vaccines with a brief summary of the controversy surrounding

mercury in vaccinations. Much of the opposition to vaccination began in the United Kingdom but

ended up affecting America’s perception of vaccination as well.

In England, Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine was met with religious, scientific, and

political objection. Despite the opposition, the government developed mandatory vaccine

policies that only increased tension by violating what many people considered to be personal
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liberties.The Vaccination Acts of 1853 and 1867 led to the formation of The Anti Vaccination

League and the Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League along with anti-vaccination journals.

Certain individuals even opted to go to jail rather than vaccinate their children while a crowd of

80,000-100,000 anti-vaccinators supported their decision.

In America, smallpox outbreaks caused both support for mandated vaccination and an

equal amount of opposition from anti-vax groups. In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that

states could enact compulsory laws to protect the public from communicable diseases. Medical

providers in the 1970’s were reluctant to recommend immunization for all patients, with many

doctors suggested a link between DTP immunization and harm to the body. To improve public

awareness of vaccine safety, multiple studies were done that disproved any correlation between

the DTP vaccine and development of neurological disorders.

In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a study that suggested a relationship between

bowel disease, autism, and the MMR vaccine. The study reached media quickly and incited

public fear of vaccines. The study was later proven to be falsified and Dr. Wakefield’s license

was revoked, but the incident left lasting effects on the public’s perception of vaccine safety. By

2001, the amount of Thimerosal (a mercury based preservative) in vaccines was reduced to

meet public safety concerns. In spite of this effort, public campaigns and advocacy groups in the

U.S. still protest vaccination under the impression vaccines contain toxins that cause autism.

The opinion piece only briefly covers the history of the vaccination movement, but the

information provided is enough to research from. The author is opinionated and tries to convince

the reader that opposition to vaccination has always existed. However, the author provides

statistics and sources that support this point of view. The information is relevant (2015) and the

sources listed provide accurate information. This source has changed my perspective from

believing anti-vaxxers were a more recent group to believing they have existed since vaccines’

inception. I can use this source to pinpoint certain events that increased the anti-vaxx

movement and influenced public reception of vaccines.

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Taylor, Luke E., et al. “Vaccines Are Not Associated with Autism: An Evidence-Based

Meta-Analysis of Case-Control and Cohort Studies.” Vaccine, vol. 32, no. 29, 17 June

2014, pp. 3623–3629., doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.04.085.

The abstract covers an Australian study published in 2014 that disproved any link

between vaccine and the development of autism. Vaccine preventable diseases have become

increasingly prevalent in communities due to the fear of a cause-effect relationship with

vaccines and impaired communication social interaction disorders. The study focused on

vaccine administration and the subsequent development of autism spectrum disorders through

five group studies involving 1,256,407 children and five case-controlled studies involving 9,920

children. The group studies showed no relationship between vaccination and autism, the mmr

vaccine, or mercury in vaccines and autism. The case-control data found no evidence

suggesting an increased risk of developing autism spectrum disorders through vaccinations or

the limited quantity of mercury within them.

The study is well sourced and published in Vaccine- a medical journal dedicated to

publishing scientific articles relevant to the field of vaccinology. The authors of the study, Taylor,

L., Swerdfeger, A., Eslick, G., gathered results from 10 separate studies that covered a large

range of subjects in each study. The conclusion- that mmr vaccines, mercury usage by quantity,

and mercury exposure from the vaccines have no connection to ASDs or ASD development- is

proven by the validity of the data and the range of studies done. The study was published in

2014 and was peer reviewed.