Mistrust of doctors, not fear of autism, drives most anti-vax posts online

More doctors should get on social media and address harmful anti-vaccination messages, according to researchers who have analysed what is behind parental vaccine hesitancy.

A US analysis shows it's not all about autism on Facebook, and one of the major issues is that anti-vax parents are “highly mistrustful” of the medical and science community.

They say boosting the number of clinician-commentators in online forums will help cultivate trust in doctors and vaccines.

“Just as vaccination is needed to prevent the spread of infectious