Photo Credit: iStock.com/Augustas Cetkauskas

Dr. McDonald explores how vaccine misinformation and pseudoscience undermine public health and calls for a return to trust, truth, and evidence-based care.

As a family physician, my days are filled with caring for individuals and families across the lifespan and in multiple healthcare settings. I witness firsthand the joy of well-child visits, the challenges and resilience of patients struggling to control their diabetes, and the Medicare annual wellness visit, all of which represent the collective effort to safeguard individual and community well-being. I spend other days meeting with legislators or advocacy groups to discuss policy and how it may impact patients’ health, as well as physicians’ ability to care for them. It is with this perspective and connection to our community’s health that I feel compelled to address a growing danger: the insidious impact of misinformation, the allure of pseudoscience, and the concerning trend of delayed or declined vaccinations. These forces are not just impacting individual choices; they are eroding the very foundation of our collective health, as well as trust in career scientists, institutions, and the scientific process.

The digital age, while offering incredible access to information, has also become an incubator for the spread of partial truths, facts taken out of context, or outright misinformation. The terms “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation” are often used interchangeably; however, they are distinct. Misinformation is defined as false or inaccurate information that is shared without the intent to deceive. Disinformation is also false information, but it is deliberately created and spread to mislead, harm, or manipulate people for political, economic, or other gains. Malinformation refers to information that is based on truth but is used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.

Measles, vaccines, and the science and perception about vaccines are perfect examples of how the information/disinformation ecosystem has the potential to truly hurt people and, in this case, cause death. Vaccine rumors and falsehoods are not new, but they have recently assumed a new significance. False vaccine narratives are often rooted in fear and lack any scientific basis and can circulate rapidly through social media and online forums. For instance, the long-debunked claim linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to autism continues to resurface despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. A seminal study published in The Lancet in 1999, which first proposed this link, was later retracted due to ethical violations and scientific misconduct, and the author has lost his medical license.¹ Subsequent, large-scale epidemiological studies have consistently found no association between the MMR vaccine and autism spectrum disorder.^2.3 Yet, the echo of this falsehood persists, creating undue anxiety and leading parents to delay or refuse vaccination for their children. Furthermore, elected and appointed vaccine skeptics have now been given a megaphone to further promote and validate pseudoscience or definitively disproven theories.

A Threat to Public Health & Scientific Trust

The lack of truth is becoming a significant problem in our society, and the elevation and spread of pseudoscience are becoming increasingly problematic within the science and healthcare fields. Superficially, pseudoscience resembles scientific inquiry but lacks rigorous methodology, peer review, bias mitigation, and evidence, further complicating the landscape and muddying the water, allowing people to cherry-pick “data” or “science” to fit their narrative or agenda. It often exploits anxieties and offers simplistic solutions that overlook the complexities of human biology and disease while making blanket statements that often disregard individual factors or fail to consider how they might apply to a specific population. We see this in the promotion of unproven “detox” therapies that supposedly cleanse the body of vaccine ingredients or in the assertion that natural immunity is always superior and without risk. While natural infection can indeed lead to immunity, it comes at the cost of potentially severe illness, complications, and even death. Vaccines, on the other hand, offer a way to develop immunity without suffering the disease itself. They undergo extensive testing and monitoring to ensure their safety and efficacy. The most current rhetoric involves the need for a placebo control in vaccines, which at first glance sounds like a good idea. However, any new vaccine already undergoes vigorous testing with initial placebo controls. Once we know vaccines are safe and effective, it is unethical and immoral to withhold a treatment that we know is effective to compare it to another potential treatment. That is not how science works, and it is not ethical.

The consequence of vaccine misinformation and the embrace of pseudoscience often manifests in delayed or declined vaccination schedules. In my practice, parents frequently worry that the current vaccine schedule has “too many shots at once,” and understandably, they are concerned about their child’s potential short-term side effects. This might make sense intuitively to a new parent who desires to protect their child, but this false narrative preys on people’s fears. Fortunately, a substantial body of peer-reviewed scientific research consistently demonstrates that the recommended childhood vaccine schedule is safe and does not overload a child’s immune system. While some parents may intend to vaccinate eventually, the delay itself leaves their children vulnerable during critical periods of development. Furthermore, it chips away at herd immunity, particularly in young children, which increases the risk of illness and community disease transmission.

Herd immunity, also known as community immunity, occurs when a sufficiently high percentage of a population is immune to a contagious disease through vaccination or prior infection, making the spread of that disease unlikely. This protects individuals who cannot be vaccinated, such as infants too young to receive certain vaccines, individuals with compromised immune systems, and those with severe allergies to vaccine components. The threshold for herd immunity varies depending on the disease; for highly contagious diseases like measles, it can be as high as 95%.⁴

When vaccination rates fall below these critical thresholds, such as in the West Texas Mennonite community, the protective shield of herd immunity weakens. Outbreaks become more likely, and disease spreads more easily. We have seen tragic examples of this recently, and several deaths from measles, which is a disease that was nearly eradicated in the US in 2000, according to the CDC. These outbreaks not only endanger the unvaccinated but also put vulnerable individuals at risk who rely on the immunity of the community for protection.

The current vaccine rhetoric and implications extend beyond individual diseases. A decline in overall vaccination rates can erode public trust in established medical practices and institutions, making it harder to respond effectively to future public health crises. Misinformation and disinformation normalize the spread of unverified information, creating an environment where fear and conjecture can outweigh evidence-based recommendations. Furthermore, the market for naturopathic or alternative treatment options, many of which lack high-quality evidence, is estimated to be around $35 billion annually.⁵

Vaccines, Pseudoscience, & the Urgent Need for Evidence-Based Dialogue

As physicians and other healthcare workers, we have a responsibility to counter this tide of misinformation with clear, accurate, and empathetic communication. We must take the time to build trust, listen to parents’ concerns, and address their questions with our expertise and medical training through open dialogue. It is crucial to emphasize that vaccines are one of the most significant public health achievements of our time, dramatically reducing the incidence of once-common and devastating diseases. In fact, vaccines have been so successful that they have become a victim of their success, as very few people remember the scourge of illnesses such as polio or diphtheria, as just two examples of many.

The health of our community is a shared responsibility. By embracing evidence-based medicine, prioritizing vaccination conversation, and critically evaluating the information we encounter, we can strengthen the shield of herd immunity and protect ourselves and future generations from preventable diseases. Let us choose facts over fear, science over pseudoscience, and collective well-being over the whispers that weaken us all.

Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of Physician’s Weekly, their employees, and affiliates.