Comments on: More Polling Data On The Politics of Vaccine Resistance

By: Science-Based Medicine » “Motivated reasoning,” alternative medicine, and the anti-vaccine movement

Mon, 02 May 2011 14:31:21 +0000

[...] Ultimately, Mooney followed up with a post on his blog in which he did the best he could do with polling data on the politics of vaccine resistance. Reanalyzing a poll from 2009 asking about Jenny McCarthy’s anti-vaccine views, specifically [...]

By: Marion Delgado

Marion Delgado — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:34:18 +0000

It’s also noticeable that antivax is a minority opinion. But all the anti-vaxxers I know don’t know it is. They’d claim, too, that “parents” are the ones that count and that it’s people without kids pushing the pro-vax average.

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 23:35:14 +0000

I think that it’s great that you are exploring the anti-vax movement. What I hope you will also get to study one day, the pro-vax movement. I’d love to hear a breakdown of the “bright spots” and the demographics of the people who are for vaccines instead of trying to understand all of the people who don’t get it. What are concepts or sticking points that make champions for the vaccine community? I’m not necessarily talking about the giants like Paul Offit or Allison Singer, but what about doctors who write letters to their county health department to petition the parents to vaccinate? (http://www.gallatin.mt.gov/public_documents/gallatincomt_health/2011.03.31DocsLetter.pdf) what about the parents who have decided to vaccinate who have children who are autistic and defend vaccines with just as much passion as those with autistic children and condemn vaccines? Or just parents who want to vaccinate (http://www.momswhovax.blogspot.com/)

Thanks

By: Philip H.

Philip H. — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:27:15 +0000

Chris,
I have to agree on the point that the science of vaccines needs more exploration, not the anti-vax movement. My wife and I have had to have several unfortunate discussions with our pediatricians about which vaccines we want and which we don’t and on what schedule. We’ve managed, for instance, to largely avoid Hep B for either of our kids since the wee ones are not IV drug users nor do the have promiscuous sex. Yet the state of Maryland will probably fine our day care if they find out, and neither kid will be allowed to enroll in kindergarten by the state. Now there’s your story, and as a journalist, I’d hope you jump on it.

and Michale Tobias (@22), us Louisiana folks often don’t see the the confusion you mention, because our little sub-culture is really not like anything in the rest of the U.S. None of you, so far as I know, had bumper stickers for your 1991 Governor’s elections that said “Vote for the Crook – It’s Important!”

By: Michael Tobis

Michael Tobis — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:54:56 +0000

I find this question pretty out of touch with heartland America, where the dominant spectrum really looks to me like a conformist / paranoid spectrum not a left / right spectrum. That is, people who distrust authority most tend to have an odd cluster of left and right opinions, and those are the ones likely to be the most strongly suspicious of vaccines. The paranoid side tend to be antitax with a T, and the republicans shamelessly play to that, but they will not self-identify as left or right and they will not share the other positions of the religious conservatives. The best known point of reference is Kinky Friedman, who runs as a democrat but embodies exactly the same attitude as does Ron Paul.

The coastal urban culture seems to me hopelessly confused about this but I would have thought your N.O. roots might have innoculated you against the confusion. Alas, you didn’t seem to take that vaccine yourself.

By: Matunos

Matunos — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:10:50 +0000

Are you kidding me? Surveys are the leading cause of Alzheimer’s!!

By: JC

JC — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:22:03 +0000

Chris, I’ve admired your work in the past.

That said, what are your views on the safety of “giving infants 36 vaccinations by age five” (if true)?

Do you know if in fact the necessary scientific precautions have been followed in the testing, effectiveness, necessity, protocol, etc. in the current state of childhood vaccination in the US?

Vaccines – yes. But what about the methodology?

By: Gaythia

Gaythia — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:59:42 +0000

@17 I usually think of “liberal” as meaning open minded. This would require actually having a mind, and being capable of using it intelligently. What I was trying to get at here was that lumping Americans into two simple divisions; right(conservative)/left(liberal) is not an adequate delineation to explain the politics and policy of public health, infectious disease control and vaccinations.

@16 For the book? Actually the book I refer to above, the Republican War on Science, along with several by George Lakoff are among those books that I have lent out and lent out until finally they didn’t come back again. I thought they had something important to say and I wanted as many people as possible to read them.

By: Russell

Russell — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:56:35 +0000

@15 – well, relatively small due to the small volume of the shot, 50 ppm (50 parts per million = 50000ppb) of a 1mL shot works out to only .5 mg. A small amount of actual chemical and comparable to the EPA limits of mercury in two weeks worth of drinking water. (2ppb x 1000mL/day x 14 days/2week)

Mercury has been removed from many vaccines, but other adjuvants and preservatives have taken its place, including aluminum – associated with Alzheimer’s and impaired brain function. These are not substances that should be directly injected into babies veins, especially since many of the vaccines are for low risk diseases. Pharmaceutical companies profit from more vaccinations, and many lobby for inclusion on the required/recommended list.

By: TTT

TTT — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:33:59 +0000

What is it that strikes you about Jenny McCarthy’s thought process as liberal? As opposed to say, the thought process of a PhD Molecular Biologist?

Her mantra of “green our vaccines!”, as though “green” meant anything specific–let alone medically useful–is a strong clue. And I wouldn’t soon expect a PhD molecular biologist to endorse McCarthy’s idea that her “indigo children” are reincarnated or the next stage in evolution or whatever her babble translates into.