Vaccination Research Group
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The mission of the Vaccination Research Group was to pioneer research on vaccination controversy and infectious disease in the humanities and social sciences. An interdisciplinary team composed of faculty, graduate and undergraduate researchers, the VRG had several goals, including providing frameworks for understanding the social and cultural contexts of vaccination controversy and introducing undergraduate and graduate researchers to team-based, collaborative research in these fields.
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- US Antivaccination Movements [annotated bibliography]Chapman, Jonathan (Virginia Tech, 2010)
- Immuniza(on Recommenda(ons, Schedules, and Exemptions for Children Entering Kindergarten 2010Fuller, Jessica; Wallen, Andria (Virginia Tech, 2010)
- Vaccination Schedules [annotated bibliography]Wallen, Andria (Virginia Tech, 2010)
- The Autism Vaccine ScareCobert, Lauren (Virginia Tech, 2010)The main goal of vaccination is to stop the spread of communicable diseases. Maintaining a herd vaccination rate of ~90% is how WHO controls outbreaks of preventable infectious diseases. However, the autism vaccine scare of the late 1990s compromises herd immunity rates, as isolated outbreaks of measles, mumps and hepatitis occur as a result of a widespread vaccine boycott. This paper identifies key events and lay interpretations that develop during this awkward, unsure time.
- Autism and the MMR Vaccine [annotated bibliography]Cobert, Lauren (Virginia Tech, 2010)
- State Vaccination Information [annotated bibliography]Fuller, Jessica (Virginia Tech, 2010)
- Vaccine Production and Safety [annotated bibliography]Casady, Megan (Virginia Tech, 2010)
- Diversity and Vaccine ControversyFrempong, Erica (Virginia Tech, 2010)My area of research dealt with many different aspects of the vaccine movement, the main three were: anti-vaccine sentiments over the Internet, global instances of anti-vaccination efforts, and differences in social class and race in vaccine utilization. I have come to realize that there are two distinct issues arising in the organization that encompasses vaccines. The distinctions are the anti-vaccine movement - the spread of anti-vaccine sentiments over the Internet, and global instances of anti-vaccination efforts, and limited vaccine resources and availability - socioeconomic and race discrepancies. I will focus my summary mainly on the anti-vaccine movement and briefly touch on the issue of vaccine availability.
- Vaccine Controversy Medical OversightCasady, Megan (Virginia Tech, 2010)The anti-vaccination movement has gained significant influence because of its extremely diverse underlying support. From distrust of governmental policies regarding vaccination to scientific data that seemingly proves the dangers of vaccination, the discourses are able to reach and impact a large number of the public. My research this semester focused on the expansion of recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concerning the seasonal influenza vaccine, the vaccine industry as a whole, and scientific literature relating vaccinations and adverse effects.
- Anti-Vaccination MovementChapman, Jonathan (Virginia Tech, 2010-03-13)The current anti-vaccination movements that have established themselves in the United States as well as other regions in the world are like a hydra of discourse. Right when one effective measure is created to convince people to vaccinate two more anti-vaccination movements sprout up in its place. These anti-vaccination movements are driven by cultural beliefs, ideologies, medical exemption laws, non-medical exemption laws, distrust of the government, distrust of large pharmaceutical companies, denialism and so on. These antivaccination movements also have developed many methods of distributing their beliefs to the masses. The internet is a huge resource for these anti-vaccination movements and allows them, with relative ease, to get their anti-vaccination message out to a large number of people. Postcards, newspaper, magazines, journals, and pamphlets are other widely used resources for spreading antivaccination information to the general public. If the U.S. wants any chance of gaining the upper hand on this growing anti-vaccination movement in the 21st century it too must use the internet to create positive vaccination rhetoric that reaches the masses. This rhetoric must specifically focus its positive vaccination messages towards these specific anti-vaccination groups to pinpoint and alleviate their expressed concerns.
- Global Antivaccination [annotated bibliography]Frempong, Erica (Virginia Tech, 2010-05)
- Historical Vaccine Refusal [annotated bibliography]Smith, Carly (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-10)
- The Influence of Government and Media on Vaccination OpinionsSmith, Carly (Virginia Tech, 2010-05-10)Multitudes of vaccines have been produced since the introduction of the very first against smallpox. Some saw success while others were failures. No matter the vaccine, though, there are always those who resist for one reason or another. Through my research, I have found a couple common threads that link all vaccines in the way public opinion is influenced...
