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US measles epidemic hits highest level in 25 years – blame vaccine refusal

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that as of 24 April 2019 there have been 695 measles cases reported in 22 states. This makes 2019 (which is just 4 months old) the worst year for measles since 1994, when there were 963 cases for all 12 months.

In 2000, the CDC had stated that measles was eradicated in the USA. But as a result of fears and misinformation about the MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, vaccination rates have dropped allowing measles to again attack children. Continue reading “US measles epidemic hits highest level in 25 years – blame vaccine refusal”

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MMR vaccine is safe and effective according to powerful FDA statement

MMR vaccine

As many of you are aware, there is an ongoing measles epidemic in the USA (an Europe), which has struck over 600 Americans in 2019, nearly double the 2018 numbers. The best and only way to prevent measles is with the MMR vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella. 

Credible, robust, and repeated peer-reviewed published evidence has conclusively established that there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, This is settled science.

Despite this overwhelming scientific evidence, the outrageous deceptions and lies of the anti-vaccine religion, starting with that cunning fraud, Andrew Wakefield, continue to scare parents from giving their children the MMR vaccines. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that vaccine hesitancy is one of the top 10 threats to global health. Continue reading “MMR vaccine is safe and effective according to powerful FDA statement”

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Vaccines cause autism debate – it only exists in the minds of vaccine deniers

vaccines cause autism debate

In an op-ed piece in the Washington Post last month, New England pediatrician Daniel Summers effectively wrote that the so-called vaccines cause autism debate was over. He wrote, “not merely one study or two, but study after study after study confirms that vaccines are safe and that there is no connection with autism.”

In fact, there are 100s of studies, many of them with a huge number of data points, that have shown no correlation, let alone causation, between vaccines and autism. None.

Other than stating that I objectively support Dr. Summers’ statements and conclusions, I don’t have much else to say. But you and I know that an op-ed piece by a real doctor will be noticed by someone in the vaccine denier world, and they will pull out every single trope, myth, and conspiracy theory to claim that Dr. Summers is wrong and that there really is a “vaccines cause autism debate.”

I came across an article by Jeremy R Hammond in the right wing alternative news website, Personal Liberty, which attacked Dr. Summers with those aforementioned tropes, myths, and conspiracy theories. The same ones you’d see from any of your standard, run-of-the-mill vaccine denier.

Let’s take a look at Hammond’s article. Generally, I can only get through about half of an anti-vaccine article when I have to stop because I’m banging my head against the desk too much. I need to protect the neurons in my brain from further damage. But I will try to persevere in the name of science.

Continue reading “Vaccines cause autism debate – it only exists in the minds of vaccine deniers”

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Vaccines and Judaism – anti-vaxxer activists misusing religion

Dear anti-vaccine activists,

Please stop misusing Judaism in your efforts to prevent authorities from fighting the measles outbreak that is putting little Jewish children in hospitals. You’re not standing up for Jews when you do that. You’re exploiting them in a fight against preventing diseases.

The vast majority of Jewish theologians support vaccines. In the specific context of this outbreak, they call on people to vaccinate.

Pork gelatin in injected vaccines does not make them non-Kosher. That has been addressed.

The reason a minority of people in the affected neighborhoods are still not vaccinating and not protecting their children in the middle of an outbreak is not religious. It’s antivaccine misinformation: they were misled into fearing vaccines more than measles.

By people making arguments, the anti-vaccine movement fed them. They’re acting out of fear, not religion.

And if you think efforts to stop the outbreak may interfere with the Passover, having your child with measles certainly does. Having your child hospitalized with measles or in ICU definitely does.

Again: you’re not standing for Jews when you are making it harder to protect little Jewish children from ending in the hospital with measles. You really don’t.

Please conduct your fight to bring back diseases without exploiting Jews.

vaccines and judaism
Photo by Blake Campbell on Unsplash

Note

This is an open letter that Professor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss posted on her Facebook page and asked that I publish here regarding vaccines and Judaism. It is an ongoing message where anti-vaccine activists are misusing symbols of the Holocaust and other parts of Jewish history to push their false narrative about vaccines. 

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New measles myth from vaccine denier Sherri Tenpenny – not a disease

Yes, you read that right, a new measles myth from the anti-vaccine religion is hitting the interwebs – they’re trying to claim it’s not a disease. Now, there’s a small element of fact in their claim, but the anti-vaxxers are using it to create confusion about the disease.

Of course, you know they wouldn’t bring you scientific facts. They just employ fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) to fight the scientific consensus and settled science of vaccine safety and effectiveness.

Now, let’s get into it. Continue reading “New measles myth from vaccine denier Sherri Tenpenny – not a disease”

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Pro-vaccine commentary from Dorit Rubinstein Reiss – anti-vaxxers whine

pro-vaccine commentary

Over this past weekend, Professor Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a frequent contributor to this website, posted an impassioned pro-vaccine commentary regarding the measles outbreaks in Rockland County, NY and New York City. She posted her rant (that’s what she calls it, but it’s more of social commentary) on her Facebook page, and it was shared widely.

Of course, within a few hours of her post, the anti-vaccine terrorists went on full attack mode doing everything from calling her childish names to verifiable threats of violence. The anti-vaxxers are a horrible religion, getting angry and using violent hate speech whenever they aren’t coddled by the pseudoscientific liars like Del Bigtree. 

