Vaccines, Social Media and How to Spot Misinformation Before It Spreads

As a pediatrician, one of the most common converstions I have with parents is about vaccines. Parents want to do what's best for their children which often means sorting through a flood of information online. Unfortunately, not all that information is reliable. 

Misinformation often looks convincing when written as a personal story or framed as a 'secret' doctors don't want you to know. Often using scientific words, dramatic language or touching anecdotes that grab your attention. The problem is they leave out the bigger picture: decades of research and millions of children who have safely received vaccines. 

Often the content that spreads fastest is the most emotional, fear-based or misleading. This can make negative stories about vaccines appear common when in reality they are extremely rare. Children being protected from disease thanks to vaccines is the great success story of modern medicine. 

You might come across a post saying vaccines "overload" a child's immune system. In reality, kids fight off thousand of germs every single day. Vaccines add a tiny fraction to that work load. Some posts claim vaccines cause autism. This has been carefully studied for more than 20 years and research involving hundreds of thousands of children shows no connection at all. 

Check in with your child's doctor, thick before you share and stick with trusted sources. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),  and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are reliable, science-based resources. 

Vaccines are one of the best ways to protect your child from serious illness and your pediatrician is here to help guide you through.