In 2016, I read an article where a young doctor from Kerala expressed his anger and frustration as he watched a child die in agony from diphtheria. The article shocked me because I remember studying that diphtheria was close to being eradicated in India thanks to diligent vaccination programmes. And yet, even in 2019, small children were dying of diphtheria all over again. Vaccines in the Era of Misinformation How this occurred became obvious once people started looking for the reasons.
A steady stream of misinformation has been passed over social media and via pamphlets, warning families not to let their children be vaccinated claiming it would sterilize the child or lead to autism. And in an age of social media where suspicion trumps logic and messages spread farther and quicker than even these bacteria and viruses, many parents fell for the lies. The result? All the hard work…