Let’s look at Professor Reiss’ pro-vaccine commentary. Then let’s show the vile hateful and bigoted comments from the anti-vaxxers. Continue reading “Pro-vaccine commentary from Dorit Rubinstein Reiss – anti-vaxxers whine”

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Argument by Vaccine Package Inserts – they’re not infallible

vaccine package inserts

One of the cherished strategies of the anti-vaccine religion is to quote vaccine package inserts (called a Patient Information Leaflet in EU countries and Instructions for Use in other areas) to “prove” that vaccines are dangerous. These vaccine deniers consider the package insert to be the golden tablets of the Truth™.

Yes, it is cynical that these anti-vaccine groupies rail against Big Pharma as if they are demon reptilians, but the package insert, written by Big Pharma, is considered gospel. And there is another broken irony meter.

Just spend more than a couple of minutes in discussion in any vaccine “debate,” and you’ll eventually get someone pointing to a section in any of the many vaccine package inserts (PI) as “proof” that it is dangerous, contains dangerous stuff, or is just plain scary. Or that it doesn’t work.

The snarky Orac has proclaimed it “Argument by Package Insert” – it’s almost at the level of logical fallacy. David Gorski has just given it the Latin name, argumentum ad package insert, so it’s now officially a logical fallacy, at least for vaccine discussions.

Before we start, vaccine package inserts are important documents, but only if the information included therein is properly understood. However, vaccine package inserts are not documents that serve as medical and scientific gospel. But it is a document that can help clinicians use vaccines (or frankly, any medication) properly. Continue reading “Argument by Vaccine Package Inserts – they’re not infallible”

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Mandatory measles vaccinations in New York City– anti-vaccine lies begin

Mandatory measles vaccination

Unless you’ve been living under that metaphorical rock, you probably know that officials in New York City have ordered mandatory measles vaccinations to stem a large outbreak of the dangerous disease. Within nanoseconds of that announcement, the anti-vaccine hate brigade began with their usual list of crackpot misinformation and pseudoscience. 

Given how much the anti-vaccine religion abuses social media to push their lies and deception, this article will refute some of the most egregious false claims. Of course, most anti-vaxxers won’t read this, but let’s hope that someone reading the false narratives about New York City’s mandatory measles vaccinations will come here to find evidence-based facts. 

Before I begin, the order from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene was mostly in response to an outbreak among ultra-Orthodox Jews in the borough of Brooklyn. It is probably the largest vaccination order in the United States since the 1980s.

As of 9 April 2019, approximately 285 people have contracted the disease in New York City since September, mostly in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, which has a large number of ultra-Orthodox Jews. New York City public health officials said that of the 285 individuals, 246 were children. Furthermore, 21 of those children have been hospitalized, five in an intensive care unit. Yes, measles is dangerous, and children will be hospitalized.

So, let’s get to those mandatory measles vaccinations tropes. Continue reading “Mandatory measles vaccinations in New York City– anti-vaccine lies begin”

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Anti-vaccine arguments that don’t convince pro-science humans

anti-vaccine arguments

There are so many annoying anti-vaccine arguments that make me laugh and cause my rational brain to explode. The anti-vaccine religious acolytes don’t understand one basic thing – we scientists would accept their claims if they presented actual scientific evidence. They haven’t.

Most scientists and skeptics are open-minded to new ideas and evidence. Yes, they may be resistant, especially if the evidence is preliminary. I was in graduate school during the early 1980s when Luis and Walter Alvarez proposed that the mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and about 99.99% of life on Earth during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by a huge bolide impact.

When they first proposed it, scientists laughed. Today, it is widely accepted as a scientific fact. But it was accepted because of powerful evidence that kept supporting the original hypothesis, not because of “beliefs.” Being “openminded” doesn’t mean that we accept any silly claim made by random people – it means being openminded to reviewing the evidence, then,  determining if that evidence supports the claims being made.

The anti-vaccine religion screams and yells to push their lies about vaccines because they don’t have evidence. It gets tiresome, and some of us just laugh when we hear it. Yesterday, for example, I wrote about how the anti-vaccine pseudoscientist, Christopher Exley, was banned from receiving funding because his research is both incompetent and false. Yet, the anti-vaccine crowd whined that some nefarious Big Pharma conspiracy was keeping Exley from his money. 

So I’m going to be a nice old carnivorous dinosaur (remember, birds are dinosaurs) and give advice to the anti-vaxxers – I’m going to list the anti-vaccine arguments that aren’t scientific and are worthless. If you want to convince those of us who value science, don’t use these anti-vaccine arguments. Continue reading “Anti-vaccine arguments that don’t convince pro-science humans”

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Christopher Exley, notorious vaccine pseudoscientist, blocked from funding

Christopher Exley

Christopher Exley, a Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, has been blocked from raising funds for his pseudoscientific research. His grant applications were rejected by scientific research councils in the UK.

He then turned to GoFundMe to raise money, and they also rejected him. GoFundMe stated that “campaigns raising money to promote misinformation about vaccines violate GoFundMe’s terms of service and we are removing them.” 

Pardon me, while I laugh hysterically. Continue reading “Christopher Exley, notorious vaccine pseudoscientist, blocked from funding”