America’s Lethal Fear of Science

[swag]

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/measles-resurgence-vaccines-fear-by-abdulrahman-m--el-sayed-2015-02

Abdul El-Sayed

NEW YORK – A rare, deadly, and highly contagious disease is spreading across the United States, having infected more than 100 people since the beginning of the year, with thousands more at risk. This is not the doomsday Ebola scenario that so many were envisioning when the first case in the US was diagnosed five months ago. The resurgence is of the measles – a disease that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared eradicated in 2000, thanks to a highly effective and safe vaccine. What went wrong?

Since 2000, measles cases in the US have been attributed largely to travelers bringing the disease into the country. In recent years, however, measles has become increasingly common, with the number of cases climbing above 150 in 2013, and then jumping to 644 last year – the most cases recorded in a single year since the late 1990s. This year already appears likely to top that record.

The upsurge in cases can be explained largely by the increase in the number of unvaccinated children. Americans are learning the hard way that scientifically baseless skepticism about the safety of vaccines is extremely dangerous.

Measles may have a lower mortality rate than Ebola, but its potential to inflict suffering and death – especially on young children – remains considerable. Indeed, before vaccination made measles a rarity, the disease was widely feared, killing thousands of children every year.

Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/measles-resurgence-vaccines-fear-by-abdulrahman-m--el-sayed-2015-02#SXyOJSYtPkxW9Z2T.99

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. Open letter to to science deniers...

If you are anti vaccination please dont advertise that you are also a Dem or Liberal, please!

It is bad enough as it is, but if you are afflicted with this very severe condition, for which a name I havent made up yet, please dont tell people you are one of us, it is god damn embarrassing.

Vacciphobe?

Skiencfear?

Sciencescaredycat?

I am bad at names, but you get the idea.


BTW, I distrust pharmaceutical companies as much as the next person, for all the obvious reasons we should.

This issue however has nothing to do with that, the scientific community including those on the payroll of RX and those not, agree on the facts about vaccinations.

[djean111]

2. For many, the crux of the matter -

"BTW, I distrust pharmaceutical companies as much as the next person, for all the obvious reasons we should."

A sane person would realize that pretty much anything that the government tells us these days may be cooked, twisted,
heavily redacted, changed to suit a corporation or big donor, changed "for our own good" - most likely, for someone else's good. Then again, a big problem with some voters - is that they believe everything Fox or Rush or whoever tells them.

Believing what we are TOLD about science is the real problem; not believing in science, IMO, is not.

[GeorgeGist]

3. Watching Bill Maher last Friday was embarrassing.

[Rozlee]

4. Vaccines make people taller???

Wow, tell that to my growth hormones. I've been pumped with vaccines all my life from childhood to my military induction and I never made it beyond 4 ft. 11 and one eighth inches.

[Chakaconcarne]

5. Pharmaceutical Research

FYI:

95% of all drug trials are funded by Pharmaceutical Companies.
97% of those drug trials result in outcomes that favor the use of the medication trialed. Non-favorable results rarely make it to print.

Other than the flu shot, I would not apply this to all vaccines, but in general this is enough to bring me pause when it comes to what information we are provided by big pharma.

I will add another point for those that immediately jump to anti-vaccinators as the cause of this recent outbreak. 1) I have seen many patients that don't even know what vaccines they've had. They can't provide records, have changed doctors, etc. MMR requires 2 doses spaced apart. Do people understand they need the second one, etc. Only within the last few years have state databases (ie ALERT) become robust enough (and providers cooperate) to track vaccine status. It's getting better.

Do we have any details on those that have gotten measles or are we just assuming they got the measles because they refused the vaccine? For example, California may be a state where many choose to not get vaccinated, but it is also loaded with immigrants that may not be educated or know where to go, how to pay for vaccines.

I believe this is all a bit more complicated then just blanketly blaming those that have refused the vaccine.