A person who rejects vaccines because they are under the mistaken impression that they are unsafe or useless.
Comparable to people who reject evolution, anti-vaxxers ignore the evidence that vaccines have saved millions of lives around the world. They dismiss the fact that diseases such as measles and diphtheria can kill, and do kill thousands of children who lack the privilege of easy access to vaccines.
The modern anti-vax movement was ignited by Andrew Wakefield, a surgeon who published fraudulent data in 1998 suggesting the MMR vaccine caused autism. The British media fell for it and stirred up a public panic. Vaccine uptake fell leading to an epidemic in Wales in 2013 affecting 1200 people, with almost 100 hospitalisations and 1 death.
Wakefield was struck off the UK medical register in 2010. Among other things, he had ordered unethical, invasive procedures on children including colonoscopies and spinal taps. Anti-vaxxers nevertheless treat him as a Messiah figure, only interested in children's welfare.
Many anti-vaxxers are part of the new age, pro-organic food brigade who rant endlessly about alleged toxins in vaccines yet will happily give bleach enemas or colloidal silver to autistic children to "cure" them.
Chiropractors, homeopathy advocates and other pseudoscientific or alternative health nuts are often anti-vaxxers. They say Big Pharma is only in it for the money before trying to sell you their measles-preventing coconut oil remedy.
That anti-vaxxer is so clueless they think the flu jab will give them flu
I'm not an anti-vaxxer, but I do think that polio isn't a serious disease and that vaccines destroy the brains of children making them autistic as part of a holocaust engineered by Bill Gates
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Someone who thinks that links from the 3rd page of a Google search have more credibility than licensed doctors who spend their entire professional lives treating patients.
Most middle school students can do better research than a typical anti-vaxxer.
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Someone who opposes the public health practice of vaccination.
Almost always, the reasons for their opposition are rooted in incorrect beliefs about vaccination. This can range from simply having fallen for urban legends about vaccine ingredients or about purported side effects of vaccines, to holding an elaborate conspiracy theory where literally every single doctor and researcher in the whole of the world who has personally studied vaccines and said 'No, they're much safer than the diseases they protect against' has been bought off.
Thanks to crank magnetism, anti-vaxxers are also frequently believers in chemtrails, the New World Order, HAARP weather modification, et cetera.
See flat earther.
That anti-vaxxer started by saying "I just don't think the government should be able to dictate my medical treatment" - but within a few minutes she was ranting about how Pasteur supposedly recanted germ theory on his deathbed and Big Pharma's been covering it up ever since.
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Inbred unschooling morons who don't know the first thing about real research, and reject the large scientific majority opinion based on what a fraudulent scammer with an online supplement store sells to them in their over-priced books.
The anti-vaxxer, when asked what cures autism, stated that squirting industrial strength bleach up your kid's ass will cure the autism and every other ailment. (Yes, they really believe this shit.)
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A nutjob who rejects modern science and medical knowledge in favour of conspiracy theories, urban legends, and general crackpottery. Ironically, they shrilly denounce the evils of pharmaceuticals and doctors from behind the keyboard of their own computer - a product of that same science they reject.
Another term, arguably more accurate, is "pro diseaser".
Thanks to anti-vaxxers, diseases like measles, whooping cough and diphtheria that were practically non-existent are making a comeback. Great job, guys.
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A fool who chooses to endanger him/herself, his/her family and society as a whole by refusing to vaccinate him/herself and his/her children against dangerous diseases. Anti-vaxxers are typically gullible people who lack a basic understanding of chemistry, biology and medicine.
Thanks to the anti-vaxxers, diseases like measles and pertussis are making a comeback.
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Small minded, paranoid person who thinks they understand science but they really don't. Convinced of their own self righteousness as they tend to congregate in echo-chamber like groups which espouse 'big pharma' conspiracy theories. Often rely on 'natural' healing such as homeopathy and claim these work better than evidence based medicine.
Anti-vaxxer's are the reason many communicable diseases are on the rise, such as measles and whooping cough
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