Table Of Contenti
STUCK
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STUCK
How Vaccine Rumors Start—and Why They
Don’t Go Away
Heidi J. Larson, PhD
PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY
LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE
LONDON, UK
AND
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH METRICS SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
SEATTLE, USA
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1
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Name: Larson, J. Heidi, author.
Title: Stuck : how vaccine rumors start—and why they don’t go away /
[Heidi J. Larson].
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2020] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020005847 (print) | LCCN 2020005848 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190077242 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190077259 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Vaccination— Public opinion. | Immunization—
Public opinion. | Anti- vaccination movement. | Communication in public health. |
Public health— Citizen participation. | Rumor.
Classification: LCC RA638 .L37 2020 (print) | LCC RA638 (ebook) |
DDC 614.4/ 7— dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020005847
LC ebook record available at https:// lccn.loc.gov/ 2020005848
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The present epoch is one of these critical moments in which the
thought of mankind is undergoing a process of transformation.
Two fundamental factors are at the base of this transformation.
The first is the destruction of those religious, political, and social
beliefs in which all the elements of our civilisation are rooted. The
second is the creation of entirely new conditions of existence and
thought as the result of modern scientific and industrial discoveries.
The ideas of the past, although half destroyed, being still very
powerful, and the ideas which are to replace them being still in pro-
cess of formation, the modern age represents a period of transition
and anarchy.
— Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind (1896)
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue xiii
Introduction xix
1. On Rumor 1
2. Dignity and Distrust 22
3. On Risk 34
4. Volatility of Opinion 48
5. Wildfires 65
6. Emotional Contagion 84
7. The Power of Belief 97
8. Pandemics and Publics 115
Notes 129
Index 149
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The concept and research for this book has been a journey evolving
over the past decade, with most of the writing in the past few years,
while the turbulence around this topic intensified.
My views have not always been welcomed, as they question some
of modus operandi of the public health community and give voice
to some of the uncomfortable concerns and questions expressed by
the public that I feel we, as a scientific and public health commu-
nity, need to hear. We can sit in our bubble of mutual recognition of
the value of vaccines, with our achievements defined by the number
of people vaccinated, but that model is quickly becoming outdated.
The challenges are far deeper as explored in Stuck.
My source of strength— not only for the writing of this book,
but for standing up for what I believe—h as been Peter. From singing
“Don’t let the bastards grind you down” to cooking the most spec-
tacular meals and cheering me on while I used precious summer
holidays, nights, and weekends to write this book, I don’t know how
I would have soldiered through to get this book finished without his
unending patience, love, and support.
