Puppet Masters
British and American scientists have developed a computerised monitoring system which alerts experts to quickly spreading rumours, outright lies, misinformation, and legitimate public concerns, about vaccinations in 144 countries including Australia.
"Recent measles outbreaks in the UK, stemming from children not-vaccinated due to fears prompted by now-discredited research over a decade ago, is one example of the long-term consequences of broken public trust in vaccines" lead author Heidi Larson, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK, said.
"The Internet has speeded up the global spread of unchecked rumours and misinformation about vaccines and can seriously undermine public confidence, leading to low rates of vaccine uptake and even disease outbreaks.''
Dr Larson said the new application builds on the ability of capacity of HealthMapan online surveillance resource that detects and maps early signs of disease outbreaks from electronic data sources from 144 countries.
Between May 2011 and April 2012, 10 380 reports concerning vaccinations were identified and categorised.
Almost seventy per cent were positive or "neutral" about vaccinations while 31 per cent were negative.
The researchers also devised a system to identify the types of concerns found on electronic media and prioritise reports according to their potential to disrupt vaccine uptake.
Of the negative reports, almost half were associated with the health impacts of vaccine impacts and people's beliefs, either associated with their religion or their ideas about supposed risks from vaccinations.
"Real-time monitoring and analysis of vaccine concerns could help governments and public health officials locally, nationally, and globally understand where they should focus their attention and resources when a concern arises, and where specific vaccines might need more tailored engagement strategies," Dr Larson said.
She said scientists would also be able to immediately enter public debates about vaccination, while in the past they often only became aware of issues when it was too late to offer their expertise.
Comment: Those at the top are really scared of what people can figure out when they start talking to each other, aren't they?
Reader Comments
I'll tell you what, if my place of work is anything to go by, those at the top DO NOT think we talk to each other. Me and my friends have figured this out, by guess what, TALKING TO EACH OTHER.
For example, we could each be told something different in a private meeting.. For example, they could say, "this year you are only receiving a 2.5% wage rise because that is all they are giving out to people on your level." When you talk to other people on your level, guess what, they were told a different story, some maybe 0%, others maybe 3% etc... This goes for many different things...
Another one that boggled my mind is someone got let go and the reason was "we don't have enough work" and the next couple of weeks, they hired like 4 new people.
So we wonder to ourselves,
a) Why do they have to lie when they have all the power?
b) Do they seriously think we don't talk to each other?
c) Do they just lie for the sake of lying?
But we knew it was coming (and did/could do nothing) further, it's only the prelude. Hate to state the obvious. But yes, real scary.
@ Luke, that's incredible; the lying and the way the puppet show goes on - they're playing with people's lives! I remember when I had a stint in corporate world (7-8 years ago). It was similar to what you say, or at least it was clear and obvious the tactics being dispatched. No one was talking though, the fear was very well implanted, staff were divided in competition and near ripe for conquer.
It was pathetic, and at the same time heartbreaking to watch the snivelling around the management tiers, the staff begging to whore their humanity in exchange to be the chosen one, the special and lucky initiate of upper management. Or perhaps more accurately, to not be left behind; to be not chosen. So frail our sense of worth has become?
Gosh, Big Brother's got some cousins...