Vaccine education programs may not work as hoped

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Education campaigns that aim to inform people about the benefits of vaccines do little to increase the intent of parents to vaccinate their future children, according to a new study. Furthermore, researchers found that among a group of parents who were least likely to vaccinate their future children, some education campaigns actually added to their reservations. The study’s lead author told Reuters Health that the research is an extension of his work in political science that found it is difficult to correct people’s misinformation. “We found political misinformation is often very difficult to correct and giving people the correct information can backfire,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.