Ethan Lindenberger (born September 30, 2000) is an American activist known for his opposition to
anti-vaccine disinformation campaigns. He received
vaccinations, against his mother's wishes, on reaching the
age of majority.
In November 2018, Lindenberger used
Reddit to ask for help on how he should proceed to get vaccinated. Lindenberger said his mother believed in
conspiracy theories about vaccines and so he had not been vaccinated as a child. Around the age of 13 years old, Lindenberger began pursuing vaccines related resources, such as
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) articles, hence deciding that after reaching adulthood he wanted to exercise his right to be vaccinated. He says his mother rejected vaccination because of unfounded fears about adverse effects of vaccines. His father however was reluctant to vaccinate younger kids instead of everyone.
His story, which involved
intergenerational conflict
Intergenerationality is interaction between members of different generations.Klimczuk, Andrzej, ''Intergenerationality, Intergenerational Justice, Intergenerational Policies'', n:S. Thompson (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice'', ...
,
caught the attention of media and politicians. In March 2019, Lindenberger was invited to attend a
US Senate hearing which dealt with epidemics of diseases such as
measles
Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
, which can be easily prevented but are returning because of the dissemination of misleading information about vaccines.
References
External links
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Reddit
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Vaccine hesitancy
People from Ohio
American health activists
2000 births
Living people
{{US-activist-stub