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Search Results for 'wakefield'
Vaccines: opinions are not facts
There’s an old phrase among critical thinkers: you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts*. The idea is that these are two different things: opinions are matters of taste or subjective conclusions, while facts stand outside that, independent of what you think or how you may be biased. You can have an [...]
American Airlines to air dangerous antivax propaganda
[UPDATE: American Airlines has agreed not to run the interview! That includes both the audio and print versions.] [Note: This post contains numerous links to articles showing antivax claims are misleading at best, and pose a huge health risk. I strongly urge you to read those links before leaving a comment.] In May 2011, an [...]
Whooping cough outbreak in Boulder
Medical officials are saying that there have been 37 cases of pertussis — whooping cough — reported in my hometown of Boulder so far this year. We’re not even 100 days into 2012 yet. [Note: Washington State is in the midst of an actual epidemic of pertussis.] How serious is this? 30 of those Boulder [...]
Pertussis can kill, and you can help stop it
Pertussis, known commonly as whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease. It’s bad for anyone to get, but in infants it can result in death. We have a vaccine that inoculates people against the bacterium. Yet, because not enough people get this vaccine, we’re seeing pertussis (and measles) outbreaks in many, many places. And who [...]
How to be inoculated against antivax conventions
There’s a grand irony about skepticism and alt-med groups that I suspect most people don’t know. Skeptics are commonly seen as curmudgeonly cynics, poopooing new ideas and excluding anyone not in their club. Alt-med people are seen as warm, open, willing to try new things, and welcoming anyone to their group. But that’s not the [...]
Pertussis and measles are coming back
It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned antivax topics here, and a lot has happened in the past few weeks.. and it’s not good. Our old nemesis measles is roaring back in the US, with the CDC actually issuing a warning for travelers. Americans visiting other countries are bringing the disease back with them, and [...]
While people sicken, CBS reporter spreads antivax propaganda
Short and sweet: Why is it that when… a) 30 people in Virginia have been diagnosed with pertussis (whooping cough) — enough to cause classes to be canceled at a local school — and b) 14 cases have popped up in Minnesota — cases which can apparently be traced almost directly to the dangerous antivax [...]
2011 JREF Pigasus awards
Every year, the James Randi Educational Foundation picks the people or organizations who have done the most to promote antireality nonsense and get the public to believe in provably untrue silliness. This dubious honor is called the Pigasus Award after Randi’s official mascot, the flying pig, as in "XXX will be true when pigs fly" [...]
The Panic Virus
As I write this, I just got back from hearing author Seth Mnookin give a talk here in Boulder about his book, The Panic Virus (the talk was sponsored by my friends at the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition — I love those folks). It’s an excellent book about the rise and power of the antivax [...]
Bill Gates lays it on the line about vaccines
Geez, a ton of vaccination related news came in the past few days: 1) The big story folks are talking about is Bill Gates’ very outspoken comments on the antivaxxers and Andrew Wakefield: Dr. Wakefield has been shown to have used absolutely fraudulent data. He had a financial interest in some lawsuits, he created a [...]
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