Anti-vaxxers: Wakefield and the Autism Scare

This chapter considers the legacy of Andrew Wakefield and his role in the anti-vaccine movement. There is a discussion of the anti-vaccine movement that preceded his 1998 publication in The Lancet. That article, which falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism, ignited the modern anti-vaccine movement. Although the article was later retracted, and Wakefield was stripped of his medical license due to his unethical and fabricated research, his ideas persist and continue to inform discussions of vaccines a quarter-century later. This chapter traces his influence as it spread globally and into online spaces. It closes with a taxonomy of common anti-vaccine arguments and opportunities to communicate more effectively with vaccine-hesitant individuals.