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Hull York Medical School
Dr Paul Whybrow
Vaccination: from the patient’s perspective
There have only been three advancements which have prolonged human longevity –
clean water, antibiotics, and vaccines
Protests and resistance to vaccines have been around as long as vaccines have
Andrew Wakefield linked the MMR to autism – this gained traction as people were
sceptical of vaccines and because the age of signs of autism and the giving of the
MMR are around the same time
Many are sceptical of vaccines – wealthier countries have more scepticism possibly
since they don’t see the devastation of the disease -1/3 of people in France think
vaccines may be unsafe
If we lose the public’s trust and belief, they will not vaccinate themselves or their
children
Vaccines protect the individual but the community as well such as those who cannot
have the vaccine for various reasons
Herd immunity - Having a critical mass of people immunised so the disease has
nowhere to go
For measles herd immunity needs to be around 95% but other diseases have lower %
Measles outbreaks common due to less uptake of the MMR vaccine though this is
now going up
Following the work of Edward Jenner, the government made vaccination free and
compulsory – there was suspicion of the vaccine, and this was all unpopular with the
public
Many antivaccination groups due to this – pamphlets were handed out and
protested widely by these groups – there was a smallpox epidemic after all these
which polarised views
Conscientious object was used in a court case to object to vaccination
Britain and Germany both made smallpox vaccination mandatory at the same time –
in Britain this was treated with mistrust but in Germany it was popular and
successful
While Germany got smallpox under control due to vaccines Britain had to do this
through disease surveillance and containment and active public engagement to build
up trust
The act of vaccination is treated with suspicion due to how it works
Many arguments are based in the idea that vaccines are ineffective and that they
cause further harm
These both contribute to the idea that public trust is key
Must be confident in telling patients vaccines are safe as many who don’t vaccinate
their children fear some form of harm to their child
All vaccines have been rigorously tested
Important to get across the point that not vaccinating your child is more dangerous
than vaccinating them as some diseases such as measles are highly contagious
Parents should have all the information to make an informed decision
When vaccines become more successful the publics interests start to diverge – more
people will have adverse effects from vaccines than from the disease
Individuals may choose to rely solely on herd immunity
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