Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Samantha Vanderslott, from the Department of Paediatrics, argues in The Conversation that despite scepticism, Europe has high vaccination rates – but it shouldn’t be complacent.

If news stories are anything to go by, Europe is performing poorly when it comes to vaccination – and the “anti-vaxxer” is to blame.

In Britain, public memory still persists of the infamous measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) controversy, arising from a now debunked 1998 Lancet article about a link to autism. MMR vaccine uptake plummeted during that time and since then there have been outbreaks of measles in Dublin in 1999 and Swansea in 2013, leading to four preventable deaths.

Other European countries have experienced cases of disease not seen in decades, such as the first case of diphtheria in Spain for 28 years in 2015 and the continued spread of measles.

So what’s really going on?

Read the full article on The Conversation website, written by Samantha Vanderslott, Department of Paediatrics. 

Oxford is a subscribing member of The ConversationFind out how you can write for The Conversation.