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Sarah Johnson (@whats_golden) revealed that she has only become extremely upset about this movement when researching it for a paper. I feel the same as Sarah as it was only when I started researching this movement, I became outraged with the misinformation and statistics regarding diseases that were once thought to be completely eliminated coming back and rapidly spreading in all countries. It is only when you put some effort into researching this topic, you realize how serious the effects could be. The World Health Organization are making this misinformation a priority and constantly sharing information about vaccines to the public via their website and Twitter (@WHO). This only shows how urgent this topic is.

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Anti-vaccine group launches billboard campaign in Toronto

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Anti-vaccine group launches billboard campaign in Toronto

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On February 26th, 2019, Carly Weeks of The Globe and Mail reported about a non-profit anti-vacc organization who recently launched a billboard campaign where 50 billboards displayed messages and information about supporting anti-vaccination and questioning why people conform to the government before educating themselves. Joe Cressy (@joe_cressy), a member of the Toronto Board of Health shared this article with his concerns about this by saying, "This is deeply disturbing and potentially dangerous. I will be speaking with Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health to determine how the City can and should respond". Joe's concerns about this would be the spreading of misinformation about vaccinations and leading people to do false research and endanger their kid's health which would affect the city greatly.

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An anti-vaccine group has placed dozens of billboards in the Greater Toronto Area suggesting vaccines are risky and that children don't need immunizations to attend school, a sign of the challenge facing public-health officials at a time when cases of measles are on the rise.

The group, Vaccine Choice Canada, has four different images rotating on 50 digital billboards in Toronto and the surrounding area, according to the Facebook page of Ted Kuntz, the group's vice-president. The billboards are in a number of locations around the city, including outside of Toronto's Eaton Centre. Mr. Kuntz wrote that the advertising campaign, which began last week, will run for two weeks and will generate at least two million impressions. In the Facebook post, Mr. Kuntz thanked numerous donors who made the billboard campaign possible.

Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer of health with Toronto Public Health, said the campaign is concerning and should prompt a discussion about banning advertisements that promote false or misleading messages.

"There is legislation available to prevent tobacco companies from advertising," Dr. Dubey said. "There is some precedent for being more legislative and proactive about messaging."

The World Health Organization has declared vaccine hesitancy, or the refusal or reluctance to be vaccinated, as a top health threat in 2019. B.C. is dealing with a measles outbreak that has so far infected 13 people. Around the world, measles cases and deaths are on the rise and in many countries, it's linked to falling vaccination rates.

Dr. Dubey said the billboards use "half-truths" to lure people in.

"They play on a truth that you may know, but they don't quite give you the full story. That's what gives you the seed of doubt and makes you question," she said.
From the comments: Should vaccines be mandatory? Readers debate as anti-vaccine billboards appearing in Toronto Opinion: A shot of reality for mandatory vaccinations Read more: Amid measles outbreaks, chief public health officer vows to tackle vaccination misinformation Read more: Toronto health conference cancels appearance by anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree
Natasha Crowcroft, chief of applied immunization research at Public Health Ontario, said the billboards were clearly designed so the casual observer wouldn't know they were created by an anti-vaccine group. "It's really poisonous in a really subtle way," she said.

Vaccine Choice Canada declined an interview request. In an e-mail, Mr. Kuntz said the aim of the campaign is to encourage people to become more educated about vaccines. He did not respond to questions about the group's funding.

Outfront Media, the advertising company that is running the billboards, did not respond to numerous requests for comment.

The risks associated with vaccines are low and the majority are not serious. According to Public Health Ontario's most recent vaccine safety report, there were 8.5 million publicly funded vaccine doses given in Ontario in 2017. Of those, there were 696 adverse event reports, which included 279 sore arms, 159 rashes and 120 allergic skin reactions. There were 26 serious adverse events, which translate to three for every one million vaccine doses given to people. The serious events included severe vomiting and diarrhea; Kawasaki disease, which causes high fever and can lead to heart damage if left untreated; as well as an infected abscess and a case of aseptic meningitis.

The risks of vaccine-preventable diseases are much higher. For instance, one in every 1,000 people with measles will develop encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain that could cause permanent damage, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control. One in every 3,000 people with measles will die from respiratory or neurologic complications.

Dr. Crowcroft said balancing the small risks of vaccines with the much larger chance of suffering through an illness and the potential complications comes down to basic math.

