Podcast interview launches debates about polio vaccines

This week, online vaccine conversations discussed alleged vaccine-related deaths and how global funding cuts may impact vaccine access worldwide.

This week, a viral podcast clip and anecdotes shared on social media prompted conversations about the safety and importance of childhood vaccines. On March 26, an anti-vaccine author promoted many disproven conspiracy theories about the origins of polio and the safety of the polio vaccine, causing some social media users to speculate that polio vaccines are unnecessary. Vaccine conspiracists on social media used the story of a child who died shortly after being vaccinated to promote false claims about vaccine safety. Meanwhile, online conversations discussed how global health aid cuts will impact the health of people in the U.S. and worldwide.

---

What’s trending in vaccine conversation:

In a March 26 podcast interview, a well-known anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist promoted a host of debunked and contradictory myths about polio vaccines. The podcast guest alleged that wild poliovirus is harmless and that a deadly poliovirus that causes paralysis was created in a lab. She also claimed without evidence that polio is not caused by poliovirus but is linked to the use of the pesticide DDT. Finally, she speculated that improved sanitation—not vaccines—is responsible for the global reduction in polio and that the disease was not reduced but was recategorized to conditions like Guillain-Barré syndrome; metal poisoning; untreated syphilis; and hand, foot, and mouth disease. Clips from the interview spread rapidly online worldwide. Although many criticized the claims, including some prominent vaccine skeptics, anti-vaccine accounts expressed support and promoted her other disproven claims.

Several popular anti-vaccine accounts are promoting the story of a young girl who died after allegedly receiving multiple vaccines. These accounts previously shared similar stories of children who were later revealed to have died from other causes, including bacterial meningitis. A physician known for promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories used the story to repeat the myth that childhood vaccines are linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In one post, he uses VAERS data to support the claim, although some commenters noted that the data is of little use if it isn’t compared to SIDS rates in unvaccinated children. Social media users argued that vaccines should only be administered one at a time and that children receive too many vaccines.

Social media users continued to discuss the implications of U.S. federal cuts to international aid and the impact they may have at the state, national, and global levels. Many conversations focused on how the cuts will affect states’ ability to track and prevent infectious diseases, including vaccination campaigns. Some commenters questioned why governments should fund these programs because “you can go to the doctor if you want a vaccine” and argued that vaccines are free or low-cost. The posts appear to misunderstand the government’s role in ensuring vaccines are low-cost and readily accessible for everyone. Several commenters claimed without evidence that vaccines are dangerous and that global immunization programs are designed to harm low-income nations. Others argued that infectious disease outbreaks in other countries aren’t a concern to people in the U.S. Some posts countered this narrative by explaining that disease outbreaks frequently cross borders and that global health funding benefits everyone by preventing and combating disease outbreaks worldwide.

Read the fact checks: 

• Science Feedback: Suzanne Humphries repeats debunked claims on vaccines, polio in Joe Rogan interview 
• CHOP: Too Many Vaccines? What You Should Know
• News Medical: The impact of ending U.S.-funded global vaccine programs 

---

---

Talking points for health care providers to use in response to trending narratives

Each week the Infodemiology.com team will provide talking points and supporting messages in response to some of the trending narratives outlined above. Health care providers can use this messaging when discussing vaccines online, talking to patients, or engaging with communities.

Polio vaccines have protected children for over 70 years.

• Vaccines turned polio into a thing of the past for most of the world. But vaccine opponents are working to undo that progress by sowing doubt about polio vaccines.
• Contrary to a myth that has circulated for years, polio has never been renamed; it has been nearly eliminated worldwide thanks to polio vaccines. While other conditions may resemble polio symptoms, they are different diseases with distinct causes.
• Polio is caused by poliovirus, not by exposure to any chemical or toxin. Polio existed centuries before the pesticide DDT, which is sometimes falsely linked to polio’s origin.
• Polio vaccination is 99 percent effective, and the inactivated polio vaccine is one of the safest vaccines ever developed, with no known safety concerns.

Childhood vaccines have been studied extensively for decades to ensure their safety.

• Vaccine opponents often exploit the tragic deaths of children to discourage parents from vaccinating.
• All vaccines undergo rigorous safety testing, including clinical trials, before being approved for the public. Vaccine safety is tested for vaccines that are given individually and together. Getting multiple vaccines at once is safe, and there is no evidence of negative interactions between recommended vaccines for children. 
• There is no link between vaccines and SIDS. Although the condition’s exact cause is unknown, many studies have shown that SIDS occurs at the same rate in vaccinated and unvaccinated children and has not increased with higher vaccination rates.

Global immunization efforts make us all safer and protect children around the world.

• As the COVID-19 pandemic proved, infectious diseases do not respect borders and can infect anyone who is not protected. 
• Global vaccination helps prevent and combat disease outbreaks worldwide before they can grow into a deadly pandemic.  
• Fewer vaccinated children means more preventable deaths and more opportunities for diseases to spread.

Interested in recommendations tailored to public health professionals? Click here.