One of the pillars of the anti-vaccine movement is their belief that vaccines don’t even work.
They even think that they have graphs to prove it! They don’t…
Did Gregory Poland Really Say That MMR Vaccines Can’t Prevent Measles Outbreaks?
To help them try and argue their point, they also seem to like to cherry pick and misuse quotes from real experts.
In 2012, Gregory Poland, the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Vaccine, did publish the article, The Re-Emergence of Measles in Developed Countries: Time to Develop the Next-Generation Measles Vaccines?
No where in the article does he say that the measles vaccine can’t prevent measles outbreaks.
He is just saying that since the vaccine isn’t 100% effective and because measles is so contagious, that it can’t prevent all measles outbreaks.
“Thus, measles outbreaks also occur even among highly vaccinated populations because of primary and secondary vaccine failure, which results in gradually larger pools of susceptible persons and outbreaks once measles is introduced.”
Poland et al on The Re-Emergence of Measles in Developed Countries: Time to Develop the Next-Generation Measles Vaccines?
And we likely won’t be able to eradicate measles with our current measles vaccine, “even though measles can be controlled, and even eliminated in some regions for defined periods of time.”
“Thus, while an excellent vaccine, a dilemma remains.”
Poland et al on The Re-Emergence of Measles in Developed Countries: Time to Develop the Next-Generation Measles Vaccines?
The dilemma is that measles is still around and that people who are too young to be vaccinated, too young to be fully vaccinated, and those with immune system problems who can’t be vaccinated sometimes get measles, in addition to folks who are intentionally unvaccinated.
With a better vaccine, fewer people would get caught up in outbreaks that are typically triggered by folks who are intentionally unvaccinated.
Remember, most outbreaks are traced back to someone who is unvaccinated. This is the person Dr. Poland is describing when he says “once measles is introduced,” as the endemic spread of measles has been eliminated in the United States. All cases are reintroduced from outside the country, typically when someone who is intentionally not vaccinated travels overseas and then returns with measles while they are still contagious.
“But he also said that sometimes people who oppose the vaccines will pick out one sentence in the scientific study and extrapolate it to mean things that it does not mean… He said that measles is the most contagious disease that we know, and yet we found that fear and ignorance is more so.”
Senator Carla Nelson on The Anti-vaxxers Might Wish that What was Lost had not been Found
Unfortunately, a better measles vaccine still won’t protect us from anti-vaccine propaganda.
Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and necessary. Get vaccinated and stop the outbreaks. You don’t have to wait for a new measles vaccine…
More on Did Gregory Poland Say That MMR Vaccines Can’t Prevent Measles Outbreaks?
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- The Re-Emergence of Measles in Developed Countries: Time to Develop the Next-Generation Measles Vaccines?
- Vaccine Researcher Gregory Poland Says Measles Jab Is Amazingly Effective But Not Perfect
- The Anti-vaxxers Might Wish that What was Lost had not been Found
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