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Vaccine Scandals Shake People's Faith in Immunizations
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Vaccine Scandals Shake People's Faith in Immunizations

Chen Liangxian
Wellestudio163, 2018
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Heralded as one of humanity's greatest breakthroughs, vaccines nonetheless spark controversies in many countries and regions. In the United States and Europe, parents debate whether to vaccinate their children. In China, parents ponder the same question – for an entirely different reason: Several scandals surrounding fake vaccines have come to light, further eroding trust in medical institutions. In this article from Wellestudio163 – NetEase’s Wechat wemedia account on social issues – writer Chen Liangxian reports on the string of vaccine scandals and explains why fake vaccines are common in China. Chen provides interesting and useful background information and statistics on the topic, with infographics to help present the information. getAbstract recommends this article to readers interested in health care and the different issues surrounding vaccines.

Summary

In summer 2018, Chinese officials uncovered that pharmaceutical company Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences had produced and sold fake rabies vaccines. Upon further investigation, they found that the same company also produced subquality diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccines. On Chinese social media, people responded with fear and anger.

Problematic and even fatal vaccines aren’t new to China. Comb through the news database stretching from 2013–2018, and you’ll find more than 10 vaccine scandals. Although investigations into the most severe scandals showed that the effects on public health hadn’t been as dramatic as originally suspected, public faith in vaccines has taken a severe hit. Even if the faulty vaccines didn’t harm patients, they also didn’t protect them from infections.

After the 2013 hepatitis B vaccine scandal – erroneously associated with the deaths of 10 babies...

About the Author

Chen Liangxian writes for NetEase’s WeChat Wemedia account Wellestudio163, which focuses on social issues, current events and trends. 

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