Lies are contagious - MMR vaccine and the virality of a conspiracy.
The ‘single shot’ MMR combined vaccine is one of the biggest achievements in childhood infectious disease prevention, directly responsible for saving millions of lives. Fast-forward to the late 1990s, just as communication was becoming increasingly digital - encouraged by lawyers and his own alternative vaccine patent, a fraudulent paper was published by Andrew Wakefield in a highly respected medical journal falsely linking the jab to autism in children. No one could have predicted the devastating effects this would go on to have on MMR vaccine hesitancy for generations to come, the effects of which pervade to this day. We talk to Professor Beate Kampmann about how an estimated 94 million deaths have been prevented, and the challenges for distribution and the inefficiencies of medical systems. Professor Helen Bedford talks about communication around vaccines and how empathy and understanding of skepticism will save more lives than dismission or derision. Contributor Notes - Prof Beate Kampmann on the MMR vaccines evolution and power https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/kampmann.beate - Journalist Brian Deer - on Andrew Wakefield and his devastating fraud linking the measles vaccine and autism https://briandeer.com/ - Prof. Helen Bedford on the key to building trust as measles outbreaks happen more regularly https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/6707-helen-bedford