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RationalWiki on Affinity Fraud and the antivax mov':
... major outbreaks of measles in the 2010s in the US have been concentrated among such groups, including among Amish in Ohio, Somalis in Minnesota, Russians and Ukrainians in Washington state, and Orthodox Jews in NY.
... major outbreaks of measles in the 2010s in the US have been concentrated among such groups, including among Amish in Ohio, Somalis in Minnesota, Russians and Ukrainians in Washington state, and Orthodox Jews in NY.
In each case, the problem came back to prominent, trusted figures within that in-group being sold on anti-vaccine propaganda and then supplying it to their friends and family...
when a member of the community traveled abroad to a country where measles was more prevalent, contracted it, and brought it home, it spread rapidly within a small group of people in close contact with each other whose low vaccination rates left them badly exposed to infection.
Affinity fraud is the abuse of the trust of others with the trust stemming from sharing membership in an identifiable group... The term ... was popularized by economist Paul Krugman to explain persistent groupthink among intellectual and financial castes.
The result of affinity fraud can be a loss of trust or of money or a reinforcement of false beliefs in the teeth of contradicting evidence.
