Author : Monica Wang , Associate Professor of Public Health , Boston University

This article was published in The Conversation in December 2023 : https :// theconversation . com / health-misinformation-is-rampant-on-social- �e�ia-he�es-�hat-it-�oes-�h�-it-s��ea�s-a��-�hat-�eo�le-ca�-�o-abo�t-it-������

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False claims about vaccines Vaccines are the No . 1 topic of misleading health claims . Some common myths about vaccines include :

• ��eir supposed lin� �it� �uman dia�noses of autism . Multiple studies have discredited this claim , and it has been firmly refuted by the �orld Health Organization , the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering and Medicine , the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

• �oncerns �it� t�e ����D��� vaccine leadin� to infertility . This connection has been debunked through a systematic review and meta-analysis , one of the most robust forms of synthesi�ing scientific evidence .

• Safety concerns about vaccine in�redients� suc� as t�imerosal� aluminum and formalde�yde . Extensive studies have shown these ingredients are safe when used in the minimal amounts contained in vaccines .

• �accines as medically unnecessary to protect from disease . The development and dissemination of vaccines for life-threatening diseases such as smallpox , polio , measles , mumps , rubella and the �u has saved millions of lives . It also played a critical role in historic increases in average life expectancy – from 47 years in 1900 in the U . S . to 76 years in 2023 .

According to a survey of U . S . adults , Americans in October 2023 were less likely to view approved vaccines as safe than they were in April 2021 . As vaccine confidence falls , health misinformation continues to spread like wildfire on social media and in real life .

I am a public health expert in health misinformation , science communication and health behavior change .

In my view , we cannot underestimate the dangers of health misinformation and the need to understand why it spreads and what we can do about it . Health misinformation is defined as any health-related claim that is false based on current scientific consensus .

The costs of health misinformation Beliefs in such myths have come at the highest cost .

An estimated 319,000 COVID-19 deaths that occurred between January 2021 and April 2022 in the U . S . could have been prevented if those individuals had been vaccinated , according to a data dashboard from the Brown University School of Public Health . Misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines alone have cost the U . S . economy an estimated US $ 50 million to $ 300 million per day in direct costs from hospitalizations , long-term illness , lives lost and economic losses from missed work .

Though vaccine myths and misunderstandings tend to dominate conversations about health , there is an abundance of misinformation on social media surrounding diets and eating disorders , smoking or substance use , chronic diseases and medical treatments .

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