{"id":270898,"date":"2020-10-06T00:17:26","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T04:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=270898"},"modified":"2020-10-06T00:17:26","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T04:17:26","slug":"covid-19-anti-vaxxers-use-the-same-arguments-from-135-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/10\/06\/covid-19-anti-vaxxers-use-the-same-arguments-from-135-years-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 anti-vaxxers use the same arguments from 135 years ago"},"content":{"rendered":"
An 1801 etching of a dandified physician taking a lancet to a \u2018dindonnade,\u2019 a word signifying both \u2018turkey\u2019 and \u2018hoax.\u2019 It ridicules the smallpox vaccine, which takes fluid from an animal to insert into a human.
\n(Wellcome Collection)<\/span>, CC BY<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As we get closer to an effective vaccine<\/a> for COVID-19, we should expect to see a renewed push of disinformation and vocal resistance from the anti-vaccination movement. Over the past year, seemingly endless conspiracy theories<\/a> and misinformation campaigns<\/a> have gained traction online amidst rising COVID-19 infection rates worldwide<\/a>. Looking at the history of these movements can help us understand why they can be so effective at capturing a popular following.<\/p>\n

As a historian of medicine, it\u2019s become clear from researching the history of vaccines that those who promote anti-vaccination consistently use a standard set of strategies. Although it can be hard to see patterns of argument in the modern context, looking back at a historical instance of epidemic and misinformation provides a useful case study for revealing today\u2019s recurring anti-vaccination strategies.<\/p>\n

One popular pamphlet<\/a> published in 1885 during the smallpox epidemic in Montr\u00e9al is a great example. Over a century later, we have the benefit of living in a world that has eradicated smallpox using a vaccine<\/a>. Yet in the past, smallpox vaccination was hotly contested, despite the evidence in favour of its effectiveness.<\/p>\n

\"Bold<\/a>
The headline to Dr. Ross\u2019s 1885 pamphlet denouncing smallpox vaccination.<\/span>
\n(HathiTrust Digital Library)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Published by a leading anti-vaccinationist, Dr. Alexander M. Ross, this pamphlet was widely circulated during the smallpox epidemic of 1885 in Montr\u00e9al, as public health officials were seeking to increase vaccination coverage.<\/p>\n

Ross seized on the opportunity of increased health measures to gain authority, notoriety and personal fame. He painted himself the hero of his own story<\/a>, the \u201conly doctor; who had dared to doubt the fetish\u201d of vaccination. Despite this, it was discovered that he had been recently vaccinated during the epidemic<\/a>, a fact that was gleefully reported<\/a> by the major newspapers at the time.<\/p>\n

His pamphlet serves as a prime illustration of the strategies used by anti-vaccinationists \u2014 both then and now. These arguments are not new and have changed little over time. Learning to recognize their repackaging in modern form can help with effectively combating their power.<\/p>\n

Minimize the threat of a disease<\/h2>\n
\"Text<\/a>
The headline of a section of Ross\u2019s pamphlet.<\/span>
\n(HathiTrust Digital Library)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ross and his anti-vaccination associates were quick to dismiss the threat of smallpox. Despite mortality rates between 30 and 40 per cent<\/a>, and the extreme contagiousness of the disease, it was common for anti-vaccinationists to claim that smallpox was only a minor threat to a population.<\/p>\n

Ross decried the \u201csenseless panic\u201d caused by health officials and physicians over the epidemic, claiming that smallpox was not, in fact, epidemic, and that the city had \u201cvery few cases.\u201d Official numbers for the epidemic would eventually rise to 9,600 reported cases with 3,234 deaths \u2014 nearly two per cent of Montr\u00e9al\u2019s population at the time. An additional 10,000 cases were recorded in the province of Qu\u00e9bec, but historians believe the actual numbers were likely much higher. These numbers and the story of this epidemic have been narrated by historian Michael Bliss in his non-fiction account, Plague: A Story of Smallpox in Montreal<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The minimization of threat is a common tactic in contemporary debates as well. Many who promote the anti-vaccination agenda claim vaccines to be more dangerous<\/a> than the disease.<\/p>\n

