Myth-busting operatives in Facebook’s misinformation “war room” should be monitoring harmful public health messages as well as fake news, a leading vaccine expert has said.

Large measles outbreaks in Europe and the United States have put the issue of vaccine hesitancy at the top of the agenda, with growing concern over the role that “anti-vaxxers” play on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook has said that it is “exploring additional measures to best combat the problem”.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Dr Seth Berkley, chief executive of Gavi, an organisation that provides vaccines to the world’s poorest countries, said that distrust of vaccines was a growing problem, with social media amplifying and spreading anti-vaccine messages “at the speed of light”.

He highlighted Facebook’s much vaunted “war room”, a new facility at the company's California headquarters where up to 40 employees scrutinise the world’s elections, keeping an eye on misinformation campaigns and, where possible, stopping them.

Dr Berkley acknowledged that misinformation and fake news around elections was a problem but he added: “In the case of anti-vaccine views they can lead to death. This is a really important ethical question that needs to be discussed. I would like to see the same level of attention given to public health issues as is given to the problem of fake news.”