"The problems associated with the disease are so much more common that nobody in their right minds would say 'I don't want the vaccine, I'd rather my kid have diphtheria,'" she said.

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Anti-vaccine group launches billboard campaign in Toronto and surrounding area

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An anti-vaccine group has placed dozens of billboards in the Greater Toronto Area suggesting vaccines are risky and that children don't need immunizations to attend school, a sign of the challenge facing public-health officials at a time when cases of measles are on the rise.

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Dana Schwartz reply to Black Plague tweet

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Dana Schwartz reply to Black Plague tweet

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An anti-vaccination supporter by the name of Calder Robinson (@CalderRobinson) tweeted on February 10th, 2019 about the Black Plague. Calder tweeted saying the Black Plague fixed itself without the help of vaccines. Although only having 1715 followers on Twitter, this tweeted sparked 5,900 comments. One specifically from Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) saying that it killed 1/3 of Europe before getting rid of itself. This comment was just one of many that shared their disbelief of this anti-vaccination supporter implying the Black Plague wasn't bad (even though it was the only time in history where the population of earth actually dipped) and that we don't need vaccines to fight diseases, it will fix itself.

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Yale Professor stresses how easy it is to combat Measles 

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Yale Professor stresses how easy it is to combat Measles 

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Akiko Iwasaki of Yale University's immunobiology department took to Twitter to tell users how easy it is to get vaccinated. With 136 retweets and 568 likes, Akiko's tweet said, "1) How to train your dragon? Go watch the movie.
2) How to train your immune system? Go get vaccinated.
2) is just as easy as 1), but gives a lifetime of protection against real killers for you and everyone around you. #BeAHero #VaccinesWork"
Akiko is expressing that getting vaccinated is a very simple process and is as easy as watching a movie but provides a lifetime of protection. Akiko's tweet is getting mixed reviews as in America health-care is not free, and most people have to spend their own money to get protection.

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1) How to train your dragon? Go watch the movie.
2) How to train your immune system? Go get vaccinated.
2) is just as easy as 1), but gives a life time of protection against real killers for you and everyone around you. #BeAHero #VaccinesWork
— Prof. Akiko Iwasaki (@VirusesImmunity) March 17, 2019

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Anti-Vaccination propaganda leads to Measles outbreak in NYC

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Anti-Vaccination propaganda leads to Measles outbreak in NYC

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Mark D.Levine, who is a part of the health committee and city council of NYC took to Twitter to show some recent statistics regarding measles in the city. On March 19th, 2019, Mark revealed that NYC is currently having its worst measles outbreak in over a decade with 181 cases and counting in 2019. This statistics is shocking because in 2017 there was only 1 case, and in 2018 there were 2 cases of this disease. Tweeted by 49 and liked by 88, the public is clearly shocked with these findings as Mark averages 5-15 total engagements per tweet. Mark is advising users to follow science, and forget about these rumours that vaccines lead to autism.

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Total # of measles cases in NYC:
* 2017: 1
* 2018: 2
* 2019: 181 (and counting)

This is the worst outbreak NYC has seen in a decade, driven by parents who believe conspiracy theories about vaccines causing autism. It's not too late: follow the science and get the vaccine now!

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Total # of measles cases in NYC:
* 2017: 1
* 2018: 2
* 2019: 181 (and counting)

This is the worst outbreak NYC has seen in a decade, driven by parents who believe conspiracy theories about vaccines causing autism. It's not too late: follow the science and get the vaccine now!

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Total # of measles cases in NYC:
* 2017: 1
* 2018: 2
* 2019: 181 (and counting)

This is the worst outbreak NYC has seen in a decade, driven by parents who believe conspiracy theories about vaccines causing autism. It's not too late: follow the science and get the vaccine now!
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) March 19, 2019

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
Total # of measles cases in NYC:
* 2017: 1
* 2018: 2
* 2019: 181 (and counting)

This is the worst outbreak NYC has seen in a decade, driven by parents who believe conspiracy theories about vaccines causing autism. It's not too late: follow the science and get the vaccine now!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Total # of measles cases in NYC:
* 2017: 1
* 2018: 2
* 2019: 181 (and counting)

This is the worst outbreak NYC has seen in a decade, driven by parents who believe conspiracy theories about vaccines causing autism. It's not too late: follow the science and get the vaccine now!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Total # of measles cases in NYC:
* 2017: 1
* 2018: 2
* 2019: 181 (and counting)

This is the worst outbreak NYC has seen in a decade, driven by parents who believe conspiracy theories about vaccines causing autism. It's not too late: follow the science and get the vaccine now!