Claim vaccine causes illness, is ineffective or both<\/h2>\n
\"A<\/a>
One section outlines a whole host of supposed effects from smallpox vaccination.<\/span>
\n(HathiTrust Digital Library)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although modern arguments have focused on the false claim that vaccines cause autism<\/a>, historic arguments were much more varied in their allegations of infections from the smallpox vaccine. The anti-vaccinationists of the past claimed that vaccination caused a full spectrum of diseases, from smallpox itself to syphilis, typhoid, tuberculosis, cholera and \u201cblood-poisoning.\u201d<\/p>\n

These claims were not always groundless, but their risks were consistently exaggerated. Cases had been known to occur of secondary disease transmission due to poor practice<\/a>. Some physicians used arm-to-arm vaccination \u2014 meaning they would use the same instrument to vaccinate a whole line of people \u2014 or used vaccine prepared from a human source rather than a bovine source. The lack of sterile cleaning between operations or the use of vaccine prepared from an infected person could lead to rare cases of secondary disease transmissions.<\/p>\n

The discovery of such transmissions (years earlier) sparked some of the first regulations around vaccine preparation and administration, and generated a keen concern within the medical community about vaccine safety \u2014 a concern which has continued to be a mainstay of vaccine production<\/a> to this day.<\/p>\n

\n


\n
\nRead more:
\nExplainer: How clinical trials test COVID-19 vaccines<\/a>
\n<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Declare vaccination is part of a larger conspiracy<\/h2>\n
\"Cartoon<\/a>
Cartoon depicting a working-class man being forcibly vaccinated by a health official, while held by a policeman.<\/span>
\n(HathiTrust Digital Library)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ross\u2019s pamphlet was adamant about the role of both the press and the medical profession in stoking fears over infection as part of a \u201cmad\u201d campaign for gaining money. Much like today, epidemics created opportunities for both employment and research in the medical field. Yet this employment was painted as an unethical exploitation of the poor, worth \u201cone million pounds sterling\u201d to the profession, rather than an effort in combating the suffering and death of thousands.<\/p>\n

Additionally, public health measures were depicted as an assault on personal rights and an overreach of government power. \u201cTalk no longer of Russian Tyranny,\u201d Ross declared, for there was \u201cnone so formidable\u201d as the city health officials. His arguments are still echoed over a century later in the current pandemic, as we see continued support behind the belief in a conspiracy to limit freedoms<\/a> (among other, more extreme, conspiracy theories<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Use alternative authorities that legitimize your argument<\/h2>\n
\"Under<\/a>
The final section of Ross\u2019 Pamphlet includes a long list of testimonials against vaccination from \u2018the most eminent physicians in Europe.\u2019<\/span>
\n(HathiTrust Digital Library)<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last but not least is an appeal to authorities that help legitimize the anti-vaccination argument. The modern anti-vaxxer movement has an abundance of these, led by Andrew Wakefield, the now discredited former physician who originally published the fraudulent study<\/a> linking the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine to autism.<\/p>\n

But the anti-vaccination movement has had a long tradition of promoting the words of \u201cexperts\u201d who support their narrative. In the 19th century, vaccination debates often brought in a similar small circle of medical men<\/a> who spoke against vaccination, calling it a \u201cfilthy\u201d and \u201cevil\u201d practice. Although their arguments were refuted by many in the medical community, they gained a lasting mantle of prestige amongst anti-vaccinationists as the authoritative voices that offered the \u201cproof\u201d that was needed.<\/p>\n

This is not an exhaustive list of anti-vaccination strategies \u2014 either historical or contemporary. There have always been individuals who capitalize on medical crises to push their own agenda, and in the modern age of digital media, strategies of misinformation<\/a> have evolved and expanded. Much like Ross, the leaders of these movements gain social power by painting themselves as lone crusaders.<\/p>\n

As we get closer<\/a> to a worldwide distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, we can expect to see more and more such crusaders publishing arguments against vaccination. Breaking down patterns of arguments seen repeatedly in the past can provide a useful lesson for combating them in the future.\"The<\/p>\n

Paula Larsson<\/a>, Doctoral Student, Centre for the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology, University of Oxford<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An 1801 etching of a dandified physician taking a lancet to a \u2018dindonnade,\u2019 a word signifying both \u2018turkey\u2019 and \u2018hoax.\u2019 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":270899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-270898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","mauthors-paula-larsson-university-of-oxford","mauthors-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270900,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270898\/revisions\/270900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}