But the misinformation doesn’t seem to have taken hold, said Julie Leask, professor of public health at the University of Sydney.
“It will have some effect but I don’t expect in Australia the impact on pregnant people to be massive,” said Leask, an expert in vaccine hesitancy.
Only 4 per cent of Americans believed Trump’s claim was “definitely true” compared with 35 per cent who dismissed it as absolutely false, while the rest were unsure, a poll by KFF Tracking found.
Swift condemnation of the claim by health bodies and mainstream media may have helped “psychologically inoculate” people against the misleading information, Leask said.
While it is extremely difficult to “debunk” false or conspiratorial information once someone starts believing it, research has shown warning people about misinformation before it reaches them – dubbed “prebunking” – can stop false claims from taking hold.
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“If there’s misinformation coming down the line, you warn people beforehand and prepare them mentally for what they might hear and why it’s wrong … That mentally immunises them against that misinformation,” Leask said.
Dr Chris Edwards, a research fellow with Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia), agreed clear messaging from scientists helped quash unnecessary anxieties about paracetamol and autism.
Rhetoric about preventing or “curing” autism, however, has a lasting impact on a stigmatised community, said Edwards, who is autistic himself.
“Autism is not an illness. It’s part of who we are,” Edwards said. “What does cause harm are the barriers we face: inaccessible environments, inadequate healthcare, discrimination, and lack of understanding.
“When the focus is on eliminating autism rather than addressing those barriers, it shifts attention away from what actually improves autistic people’s lives.”
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