BMJ  2003;327 (27 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7417.0-a

Public perceptions do not equate to risks, but reflect controversies

Public reactions do not necessarily relate to real risks to health, and these are fed by mass communication. On p 725 Bellaby uses three examples to contrast the varied public perceptions of risks to children's health: autism caused by MMR vaccination, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) from food containing the agent that causes bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and injuries and death from road crashes. Perceived risks are filtered through mass media and the medical and scientific communities, which often miscommunicate true risk. As a result, Bellaby argues, parents tend to ignore the most obvious risks to their children (road crashes), reject experts' assessment (over BSE), and amplify a virtually non-existent risk (autism after vaccination). The author says that parents' concerns are reasonable if they are understood in light of the controversies that perceived risks can cause.

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Communication and miscommunication of risk: understanding UK parents' attitudes to combined MMR vaccination

Paul Bellaby
BMJ 2003 327: 725-728. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]