The Internet has a wealth of information about vaccines, vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization. But there is also a lot of misinformation, and some of it can be harmful if people use it to make decisions about their children’s health. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell whether what you’ve found can be trusted or not.

There are steps you can take to help you judge whether or not what you find on the Internet is reliable. This document will help you do that.

Evaluating immunization information: What can I believe?

Asking a few key questions can help you tell whether or not you can trust the information you find on the Internet. They are also useful for other sources of vaccine information, including newspapers, magazines, radio, pamphlets or books.

1. What is the source of the information? The website should:

• Clearly identify the person or organization that produced it.
• List all sources of funding.
• Provide a way to contact the provider of information.

2. Has the medical information been reviewed by scientific experts?

• If yes, the experts should be identified, including their credentials (degrees, positions, etc.).

3. Is there a date showing when the information was posted on online and/or last revised?

• If yes, is it current?

4. Is there scientific evidence to back up the claims?

• If yes, the site should provide sources (e.g., articles from respected medical journals) for the scientific evidence (e.g., studies, reports, statistics).
• Keep in mind that not all “studies” or “reports” are necessarily reliable. The CPS (Canadian Paediatric Society) has more detailed information on how to judge medical claims on the Internet.

5. Is the site certified by the Health On the Net Foundation?

• Health On the Net (HON) Foundation is a Swiss not-for-profit organization that helps Internet users find useful and reliable online medical information. HON has developed guidelines for health sites, and those that meet the criteria can use the HON seal. The HON site also has a checklist to help users judge whether a given site would meet the criteria.

6. What are some signs that a website might not have a balanced point of view? A number of published studies have reviewed websites with anti-vaccine messages. These sites have many things in common:

• They made the same false claims about vaccines.
• They all had links to other anti-vaccination sites.
• Many promoted alternative therapies—such as homeopathy, naturopathy and chiropractic—as being better than vaccination.
• More than half provided stories about children who had reportedly been hurt by vaccines.
• Parents were the main source for stories about the alleged dangers of vaccines.

Discuss information you read on the Internet with your doctor before making any health decisions.

Source:
Caring for Kids

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 (last updated)