Why Good Parents Believe Myths About Autism and Vaccines

Hot on the heels of Sarah Kliff's insanely entertaining article on why medical myths endure, health blogger Scott 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, Jenny 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 [Jenny 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.