Did The Press Give Your Kid Measles?

Dan Blankenhorn, over at ZDNet Healthcare posted this provocative question on his blog. He reports that according to Tammy Boyce, a research fellow at the King's Fund in England. excessive media coverage of the possible like between vaccines and autism had prompted unhealthy behavior among parents of young children. She sees a direct correlation between the rise in media coverage and rise of measles in England. That's because a growing number of parents are refusing to allow their children to receive the standard MMR (mumps, measles and rubeblla) vaccine. While the research that touched off this fear of vaccines (conducted by Andrew Wakefield) has been discredited, the media seem intent on keeping the debate alive, and therby fueling concern among parents about vaccine safety.

When Ms. Boyce was asked in in interview with The Economist if the press had learned anything from what has happened, she answered, "No, on balance I don't think they have."