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IMMUNIZATIONS

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as medical professionals (9.7%). Twitter users who
shared their distrust of traditional doctors and govern-
ment intervention also bolstered statements about their
right as patients to choose individual treatment options
and the ability to opt out as well (11.6%). Advocates for
the use of alternative medicine, or homeopathy, sup-
ported vegan eating habits in addition to detoxifying
and healing practices (10.5%).
The content analyzed throughout this study were all
top results and remained fairly consistent. However, in
most other cases, the nature of social media shows that
the impact of any given post is constantly changing, as
trends fluctuate and algorithms intervene. If health and
safety outlets monitored large social media platforms,
it may help officials be aware of anti-vaccination senti-
ments being shared given times.

The Common Good
The presence of Vaccination Safety information
bolstering found on Twitter gives insight to what type
4 Broniatowski, D.A. et al. (2018) Weaponized health communication:
of content feeds anti-vaccination attitudes and ways the public is
Twitter bots and russian trolls amplify the vaccine debate. American
encouraged to undermine medical consensus. With an understand-
Journal of Public Health. 108(10), 1378-1384.
ing of how online anti-vaccination rhetoric spreads, private health 5 Davies, P., Chapman, S., & Leask, J. (2002). Antivaccination activists on
care officials, public health organizations, and pro-vaccination re- the world wide web. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 87(1), 22-25.
doi: 10.1136/adc.87.1.1-a.
sources can improve vaccination compliance rates. This informa-
6 Fox, S. & Duggan, M. (2013). The Diagnosis Difference. Retrieved from
tion will also aid our societal efforts to reduce infectious disease www.pewinternet.org/2013/11/26/the-diagnosis-difference/
threats for the common good. 7 Haase, N., Betsch, C., & Renkewitz, F. (2015). Source credibility and the
The use of social media to promote anti-vaccination sentiment biasing effect of narrative information on the perception of vaccination
risks. Journal of Health Communication, 20(8), 920-929.
and behaviors has made public spaces increasingly dangerous for
8 Hornsey, M. J., Harris, E. A., & Fielding, K. S. (2018). The psychological
immune-vulnerable populations and threatens our overall “herd im- roots of antivaccination attitudes: A 24-nation investigation. Health Psy-
munity”, according to the CDC. This flu season (October through chology, 37(4), 307-315.
9 Moran, M. B., Lucas, M., Everhart, K., Morgan, A., & Prickett, E.
May), practice washing your hands, get your flu shot, or inform peo-
(2016). What makes antivaccine websites persuasive? A content analysis
ple if you will be opting out, and stay home if you are sick. It is im-
of techniques used by antivaccine websites to engender antivaccine sen-
portant to note that receiving appropriate immunization services timent. Journal of Communication in Healthcare. 9(3), 151-163.
not only protects you, but the people you care about as well. 10 Moxon, E. R., Das, P., Greenwood, B., Heymann, D. L., Horton, R.,
Levine, O. S., Plotkin, S., & Nossal, G. (2011). A call to action for the
new decade of vaccines. The Lancet. 378(9788), 298-302.
Isabela Baker is a psychology major at St. Mary's University in San An- 11 Phadke, V. K., Bednarczyk, R. A., Salmon, D. A., & Omer, S. B (2016).
tonio, Texas Association between vaccine refusal and vaccine-preventable diseases
in the united states: A review of measles and pertussis. JAMA. 315(11),
1149–1158.
References
1 Albarracín, D. & Vargas, P. (2010). Attitudes and persuasion: From bi- 12 Pluviano, S., Watt, C., Della Sala, S. (2017). Misinformation lingers in
memory: Failure of three pro-vaccination strategies. PLoS ONE. 12(7).
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Psychology (pp. 394-427). icans’ views on vaccines and infectious disease outbreaks. Retrieved
2 Belluz, J. (2019). Why the Washington measles outbreak is mostly af- from www.researchamerica.org/sites/default/files/MAY2018_Vaccine-
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18263688/measles-outbreak-2019-clark-county 14 Wagner, K. (2019). Facebook is finally cracking down on anti-vaccina-
3 Borchers, T. A. (2013). Persuasion in the media age (3rd ed.). Long tion hoaxes. Retrieved from www.vox.com/2019/3/7/18254941/face-
Grove, IL: Waveland Press.
book-anti-vaccination-hoax-crackdown-policy
26 San Antonio Medicine • November 2019