Social media's effect on vaccination rates

Background: Vaccines have contributed significantly to public health by protecting against deadly diseases. However, vaccination coverage for many preventable diseases is declining. A major contributor to the decline in vaccination coverage is people who oppose vaccinations, also known as anti-vaxxers. Many anti-vaxxers use social media to spread false information about vaccines. This literature review focuses on how vaccination coverage has been impacted by social media. Methods: A PubMed search was conducted using the search term “social media impact on vaccination rates.” All references for articles found were scanned for relevance and were followed up. Articles excluded were those published before 2004 and not written in English. Using these criteria, 18 articles qualified for this literature review. Results: A debunked article published in 1998 impacted parents’ decisions to vaccinate their children by claiming that there is a causal link between vaccines and autism. However, social media spreads more than the falsehood that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Social media directly impacts vaccination rates for not only MMR but for other vaccines. Twitter can estimate vaccine coverage by analyzing tweets regarding vaccination. Additionally, Facebook groups against vaccines are very common and help spread false information about vaccines. Studies have shown that Instagram and YouTube can have a positive effect on vaccination rates. Conclusion: Understanding the public health significance of how social media spreads false information about vaccinations is extremely important. Public health officials and social media pages can work together to combat the spread of false information and improve vaccination rates