‘It is shameful’: why the return of Victorian-era diseases to the UK alarms health experts
There has been a surge in cases of scabies and measles – both highly contagious – as well as rickets and scurvy, conditions we thought had been eradicated. Are public health cuts to blame?
January 2021
Anti-vaxxers posing as victims has a history. Look at Andrew Wakefield
Nick Cohen
The story of the disgraced doctor and MMR tells us much about the spread of fear
July 2020
A coronavirus vaccine would be a triumph, but the worst human impulses threaten its success
Polly Toynbee
The combination of anti-vaxxers on the march and a government with woeful health messaging could be lethal, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee
February 2020
Young people in England urged to have MMR vaccine following mumps surge
As a GP, I don’t get angry with anti-vaxxers, I just give them the facts
Ann Robinson
September 2019
Rees-Mogg apologises after comparing no-deal medical expert to anti-vaxxer
Leader of Commons acts after pressure from colleagues and medical profession over attack on David Nicholl
January 2019
Today in Focus
Is the anti-vaccine movement putting lives at risk?
After a surge of measles outbreaks in the EU, Sarah Boseley looks back at how confidence in the MMR vaccine was dented by one doctor’s discredited campaign against it. Plus: Sonia Sodha on how to improve the British honours system
December 2018
Peter Hotez: ‘What happens when the anti-vaccine movement moves into India?’
The American scientist, whose new book explains why vaccines didn’t cause his daughter’s autism, on why conspiracy theorists need to be challenged
August 2018
I’m autistic – don’t let anti-vaxxers bring back the culture of fear
Karl Knights
Instead of embracing the possibilities of neurodiversity, far-right voices are again painting autism as a devastating curse, says the writer Karl Knights
Measles is on the rise in Europe – and populism could be to blame
Sarah Boseley
Rightwing politicians from Beppe Grillo to Marine Le Pen support the anti-vaccine cause, says Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley
Resurgence of deadly measles blamed on low MMR vaccination rates
More than 41,000 cases of measles reported in the EU in six months to June – almost double the number over the whole of 2017
July 2018
From Andrew Wakefield to Brexiteers, snake-oil salesmen are keeping us sick
Matthew d'Ancona
How disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield was embraced by Trump's America
April 2018
More than 120 homeopaths trying to ‘cure’ autism in UK
Exclusive: the ‘cure’ involves detoxing children of vaccines and antibiotics held responsible for the condition
June 2017
John Oliver recap
John Oliver on vaccines: 'One of humanity's most incredible accomplishments'
On Last Week Tonight, the host used his monologue to focus on the growing anti-vaccine feeling, ‘amplified by the human megaphone that is the president’
February 2017
The return of the MMR charlatan fits with our times
Nick Cohen
The return of the disgraced Andrew Wakefield should put us on our guard, as should the actions of politicians such as Donald Trump and Jeremy Corbyn
August 2016
Measles outbreaks at festivals can’t be blamed wholly on anti-vaxxers
Jules Montague
The notorious, discredited MMR study by Andew Wakefield plays a part in recent cases. But access, awareness and affordability are equally important factors
April 2016
Story of controversial vaccine campaigner Andrew Wakefield heading to big screen
Former surgeon hit headlines when documentary Vaxxed was offered a premiere at Robert De Niro’s Tribeca film festival, then withdrawn after an outcry
A jab for Elvis helped America beat polio. Now doctors have recruited him again…
Film of Presley’s 1956 publicity campaign is posted online to boost immunisation crusade against today’s global threats
Movie stars have their uses: medical science isn’t one of them
Catherine Bennett
Robert De Niro’s support for a film about a discredited theory linking MMR and autism simply beggars belief