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Facebook and Google to remove Anti-Vaccination Propaganda

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Facebook and Google to remove Anti-Vaccination Propaganda

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On March 7th, 2019 at approximately 12:00 pm, Adam Schiff, a congressman in the state of California took to Twitter to announce that official statements from Google and Facebook say that the companies are going to be taking action to combat the misinformation spread about Vaccines. Many people are outraged by this decision such as @steph93065 on twitter who said "This is straight up a 1st amendment violation. What the hell are you doing?" and even calling on journalists to write about how their rights are being violated. https://twitter.com/steph93065/status/1103751821636456448
Another user by the name @Nurse4Freedom replied saying "Is this North Korea?", referring to Congress controlling their freedom to share content. This is a dilemma as Americans have the right to free speech but the government is also attempting to eliminate propaganda and misinformation for health reasons.

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I've received official responses from @Google and @Facebook re: steps the companies will take to combat anti-vaccine misinformation.

The ultimate test will be if these measures reduce the spread of anti-vaccine content on their platforms, to the benefit of public health.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 7, 2019

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Anti-Vacc Politician Hospitalized with Chicken-Pox disease

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Anti-Vacc Politician Hospitalized with Chicken-Pox disease

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According to a Facebook article written by Dianne Apen-Sadler of the Daily Mail early this morning, an Italian politician by the name Massimiliano Fedriga who is well known for his Anti-Vaccination views has been hospitalized with chicken pox. Despite this article being published at 6:00 a.m EDT, it has received massive feedback with over 103,000 shares. Fedriga believes that it shouldn't be mandatory to vaccinate your children after the Italian government introduced the Lorenzin decree which made it mandatory for children to be vaccinated in order to go to school. The government's action came after a massive measles outbreak in Italy over 2017.

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Italian politician and leading anti-vax figure is hospitalised with chickenpox

Massimiliano Fedriga is the president of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in Italy

Argued against decree which made vaccination mandatory for schoolchildren

Twitter users mocked Mr Fedriga for catching infection after vaccine comments

But he claimed he was not an anti-vaxxer, and had his own children vaccinated

A leading anti-vax figure and Italian politician was hospitalised with chickenpox earlier this week.

Massimiliano Fedriga, who is the president of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and member of the right-wing Northern League party, revealed he was ill on Twitter.

He previously argued against the Lorenzin decree, which made vaccination compulsory for children before they could attend school, back in 2017.

At the time, he said that he had his own children vaccinated but believed it should not be forced on to people, reports La Vanguardia.

He also claimed that making the 12 vaccinations, which include chickenpox and measles, mandatory was not the best method to convince anti-vaxxers.

He spent four days in the hospital being treated for chickenpox this week.

After being discharged, he wrote on social media: 'I'm fine, I'm at home in convalescence and I thank everyone.'

Prominent microbiologist Roberto Burioni shared the news about Mr Fedriga's chickenpox on Twitter, saying it helpfully brought up the topic of vaccinations in adults.

Writing on his website MedicalFacts, he added: '[Mr Fedriga], like many adults, did not get vaccinated... if he had been vaccinated as an adult he would be in perfect health.

'If he had infected a pregnant woman we would be facing a malformed child or an abortion.

'The only way we have to avoid such tragedies is to vaccinate us all to prevent the circulation of this dangerous virus, which could have hit a much more vulnerable person.'

Many social media users then mocked Mr Fedriga for catching the highly-contagious infection, which can be deadly in adults, after arguing against vaccines.

He hit back at the claims, saying: 'I have always said that I am in favour of vaccines and to achieve the result is necessary to form an alliance with families, not impose [it on them].

'[The critics] even said I would get chicken pox from my children, not realising that my children are vaccinated (as I have stated in many interviews).'

The Lorenzin decree was introduced by the Italian government after an outbreak of measles in 2017.

It meant that the parents of non-vaccinated schoolchildren would be fined between £85 (100 euros) and £428 (500 euros).

The law, named after the former health minister Beatrice Lorenzin who introduced it, also meant children under six can be sent home from nursery if they are not vaccinated.

Data from the World Health Organisation revealed that the country had not met its 95 per cent recommended vaccination rate, with 165 cases of the measles cases being reported in January.

The case for mandatory vaccinations was propelled last month when an eight-year-old cancer survivor was put at risk due to unvaccinated children in his school in Rome.

