There was a good article in the Washington Post today looking at the continuing public debate over use of vaccines to combat childhood diseases (“Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas“).
The Post is no longer holding back in its news reporting on such issues.
For example:
President Trump’s embrace of discredited theories linking vaccines to autism has energized the anti-vaccine movement. Once fringe, the movement is becoming more popular, raising doubts about basic childhood health care among politically and geographically diverse groups.
Public health experts warn that this growing movement is threatening one of the most successful medical innovations of modern times. Globally, vaccines prevent the deaths of about 2.5 million children every year, but deadly diseases such as measles and whooping cough still circulate in populations where enough people are unvaccinated.
Later in the article, the Post states directly: “The modern anti-vaccine movement is based on a fraud.” A study published almost 20 years ago purported to show a link between childhood vaccines and autism. The data was later found to be falsified, and the study was retracted.”
And there’s an important link to a report in thebjm discussing how the research that originally claimed a link between childhood vaccines and autism was rigged when the researchers were paid to come up with data to support a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers. It was later shown the data were manipulated and rigged in order to show a relationship that didn’t actually exist.
See also:
“British Doctor Faked Data Linking Vaccines to Autism, and Aimed to Profit From It”, Popular Science, January 2011.
“The research linking autism to vaccines is even more bogus than you think,” Vox.com, January 2017
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Fake President relying on fake data . . . add this to the lengthening list.
If your interest is in both public health and accurate data and information, I would think you would also post on the explanations offered by the mainstream media and “public health experts” for the seeming increase in the number of autistic children in the United States.
Also, where is your data that public health is being damaged in the United States? Do you have data pointing to an increase in deaths from measles and whooping cough in the United States “in populations where enough people are unvaccinated”? Lastly, given your continued vigilance reporting campaign contributions in Hawaii it would be interesting to take a look at contributions from pharmaceutical companies that sell vaccines.
Blake, kindly consider these two words: Herd Immunity
March 2015:
The number of unvaccinated people exposed to the measles at Disneyland might have been even greater than public health officials had previously thought, according to new research.
As little as 50 percent of people exposed at Disneyland had been vaccinated, according to a study published Monday by JAMA Pediatrics. The Disneyland outbreak has infected dozens of people in the last four months, a trend that has alarmed public health officials nationally.
A total of 173 people have been infected with the measles so far this year, and many of the cases can be linked to Disneyland, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Low vaccination rates are “likely to blame” for the outbreak, according to researchers from institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A vaccination rate below 96 percent in any community is considered unsafe, because infections are more likely to spread in communities that do not achieve “herd immunity.” The researchers warned that low vaccination rates not only increases the likelihood of an individual becoming infected, but also places “the greater population at risk” as well.
Health officials had warned that vaccine refusal had been a major factor in the recent outbreaks, but the new study provides the most comprehensive look to date about the people who helped spread the outbreak.
“Disneyland is an international attraction and sometimes people are coming from places where measles vaccination rates are low or they don’t get the recommended two doses, and that, combined with the fact that there are a lot of pockets of non-vaccination in California and people coming from all over the U.S. created the perfect storm for a big outbreak,” the study’s lead author, Maimuna Majumder, told Reuters.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/235907-study-measles-outbreak-fueled-by-vaccine-refusal
Ian, thank you. I’ve had measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. You may have, too. They used to be extremely common. When I was little, up to 1% of those who got measles died. Children born to moms who had rubella in pregnancy came out deaf-blind and with varying cognitive deficits. We don’t need those diseases back again.
You’d think I could spell my own name.
Amazing how this page has suddenly turned into a forum for medical experts………….
Since we are on a health-related “forum” , I have never really understood why there is such an apparent entrenched opposition to fluoridation in Hawaii. Could someone please enlighten me?
In small towns and small places — particularly isolated places — if someone you know tells you something, it must be true. Otherwise, you might make them upset and go red-faced like Trump when he got skewered during debates with his own party. Never mind science or reports. Google is useless.
It’s a lot easier to agree with Uncle Don than it is to explain to him a report based on that new-fangled thang called “science”. Getting drunk is easier, especially with the chronically immature.
After all, you might hurt his tiny little ego.
“By cherry-picking the data, one could show that almost all of the alleged causes of autism that rose over the past 10-15 years correlate with the rise in autism cases. As, in fact, does the rise in chemtrail sightings, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, the New England Patriot’s cumulative win total—and organic food sales:”
https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/19bm94ui3v59fpng-624×436.png
(click to see image linking increase in autism to organic food sales)
Trump is an anti-vaxxer? Soon everybody in Pahoa will be sporting MAGA hats….