Thursday, January 16, 2020

Because of fake news - 1,282 Americans got the measles last year.


Globally the numbers are even worse, with 10 million cases and 140,000 deaths in 2018.  And the 2019 totals will top those since cases rose by 300% in the first three months of the year.  (Who, 2019)

So how did a preventable disease that was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 make a comeback?  Sheer stupidity.   That's right.  Anti-vaxers are both stupid and a danger to society.

Of course it all started with a fraud. His name is Andrew Wakefield.  He published his fake news story complete with false data about 12 children, in a medical journal in 1998, in an effort to extort money from vaccine makers.
 
The poorly vetted journal - The Lancet - retracted the paper in 2010.  And Wakefield's license to practice medicine was revoked for his "dishonest and irresponsible behavior."  But the damage was already done.  (Park, 2010)

Thanks to the Dunning-Kruger effect - that's the one where stupid people don't realize how stupid they are - idiots like Jessica Biel, who did not even go to college think that they know more than doctors and researchers with multiple degrees. 

And sadly, thanks to the halo effect, people tend to think pretty people are smart too, so many people believe her, despite her lack of credentials. 

But clearly none of them know how to read.  Here's a link to an NIH article that attempts to set the record straight.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071313/

Unfortunately research tells us that the truth doesn't work when you are dealing with fake news.  Coincidentally that research was done based on measles.  And what did it show?  That the only thing that moves the needle is photos of sick and dying children.  Why?  Because scaring people does work. (Pinker, 2016)

So it's time to start putting those pictures out there.   People's lives could depend upon it.  Oh and a few more laws forcing parents to vaccinate couldn't hurt either.



(2019, August) Global measles outbreaks make 2019 a record setting year.  Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Retrieved January 16, 2020, from


Park, A.  (2010, May 24) Doctor behind vaccine-autism link loses license.  time.com.  Retrieved January 16, 2020, from  https://healthland.time.com/2010/05/24/doctor-behind-vaccine-autism-link-loses-license/

Pinker, S. (2016, March 12)  The Peril of Ignoring Vaccines - and a Solution. wsj.com.  Retrieved January 16, 2020, from  https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-peril-of-ignoring-vaccinesand-a-solution-1457537743

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