Given the amount of cultural influence the USA has and the universal nature of the internet it seems likely to me that global anti-vax sentiment could have started with the USA.

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Aurornis 27 minutes ago | parent [-]

The pivotal paper that tried to link vaccines to autism came out of the UK and was published in The Lancet.

Assuming that the US was the root of the current surge of anti-vax idealism is not supported by the facts.

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simonw 13 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

I don't think the general public were as influenced by a paper in the Lancet as they were by other members of the public (and media) talking about that study.

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anonymars 25 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

In fact, you can bet that other states deliberately stirred the pot

	▲	Aurornis 21 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		There is some evidence that anti-vac activism was one of the key topics pushed by foreign influence campaigns at several points. I think the simple explanation is that they pushed any topic which could be used for political divisiveness and unrest, but fomenting anti-vac sentiment is especially damaging due to the physical harms it causes.