On Oct 17, 2018, WHO reported 52958 measles cases in the European region since the beginning of 2018, which is more than double the 23 757 cases reported for Africa in the same period.1 The USA reported about 80000 influenza deaths and a record high of over 950000 influenza-related hospital admissions during the winter of 2017–18.2 Overall, seasonal influenza vaccination coverage in the USA in adults was only 37·1%, 6·2% lower than the 2016–17 season.In Europe, 29 464 of the measles cases were in Ukraine, where a combination of anxieties about vaccine safety, historic distrust in government, and a health system needing reform converged to create fertile ground for the outbreak. In England, too, by the end of October, 2018, there were 913 measles cases,largely among teenagers and young adults who missed their childhood measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination because of parental anxieties over a decade ago. …Complex determinants of vaccination, such as alternative health beliefs, politics, histories, trust, relationships, and emotions, contribute to the overall stagnation of childhood and adult vaccine uptake globally. Vaccine anxieties are not new, but the viral spread of concerns, reinforced by a quagmire of online misinformation, is increasingly connected and global….
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