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Leading anti-vax figure hospitalised with chickenpox

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Massimiliano Fedriga is the president of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in Italy Argued against decree which made vaccination mandatory for schoolchildren Twitter users mocked Mr Fedriga for catching infection after vaccine comments But he claimed he was not an anti-vaxxer, and had his own children vaccinated A leading anti-vax figure and Italian politician was hospitalised with chickenpox earlier this week.

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World Health Organization emphasizes the seriousness of Measles on Twitter 

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World Health Organization emphasizes the seriousness of Measles on Twitter 

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On the morning of March 19th, 2019 @WHO on Twitter tweeted a picture stating that Measles is a serious disease and listed many complications with it such as Pneumonia, Diarrhoea, Blindness, Brain Injury, and lastly death. Their tweet has received 605 retweets, and 696 likes in just under 12 hours and those numbers are rapidly growing. Within the tweet, they have attached their own article with much more information about the disease. Many people who are supportive of vaccines such as the WHO is using the hashtag seen in this tweet #VaccinesWork to reach users across Twitter and Instagram.

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#Measles is a serious disease. Complications can include:

🧠Brain infections, swelling & damage
💩Severe diarrhoea
🥤Dehydration
😷Pneumonia
👀Blindness
👂Deafness 
⚰️Death

👉https://t.co/eAu2wy9n5I  #VaccinesWork https://t.co/Ez3CBjLP9i

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#Measles is a serious disease. Complications can include:

🧠Brain infections, swelling & damage
💩Severe diarrhoea
🥤Dehydration
😷Pneumonia
👀Blindness
👂Deafness 
⚰️Death

👉https://t.co/eAu2wy9n5I  #VaccinesWork https://t.co/Ez3CBjLP9i

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#Measles is a serious disease. Complications can include:

🧠Brain infections, swelling & damage
💩Severe diarrhoea
🥤Dehydration
😷Pneumonia
👀Blindness
👂Deafness
⚰️Death

👉https://t.co/eAu2wy9n5I #VaccinesWork pic.twitter.com/Ez3CBjLP9i
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 19, 2019

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
#Measles is a serious disease. Complications can include:

🧠Brain infections, swelling & damage
💩Severe diarrhoea
🥤Dehydration
😷Pneumonia
👀Blindness
👂Deafness 
⚰️Death

👉https://t.co/eAu2wy9n5I  #VaccinesWork https://t.co/Ez3CBjLP9i

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
#Measles is a serious disease. Complications can include:

🧠Brain infections, swelling & damage
💩Severe diarrhoea
🥤Dehydration
😷Pneumonia
👀Blindness
👂Deafness 
⚰️Death

👉https://t.co/eAu2wy9n5I  #VaccinesWork https://t.co/Ez3CBjLP9i

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
#Measles is a serious disease. Complications can include:

🧠Brain infections, swelling & damage
💩Severe diarrhoea
🥤Dehydration
😷Pneumonia
👀Blindness
👂Deafness 
⚰️Death

👉https://t.co/eAu2wy9n5I  #VaccinesWork https://t.co/Ez3CBjLP9i

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Vaccine-Autism rumour among top 10 WHO health threats

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Vaccine-Autism rumour among top 10 WHO health threats

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At 2:48 PM, March 5th, 2019, Dr. Jonathan D Quick took to Twitter to express his concern with recent rumours that Vaccinations can cause Autism. This tweet has received 5 retweets and 10 likes. The myth that vaccinations cause Autism has been trending on Twitter and Instagram for months now and is misinforming many people, getting them to join the anti-vax movement. Dr. Quick used the hashtag #VaccinesWork in his tweet showing his opinion about the recent measles outbreak.

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To be clear: EFFECTIVE but for the WRONG cause. Global promotion of deadly vaccine-autism myth one ofWHO’s 10 global health threats. Pro-vaccine #VaccinesWork #Iadvocacy from @PeterHotez, @voices4vaccines @vaccinestoday @DrPaulOfitt vital for our children. #.XH70fuDDFfs.twitter https://t.co/IQ3eteyhUT
— Dr. Jonathan D Quick (@jonoquick) March 5, 2019

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World Health Organization response to Anti-Vaccination

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World Health Organization response to Anti-Vaccination

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On the 29th of November 2018, the World Health Organization released statistics stating that there is a measles outbreak affecting all regions that has killed over 110,000 people. They are blaming gaps in vaccination coverage and misinformation as the reason for this outbreak. Responding to this article, health organizations are asking for efforts to strengthen routine vaccination. Many regions within North America were close to completely eliminating measles. Due to this recent outbreak, scientists are worried about losing decades of work and progress. These vaccinations have saved over 21,000,000 people since 2000, but recent statistics show that during 2017, measles was up 30% world-wide

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Reported measles cases spiked in 2017, as multiple countries experienced severe and protracted outbreaks of the disease. This is according to a new report published today by leading health organizations.