- H1N1 and Seasonal Flu Vaccination: Interpreting the College Student SurveySoppet, Kelsey; Sozer, Aubrey; Trebach, Joshua (Virginia Tech, 2011)The Vaccination Research Group is interested in understanding the social and cultural contexts for this distrust and examining the themes and stories that are told in antivaccination narratives.
- Media and the Public Perceptions of VaccinesTrebach, Joshua; Soppet, Kelsey; Sozer, Aubrey (Virginia Tech, 2011)People are exposed to the media’s influence from early on in life. Media here refers to all the types of technology that are used for mass communication (Internet, newspapers, radio, etc.) and those that control the technology. The primary media used to influence people concerning vaccination are public health publications, antivaccination websites, medically-related television shows, and Web 2.0 interfaces. We explored these media with respect to the public perceptions of vaccines and vaccination.
- Tipping Points and Rumors in Antivaccination BeliefsSoppet, Kelsey; Sozer, Aubrey; Trebach, Joshua (Virginia Tech, 2011)
- Cumberland Plateau Health District 2009-2010 Flu Season Vaccine Study: Final ReportMarmagas, Susan West; Dannenberg, Clare; Hausman, Bernice L.; Anthony, Elizabeth; Boyer, Stacy Bingham; Fortenberry, Lauren; Lawrence, Heidi (Virginia Tech, 2011-08-31)The Cumberland Plateau Health District of the Virginia Department of Health commissioned a team of faculty at Virginia Tech in 2011 to conduct a small pilot study of seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccination practices in Far Southwest Virginia. The study was conducted between February and July 2011. The purpose of the study was two-fold: Understand the reasons why two specific populations (parents of elementary school-aged children and 18-25 year olds) chose to vaccinate or not vaccinate for H1N1 and seasonal flu in 2009-10, and Identify the contributing factors (e.g. logistical barriers, intentional reasons, or parental disengagement) that led to a decision to either vaccinate or not vaccinate. The study was conducted in a small rural county with a significant portion of the population living below the poverty line. The area ranks low in Virginia for health outcomes with more than one quarter of residents reporting to be in poor or fair health in nationally tracked county health statistics. The study had three components: a survey of 86 family units in two elementary schools, indepth in-person follow-up interviews with nine families, and a survey of 158 18-25 year-olds in two educational institutions in the region.
- Urban Legends and the Flu: A Survey of College Students’ PerceptionsHausman, Bernice L.; Lawrence, Heidi; Casady, Megan; Fuller, Jessica; Shelley, Leanne; Wallen, Andria (Virginia Tech, 2012)Formally educated parents seem to be at the core of anti-vaccination movements. Since college and graduate students are young adults who will become the next generation of educated parents, our aim was to identify vaccination sentiments in this age group. This research could help elucidate vaccination practices and beliefs of parents in the future.
- Representation of Vaccination in the Early 20th Century: Analyzing American Newspapers between 1915-1921Mack, Erin (Virginia Tech, 2012)In today’s society, vaccination is a highly controversial issue drawing all sorts of people into the debate from scientists and physicians to religious leaders and parents. Currently, there are many different arguments for and against vaccination. Interestingly enough, many of these arguments parallel those of the early 20th century. My goal through this research was to analyze how vaccination was framed and represented in American newspapers during the early 20th century (1915-1921). My research suggested that most newspapers framed vaccination in a positive light, with the exception of the occasional skepticism and doubt.
- Vaccination in the News: Newspaper Coverage 1915-22Ghebremichael, Mecal (Virginia Tech, 2012)The newspapers I focused my research on are: Bisbee Daily (Bisbee, Arizona), The Evening Herald (Klamath Falls, Oregon), The Evening World (New York, New York), The Washington Herald (Washington, D.C.), The Commoner (Lincoln, Nebraska), The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois), The Corpus Christi Caller (Corpus Christ, Texas) and The Public Ledger (Maysville, Kentucky). I attempted to pick a wide range of newspapers that represented rural and city areas. The newspapers had to have a large amount of articles from 1915 to 1922 that mentioned vaccine or vaccination. Also the newspapers had to be published daily but I made an exception with the regards to The Commoner because it provided great insight into the time period. After evaluation of these newspapers six arguments became apparent. The arguments are as follow: distrust in the medical community, vaccinations contaminate the body, compulsory vaccination, effects of disease, vaccinations are beneficial and finally vaccinations prevent natural selection.