Recent papers on vaccine-autism history, mandates, vaccine law, and YouTube

There have been an exceptional number of papers published in medical journals over the past several weeks that are worth mentioning...

• "Mercury, Vaccines, And Autism: One Controversy, Three Histories" -- American Journal of Public Health (subscription required for full text; published online ahead-of-print). From Jeffrey Baker, a physician and historian of medicine at Duke, an examination of the multiple histories that have contributed to the nature of current arguments linking vaccines to autism. Baker traces the parallel histories of thimerosal as a vaccine preservative, mercury as a health risk, autism as a diagnosis, and the relatively recent intersection of these stories.

• "Mandating Vaccination: What Counts as a "Mandate" in Public Health and When Should They Be Used?" -- American Journal of Bioethics (subscription required for full text). By Matthew Wynia of the American Medical Association, a commentary on the imprecise usage of the term 'mandate' (with respect to both vaccination and other public health activities) and the implications thereof. A nice introduction to a topic that deserves more attention from scholars.

• "Vaccine Law 101" -- Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics (subscription required for full text). Exactly what the title suggests, a high-altitude overview of the many laws, regulations, and types of litigation related to vaccines. A summary of a conference panel session of the same name. Short on insights and argument, but a very useful starting point for those interested in legal aspects of vaccination.

• "YouTube as a Source of Information on Immunization: A Content Analysis" -- JAMA (subscription required for full text). From a research team at the University of Toronto, a review of vaccine-related content posted on YouTube, examining claims made about vaccines and vaccination as well as the general attitude expressed toward vaccines. Slightly more than half of all videos were not expressly positive about vaccination, and those critical of vaccination tended to receive higher ratings from YouTube visitors. Here's a press release about the paper.