advertisement
there are a litany of them. there’s the fear of toxic substances in vaccines, and belief in a “big pharma” conspiracy to sell these drugs to as many people as possible. still others believe a child’s immune system could be overwhelmed by too many vaccines at too young an age (it will not) or that natural immunity, achieved by being infected and living to tell the tale, is superior. then there is the classic fear of autism, a belief born from a debunked study by british doctor andrew wakefield that said the mmr (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine causes the developmental disorder. in early march, a study published in the annals of internal medicine of more than 600,000 children confirmed that children who received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine were not at increased risk of autism. one 2010 ontario study that looked at who is opting out of vaccines grouped children born in 1997 and earlier, and children born in, or after, 1998 — the year wakefield’s paper was published in the lancet. younger children were much more frequently exempted for “moral,” “conscientious” or “philosophical” reasons. children exempted for religious or philosophical reasons are 35 times more likely than vaccinated kids to contract measles, the authors reported, “in addition to increasing community risk by upwards of 30 per cent.”
advertisement
advertisement
caulfield believes anti-vaxxers come from a wide spectrum of income and education backgrounds. in 2015, the polling firm mainstreet research found that 39 per cent of canadian anti-vaxxers had household incomes of more than $100,000, 38 per cent had a university degree and a full 66 per cent had some post-secondary education. according to the poll, 65 per cent cite health reasons for not vaccinating, and 19 per cent give religious reasons. while none of the world’s major religions officially oppose vaccination, a skeptical preacher could tilt views of a congregation, caulfield explained. “there are groups like the christian scientists … that seem to be more skeptical towards vaccines,” he said. as for gender, the picture is unclear. caulfield said anti-vaxxers trend slightly male — and some research from the united states backs that up. (interestingly, whether one has children doesn’t seem to affect views on vaccination, says a 2015 study from the pew research center.) but the reverse seems to be true on facebook, where the majority of anti-vaccine sentiment comes from women, according to the study by smith and graham. women outnumber men by a ratio of approximately three to one. “the gender composition of the anti-vaccination movement reflects dominant cultural understandings of parenting.” the study concludes that the anti-vaccine movement is now primarily led by women.
advertisement
a recent study out of australia explored the moral roots of anti-vaxx attitudes among parents active on parenting websites. the parents (296 in all) were grouped into three distinct categories: vaccine accepters, fence sitters or rejecters. compared to vaccine accepters, rejecters and fence sitters “exhibited a heightened moral preference for liberty (belief in the rights of the individual),” the authors report, and a low tolerance for authority. they also had a higher moral preference for purity, described as “an abhorrence for impurity of body or mind and ‘unnatural‘ acts.” “given that rejecters demonstrate a low endorsement of authority, and a strong endorsement of liberty, they are unlikely to be swayed by persuasive appeals from health authorities,” the researchers wrote. what’s more, punishments, like australia’s “no jab, no pay” law, in which parents who object to vaccinating their children risk losing childcare benefits and rebates, “run the risk of triggering moral outrage amongst this group.” even the fence sitters were firm in their belief parents have a right to decide whether to vaccinate their children.
advertisement
email: tdawson@postmedia.com | twitter: tylerrdawson
email: skirkey@postmedia.com | twitter: sharon_kirkey