THE EFFECTS OF VACCINE FEAR

ON SOCIETY IN THE UNITED STATES

JOHN JENSEN
PSY 1100-400
Introduction and Background

Vaccine Fear, is fear from perceived risks or side effects from

Vaccines. The large majority of VF today is due to the whole cell
pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine scare and the MMR (measles,
mumps, and rubella) vaccine scare in England and Wales. Both of
which started after fraudulent publications were made claiming
that these vaccines had causation of autism and colitis.
Thesis statement

Vaccine Fear is becoming increasingly common in the world, with

the spread of skewed information or conspiracy theories on social
media. With increasing fear of vaccines, parents are choosing to
not vaccinate their children. The phenomenon known has Herd
Immunity, which can protect the entire population from the
transmission of diseases comes from, in general, 90 percent of the
population being vaccinated. The following is a review of
conspiracy theories, education, and belief factors that influence
Vaccine Fear and a discussion on the possible degradation of Herd
Immunity from the increasing population not vaccinating their
children.
Evolutionary Game Theory and Social
Learning Can Determine How Vaccine
Scares Unfold
This study was vast and complicated but attempted to compare
explanatory and predictive powers using mathematical equitation's
to determine how and possibly when Vaccine Scares(Fear
Epidemics) might occur. They couldnt conclude when vaccine
scares will occur but did conclude that vaccine scares or other
forms of free riding could become more common as eradication
goals are approached for more vaccine-preventable diseases.
(Bauch, C. T. 2012)
Improving Childhood Vaccination
Rates.
This article showed evidence that a decrease in Vaccination rate,
directly correlates with an increase of higher rates of disease. At
first glance, U.S. vaccination rates appear reasonable: coverage
among children entering kindergarten exceeds 90% for most
recommended vaccines. A closer look, however, reveals substantial
local variation. In Washington State's San Juan County, for example,
72% of kindergartners and 89% of sixth graders are either
noncompliant with or exempt from vaccination requirements for
school entry. Only 52.5% of kindergartners and 4% of sixth graders
were adequately immunized against pertussis for the 20102011
school year.1 Not surprisingly, the county also has one of the state's
highest incidence rates of pertussis (Diekema, 2008)
An Outbreak of Measles in an
Undervaccinated Community.
In Minnesota in 2011 there was a measles outbreak exposing 3000
individuals and 21 contracting the disease (PEDIATRICS Vol. 134,
2014). The source of the outbreak was a 30-month-old American
born Somali that traveled to Kenya, contracted the disease, and
came back and spread the disease. Out of the 21 people that
contracted the disease 16 of them were not vaccinated, which isnt
surprise because vaccination rates amongst Somali children
decreased from 91.1% vaccinated in 2004 to 54.0% vaccinated in
2010. Again, showing that at vaccination rates decrease regardless
of intent or reason, risk of disease out-break increases. (Gahr, P.
2014)
Nonmedical vaccine exemptions
and pertussis in California, 2010
The recent trend in Nonmedical vaccine exemptions(NME) in
California has given way to the most amounts of pertussis cases,
9120, since 1947. (Atwell JE et al 2010). The study also suggest that a
larger ratio of the pertussis cases was reported in clusters of NME
children. Conclusions were made that NME clusters played a
significant role in the pertussis outbreak in California. (JE, A. 2013)
Continuing increases in autism
reported to California's developmental
services system: mercury in retrograde
A study performed by Arch Gen Psychiatry showed that in California
from 1995 to 2007 autism continued to increase, per the California
Department of Developmental Services, even though thimerosal
was drastically reduced or removed from all vaccines in the same
time. This study shoes opposite correlation, and helps to disprove
that vaccines have any cause in autism (Arch Gen Psychiatry,
2008).
Conclusion

Conclusions can be met the vaccines are safe, and do not cause
autism or colitis. We dont know all the effects of vaccines, and that
makes Vaccine Fear relevant. Conclusions are also me that an
increase of VF or letting VF trump common sense in the decision of
vaccinating children does lead to a decrease of herd immunity and
possible increase of disease outbreak.
Personal Insights & Reasons for
Choosing Topic
My personal views were established a bit in the conclusion. I am
very passionate about vaccinations and keeping children safe from
horrible diseases that vaccines can prevent. That being said, I am
also passionate about drugs and supplement studies being
preformed well without a bias of a desired conclusion. I would like
more studies done on other possible effects of vaccines on a wide
array of health issues. Im passionate about people know facts
about controversial things before making decisions, and thats why I
chose Vaccine Fear.
References

Bauch, C. T., & Bhattacharyya, S. (2012, April 5). Evolutionary Game Theory and Social
Learning Can Determine How Vaccine Scares Unfold. Retrieved April 21, 2017, from
http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002452#s4
Diekema, D. S., MD. (2012, February 8). Improving Childhood Vaccination Rates.
Retrieved April 21, 2017, from
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1113008#t=article
Gahr, P., DeVries, A. S., Wallace, G., Miller, C., Kenyon, C., Sweet, K., . . . Lynfield, R.
(2014, June & july). An Outbreak of Measles in an Undervaccinated Community.
Retrieved April 21, 2017, from
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/1/e220..info
JE, A., J, V. O., J, Z., K, W., K, H., DA, S., . . . SB, O. (2013, October). Nonmedical
vaccine exemptions and pertussis in California, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2017, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24082000
Psychiatry, A. G. (2008, January). Continuing increases in autism reported to
California's developmental services system: mercury in retrograde. Retrieved April 21,
2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18180424