Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Vaccines and public health: Can we have our cake and eat it too?

Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam
Conditions
May 8, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share

Physicians today are challenged with the unique task of navigating the fundamental incompatibility between patient autonomy and the goals of public health. A few months ago, I faced that challenge when my elderly patient declined to receive the recommended influenza vaccine.

“I respect my patients’ right to choose, but sometimes I’m concerned that they make choices based on fiction rather fact,” I reflected in a recent post. “It’s been quite a challenge learning how to debunk misconceptions, without seeming too pushy.”

Prompted by the recent conversations surrounding the anti-vaccination movement, I am here, once again, reflecting on a doctor’s responsibility to support the health of the community while simultaneously empowering their patients with the information needed to make informed choices.

Vaccinations work in part by exerting their protective effects via herd immunity. That is, when people are vaccinated, they not only build up their own immune systems, but also thwart the spread of disease to community members that are ineligible for certain vaccinations like immunocompromised patients, pregnant women and babies. By definition, most people must buy into the concept of vaccination for it to work.

Given the recent increase in outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough, can we as doctors truly respect a patient’s wish to stray from evidence-based vaccination guidelines?

When it comes to vaccinations can we have our cake and eat it, too?

Los Angeles Times writer Michael Hiltzick doesn’t think it’s possible:

The lesson of all this is that vaccination is not an individual choice to be made by a parent for his or her own offspring. It’s a public health issue, because the diseases contracted by unvaccinated children are a threat to the community. That’s what public health is all about, and an overly tolerant approach to non-medical exemptions — and publicity given to anti-vaccination charlatans like Wakefield and McCarthy by heedless promoters like, sadly, Katie Couric, affect us all.

I’ve realized that sometimes, the medical community doesn’t care about being pushy in the name of public health. Sometimes we are the biggest bullies, using science and the letters behind our names as weapons to shame those who choose not to follow medical recommendations. Some medical professionals have flooded my twitter timeline with unkind tweets about celebrities that choose to opt out of vaccinations. A legitimate source citation in a tweet does not mitigate the meanness in the message.

Reality TV starlet, Kristin Cavallari recently revealed that she doesn’t believe in vaccinating her children. I instantly felt sad for her. Not sad because her misinformed beliefs based on shady Internet blogs will place her children and others in her community at an increased risk of preventable disease (this is an obvious tragedy), but because she was about to be massacred by the vaccine mafia for her parenting choices and medical decisions.

Celebrities do have the power to influence public opinion, but at the end of the day they are patients, too. By attacking celebrities for their medical choices, do patients fear that they will also be targeted for sharing the same views? How many patients are afraid of asking their physicians questions about vaccinations or exploring alternatives because they are afraid of being dismissed or labeled as an “anti-vaxxer”? By publicly shaming and bullying “anti-vaccination charlatans” are we inadvertently destroying opportunities for productive dialogue with our patients?

Dr. James Hamblin, an editor at The Atlantic, reminds us of the dangers of misappropriating our energy to educate patients:

Exasperating as it can be for experts and journalists who hear about vaccine conspiracy theories and discredited research regularly, for years, concerns are still best addressed seriously. Dismissing concerned parents out of hand is dangerous to the culture on the whole. Go after the misinformation, not the misinformed. McCarthy is not an aberration, in that celebrities without medical expertise have and will continue to shape public health. Often for better, often not; either way it’s powerful and the effects are pervasive.

ADVERTISEMENT

I think we can have our cake and eat it, too, by going after the misinformation, not the misinformed. At least we can make it easier for patients to make the right choices, instead of pushing them toward the wrong ones.

Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam is a medical student who blogs at her self-titled site, Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam. She can be reached on Twitter @JenniferAdaeze.  This article originally appeared in The American Resident Project.

Prev

Pay me like a French doctor. You know you want to.

May 8, 2014 Kevin 98
…
Next

We do not have a health care system

May 8, 2014 Kevin 8
…

Tagged as: Pediatrics

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Pay me like a French doctor. You know you want to.
Next Post >
We do not have a health care system

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam

  • Tips to rank your match list. Here’s how this medical student did it.

    Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam
  • This medical student went to rehab. Here’s what she learned.

    Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam
  • Med students are marginalized in the hospital. It’s time for that to stop.

    Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam

More in Conditions

  • Why telling kids to eat less and move more fails to address obesity

    Callia Georgoulis
  • Clinical ghosts and why they haunt our exam rooms

    Kara Wada, MD
  • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

    Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH
  • How declining MMR vaccination rates put future generations at risk

    Ambika Sharma, Onyi Oligbo, and Katrina Green, MD
  • How one unforgettable ER patient taught a nurse about resilience

    Kristen Cline, BSN, RN
  • Why regular exercise is the best prescription for lifelong health

    George F. Smith, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why telling kids to eat less and move more fails to address obesity

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • Why enterprise risk management is key to value-based health care success

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

      Sarah Webber, MD | Physician
    • How shared language saved a patient from isolation

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 8 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • Why telling kids to eat less and move more fails to address obesity

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • Why enterprise risk management is key to value-based health care success

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

      Sarah Webber, MD | Physician
    • How shared language saved a patient from isolation

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Vaccines and public health: Can we have our cake and eat it too?
8 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...