Don't hate the Anti-Vaxxer

     It's easy and convenient nowadays to take a few minutes to rally against the "Anti-Vaxxer" movement. With the recent measles outbreaks, there's no shortage of articles, memes, jokes and cartoons to share on blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc. But I'm going to throw a very small teeny tiny microscopic bone to the Anti-Vaxxer camp. I will do so with the disclaimer that as a primary care physician I think vaccines are an extremely important part of good health. Anyone that doesn't see their value, is misguided and perhaps misinformed.

    Having said that, there's no denying that the Anti-Vaxxer  movement  is real and unfortunately seems to be growing. They have quietly become a significant part of the general population. The reason for their growth is multifactorial, but the easiest targets are probably defrauded scientists, celebrities and politicians with dubious opinions. But the target that's probably hardest to identify is the one looking right back at us in the mirror.  When a problem afflicts society, the easiest thing to do is blame others. The introspective route asks us to look within to identify causes and offer solutions.

     How did we let this happen? The Anti-vaxxer movement is just another example of the growing mistrust and lack of faith in our doctors and healthcare system. There are many reasons for this. When it comes to vaccines, why aren't we, the trusted physicians able to educate and change their minds? Perhaps we are not living up to the true latin meaning of the word "Doctor" which is "to teach." Perhaps the modern doctor,  gathered and taught in traditional (antiquated?) methods are struggling with modern informed patients who challenge and question rather than accept paternalistic physician decision making. Perhaps we simply just don't have time to have a decent conversation with our patients about the importance of vaccines.

    Whatever the reasons, we need to figure out better ways to connect with this subset of our patients whose beliefs about vaccines post significant individual and community health risks. What we don't need to do is further alienate this population by kicking the proverbial horse while it's down. The amount of  seemingly joyous vitriol pouring from the medical community against anti-vaxxers is disappointing and at times bordering on classless. Social media is teeming with derogatory descriptions of this population.  I think this only furthers many people's views of rampant intellectual elitism in our doctors. The most disappointing stance on this issue is when doctors proclaim they will refuse to see patients who don't believe in vaccines. Hey genius, if you don't see that patient, then they definitely don't stand a chance of getting a vaccine!

   The anti-vaxxer type of population is something that has always existed in most medical practices. They represent a group of people who don't believe in the gospel you are preaching. I have patients who don't believe in cancer screenings, statins and a whole host of other great evidence based ideas. They can be frustrating and time consuming.  But they are still my patients and I will continue to respect them and care for them with the confidence to know I will eventually change some of their minds.