Because of gaps in vaccination coverage, measles outbreaks occurred in all regions, while there were an estimated 110 000 deaths related to the disease.

Using updated disease modelling data, the report provides the most comprehensive estimates of measles trends over the last 17 years. It shows that since 2000, over 21 million lives have been saved through measles immunizations. However, reported cases increased by more than 30 percent worldwide from 2016.

The Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean Region, and Europe experienced the greatest upsurges in cases in 2017, with the Western Pacific the only World Health Organization (WHO) region where measles incidence fell.

"The resurgence of measles is of serious concern, with extended outbreaks occurring across regions, and particularly in countries that had achieved, or were close to achieving measles elimination," said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Deputy Director General for Programmes at WHO. "Without urgent efforts to increase vaccination coverage and identify populations with unacceptable levels of under-, or unimmunized children, we risk losing decades of progress in protecting children and communities against this devastating, but entirely preventable disease."

Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease. It can cause debilitating or fatal complications, including encephalitis (an infection that leads to swelling of the brain), severe diarrhoea and dehydration, pneumonia, ear infections and permanent vision loss. Babies and young children with malnutrition and weak immune systems are particularly vulnerable to complications and death.

The disease is preventable through two doses of a safe and effective vaccine. For several years, however, global coverage with the first dose of measles vaccine has stalled at 85 percent. This is far short of the 95 percent needed to prevent outbreaks, and leaves many people, in many communities, susceptible to the disease. Second dose coverage stands at 67 percent.

"The increase in measles cases is deeply concerning, but not surprising," said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. "Complacency about the disease and the spread of falsehoods about the vaccine in Europe, a collapsing health system in Venezuela and pockets of fragility and low immunization coverage in Africa are combining to bring about a global resurgence of measles after years of progress. Existing strategies need to change: more effort needs to go into increasing routine immunization coverage and strengthening health systems. Otherwise we will continue chasing one outbreak after another."

Responding to the recent outbreaks, health agencies are calling for sustained investment in immunization systems, alongside efforts to strengthen routine vaccination services. These efforts must focus especially on reaching the poorest, most marginalized communities, including people affected by conflict and displacement.

The agencies also call for actions to build broad-based public support for immunizations, while tackling misinformation and hesitancy around vaccines where these exist.

"Sustained investments are needed to strengthen immunization service delivery and to use every opportunity for delivering vaccines to those who need them," said Dr Robert Linkins, Branch Chief of Accelerated Disease Control and Vaccine Preventable Disease Surveillance at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Measles & Rubella Initiative Management Team Chair.

The Measles and Rubella Initiative is a partnership formed in 2001 of the American Red Cross, CDC, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF, and WHO.

Note to editors

'Progress Toward Regional Measles Elimination - Worldwide, 2000-2017' is a joint publication of WHO and CDC. It is published within the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record and in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Launched in 2001, the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI) is led by the American Red Cross, the United Nations Foundation, CDC, UNICEF and WHO. M&RI is committed to ensuring that no child dies from measles or is born with congenital rubella syndrome, and achieving the Global Vaccine Action Plan goal of measles and rubella elimination in at least five WHO regions by 2020.

Measles elimination is defined as the absence of endemic measles virus transmission in a region or other defined geographical area for more than 12 months. Conversely, a country is no longer considered to be measles free if the virus returns and transmission is sustained continuously for more than a year.

Further information

The report is available in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report as of November 29 2018 and in WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Record from November 30 2018.

Further information on immunization progress is also contained within the 2018 Assessment Report of The Global Vaccine Action Plan by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, published in November 2018.

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Measles cases spike globally due to gaps in vaccination coverage

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Reported measles cases spiked in 2017, as multiple countries experienced severe and protracted outbreaks of the disease. This is according to a new report published today by leading health organizations. Because of gaps in vaccination coverage, measles outbreaks occurred in all regions, while there were an estimated 110 000 deaths related to the disease.