Why Good Parents Believe Myths About Autism and Vaccines

June 1, 2009

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Posted Friday, May 29, 2009 12:19 PM

Kate Dailey

Hot on the heels of Kliff's insanely entertaining article on why medical

myths endure, health blogger Hensley points us toward a new analysis

behind one of the most divisive and persistent medical myths of the modern age:

that childhood vaccines can lead to autism. (Send angry e-mails c/o NEWSWEEK.)

The article is published in the online journal PLoS Biology. It should be noted

that PLoS, an open-access—meaning free to read—peer-reviewed journal from the

Public LIbrary of Science, is on fire this week, having also published the study

about scientists who make stuff up.

Author Liza Gross points out that parents who want to be involved, active

deciders in their children's health feel that it's almost negligent to trust a

doctor without doing one's own research. Of course, often the only options for

research are either convincing, emotional articles filled with fallacies of

anecdotal evidence or statistic-heavy, jargony medical studies that don't

resonate with parents who aren't M.D.s.

In doling out blame for the persistence of the myth that vaccines lead to autism

(and the article takes care to outline why it is, in fact, a myth), Gross names

all the usual suspects: the media, the internet, McCarthy ... but most

importantly, medical experts who don't do a good enough job explaining what we

know and how we've come to know it.

.... scientists should not underestimate the importance of narrative. People

relate much more to a dramatic story— " he got his vaccination, he stopped

interacting, and he hasn't been the same since " —than they do to facts, risk

analyses, and statistical studies ...

Researchers might consider taking a page out of [ McCarthy's] handbook by

embracing the power of stories—that is, adding a bit of drama—to show that even

though scientists can't say just what causes autism or how to prevent it, the

evidence tells us not to blame vaccines.

It's naive to think an article like this will change anyone's mind. When parents

think their kids are being poisoned, they're going to fight like hell to protect

those kids. But if minds are to be changed, the onus has to be on the

doctors—who know and understand the research—to find better ways to gain

parents' trust.

Tag(s): Featured, Research, Parenting

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