title: [From the struggle for freedom to the denial of evidence: history of the anti-vaccination movements in Europe].
abstract: The 1853 Vaccination Act, adopted in England during XIX century, was the first law about compulsory vaccination in Europe. The Act caused a violent movement of opposition with the birth of Victorian anti-vaccination. The modern anti-vaccination movement was born in 1998 following a paper of Andrew Wakefield published in the Lancet. In this paper Wakefield illustrated a study of twenty patients and concluded that the administration of the MMR vaccine caused autism and some forms of colitis. The publication was later disowned by almost all authors. However the study of Wakefield caused a reduction of compliance to the anti-MMR vaccination in the United Kingdom, resulting in lower coverage and new outbreaks. The theorethical principles of anti-vaccinationists of 19th and 20th century were: the hypothesis that vaccines cause illnesses; the presence of toxic substances in the vaccine; the violation of freedom Personal and People's; the ineffectiveness of vaccinations. Moreover, anti-vaccinationists always refused the scientific methods and the peer-review of their scientific studies.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Oncologia Umana, Sezione di Igiene, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tafuri
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prato
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Germinario
mesh_terms: D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D005060:Europe; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D037141:Mandatory Programs / Q000266:history; D008402:Mass Media / Q000266:history; D032541:Mass Vaccination / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine / Q000266:history; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical / Q000266:history; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history; D006113:United Kingdom; D014611:Vaccination / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
chemical_list: D022542:Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical