Tag: Sharyl Attkisson

Is the TODAY Show Stoking Vaccine Fears?

We know that historically, the media has done a very good job of scaring parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

From pushing vaccine misinformation and vaccine scare stories to providing false balance about vaccine stories, many in the media have promoted myths and fake controversies when reporting about vaccines.

Things have been getting better though.

Is the TODAY Show Stoking Vaccine Fears?

Or have they…

The TODAY Show later deleted this tweet about vaccines.
The TODAY Show later deleted this tweet about vaccines.

Do you see what’s wrong with the TODAY Show story about Jessica Biel?

Are they really asking whether or not vaccines are safe?!?

It’s not a debate!

Vaccines are safe!

HuffPo called out the Today Show for posting an irresponsible message about vaccines.
Even HuffPo called out the Today Show for posting an irresponsible message about vaccines.

Did they really get called out by HuffPo for irresponsibly covering vaccines?

You might realize how ironic that is if you remember just how bad HuffPo used to be, regularly posting some of the worst anti-vaccine stories. Have they gotten better?

Uh, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr is no vaccine skeptic. They are both anti-vaccine...
Uh, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr is no vaccine skeptic. They are both anti-vaccine...

The HuffPo is better, but certainly not perfect, by any means…

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr is not a vaccine skeptic!

The TODAY Show’s Coverage of Vaccines

Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that the TODAY show has scared parents away from vaccines. After all, they are the ones who aired excerpts of Vaccine Roulette, the show which many people credit with starting the modern anti-vaccine movement.

Autism is not associated with vaccines. It isn't a debate!
Autism is not associated with vaccines. It isn’t a debate!

More recently, the TODAY Show had Robert De Niro on to talk about Andrew Wakefield‘s VAXXED.

The TODAY Show fixed their mistake and irresponsibe headline that could stoke vaccine fears.
The TODAY Show fixed their mistake and irresponsibe headline that could stoke vaccine fears.

After so many missteps in the past, the TODAY Show shouldn’t be making these kinds of mistakes anymore.

If they do, there will be plenty of folks ready to call them out.

More on the TODAY is Show Stoking Vaccine Fears

What Do We Know About the Rockland County Measles Outbreak?

Breaking News – there are 10 new cases in Rockland County, bringing the total in this ongoing outbreak to 225, as they institute new orders to quarantine anyone with measles or exposed to anyone with measles (see below

We know a lot about the measles outbreak in Rockland County, New York.

Nothing about what Del Bigtree and Sharyl Attkisson have been saying is right.
Did Del Bigtree or Sharyl Attkisson ever correct their false statements about the Rockland outbreak?

That makes it easy to spot anti-vaccine propaganda.

What Do We Know About the Rockland County Measles Outbreak?

What do we know?

We know that the outbreak is still growing.

And we know that most of the folks in the outbreak are unvaccinated.

10 new cases this week

What else do we know?

“At the end of September 2018, an international traveler arrived in Rockland County with a suspected case of the measles.”

Rockland County Measles Information

The outbreak is already the largest in New York State since the 1990s, before the endemic spread of measles was declared eliminated in the United States.

While it is unlikely to surpass the Ohio measles outbreak of 2014, which reached 384 cases, the Rockland County outbreak has already lasted longer.

In fact, this might will be one of the longer outbreaks is the longest outbreak we have had in a long while since the endemic spread of measles was eliminated in the US in 2000.

OutbreakCasesDuration
Brooklyn outbreak 2013583/13 to 6/9
Ohio outbreak 20143843/24 to 7/23
Disneyland outbreak 201514712/28 to 4/16
Minnesota outbreak 2017793/30 to 8/25
Rockland County outbreak 2018
2259/18 – ?
Brooklyn outbreak 201846610/18 – ?

The Minnesota outbreak of 2017 lasted nearly 5 months, but that includes the 42 days that they went measles-free.

Why 42 days? That’s equal to two incubation periods and if that much time has passed since the last person was infectious, there is little danger that there is still a missed case of measles in the community.

However, since there have been recent cases in Rockland County, we would be are now into the 6th month, mid-March, to get to that same point now.

Why has this outbreak been so hard to control?

“8 separate index cases, all with exposures to ongoing measles outbreak in Israel.”

Measles Review for Providers

Folks keep reintroducing measles into the community!

And immunization rates in the zip codes most affected by the outbreaks were as low as 54% at the start of the outbreak.

What else do we know?

Nine schools, now in compliance, were fined because they didn’t follow the Rockland County Health Commissioners order to keep unvaccinated and undervaccinated students out of school and provide immunization records and attendance records to the Rockland County Department of Health.

“ALL schools within the Village of New Square and any school with less than an 80% MMR vaccination rate within the geographical area affected by the measles outbreak (Spring Valley, Monsey) will be required to keep un- or under-vaccinated students home until 21 days have passed since the last confirmed measles case in Rockland.”

Health Department Announces Increased School Exclusions Due to Measles Outbreak

We don’t know why they aren’t quarantining all intentionally unvaccinated kids from school until the outbreak is over…

We do know that at least six people have been hospitalized in the Rockland County measles outbreak, including one child who ended up in the pediatric intensive care unit.

And we know that vaccines are safe and necessary! Get vaccinated and stop the outbreaks.

“Children 6 months through 11 months of age get an MMR vaccine now. Getting an MMR vaccine now will help give them some protection against measles. They will still have to get a vaccine at 12-15 months of age and again at 4-6 years of age.

Children 1 through 3 years of age who have already received their first MMR vaccine should get a second MMR vaccine now, as long as 28 days have passed since the first MMR vaccine was given to them. This second MMR vaccine will count for school entry.”

In fact, in Rockland County and other areas being hit with an outbreak, kids should get an early MMR, when they are six months old. And they can get their second dose early too, as early as 4 weeks after their first dose when they turn 12 months old.

Lastly, we know that you shouldn’t believe any of the anti-vaccine misinformation that is going around that might scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids. That’s why we have these outbreaks…

More on the The Rockland County Measles Outbreak

Updated May 8, 2019

Fact Checking Sharyl Attkisson on the Measles Outbreaks

Breaking News!

Erin Elizabeth and Sharyl Attkisson reporting on measles outbreaks. What could go right?
Erin Elizabeth and Sharyl Attkisson reporting on measles outbreaks. What could go right?

Anti-vaccine folks are spreading fake news and propaganda from Sharyl Attkisson again.

Fact Checking Sharyl Attkisson on the Measles Outbreaks

While that’s probably not really news to anyone, let’s see what we got here…

“Bottom line is that they say that 31 of the 124 are not vaccinated. So guess what that means? You do the math, the rest are vaccinated.”

Erin Elizabeth

Her source?

An abc7NY article, Health Alert: 124 cases of measles now confirmed in Rockland County, which apparently was talking about both the outbreak in New York and another outbreak in Washington.

There are 35 cases in Washington, and “officials confirm that 31 of those confirmed patients had not been vaccinated against measles.”

What about in New York?

When this was published, there were 96 cases in Rockland County, 50 cases in Brooklyn, and 6 cases in Orange County. Almost all cases were unvaccinated.
When this was published, there were fewer cases in the outbreak, but still, almost all cases were unvaccinated.

Although the case counts have gone up – 128 in Rockland County and 64 in Brooklyn, it is unlikely that the percentages of unvaccinated to vaccinated have changed that much.

You do the math, even with the extra cases, you can’t get to 93 vaccinated people in the outbreak.

Bottom line, as in every other measles outbreak, the kids in the New York measles outbreak are almost all unvaccinated.

At it's worst, measles causes encephalitis or kills you! What's wrong with these people?
At it’s worst, measles causes encephalitis or kills you! What’s wrong with these people?

Anti-vaccine folks are panicking over the outbreaks and are putting out misinformation in overdrive.

“This is a very big article for us.”

Erin Elizabeth

Erin apparently thought she had a scoop. She “found” the first measles outbreak in which most kids were vaccinated! Except she didn’t… If she had done a little research and checked the outbreak stats on the health department website, she would have seen that.

Or she could have just read the article…

The 31 unvaccinated folks in the abc7NY article are clearly from the Oregon/Washington Outbreak.
The 31 unvaccinated folks in the abc7NY article are clearly from the Oregon/Washington Outbreak.

Don’t let them scare you into keeping your kids unvaccinated and at risk, especially when measles is on the rise.

More on Fact Checking Sharyl Attkisson on the Measles Outbreaks

Sharyl Attkisson’s Full Measure Vaccine Debate Bombshell

A bombshell about vaccines from Sharyl Attkisson?

To be fair, even Sharyl Attkisson doesn't go so far as to talk about a CIA cover-up over vaccines or a banned video. That's just something extra that Natural News threw in to make her story sound even scarier.
To be fair, even Sharyl Attkisson doesn’t go so far as to talk about a CIA cover-up over vaccines or a banned video. That’s just something extra that the Health Ranger threw in to make her story sound even scarier.

The only bombshell that’s dropping about Sharyl Attkisson is that someone hasn’t gotten fired yet for putting her show on TV.

Sharyl Attkisson’s Full Measure Vaccine Debate Bombshell

To be fair, it’s a bit of a stretch to say that her show, Full Measure, is “on TV.”

“Full Measure is broadcast to 43 million households in 79 markets on 162 Sinclair Broadcast Group stations, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, MyTV, Univision and Telemundo affiliates.”

The show appears at various times on various channels, kind of like an infomercial. And these stations, owed by Sinclair Broadcasting Group, have to run the show.

The show isn’t really on ABC, NBC, or even FOX or CW… It is only on affiliate stations that Sinclair Broadcast Group owns.

And like an infomercial, it seems like Sharyl Attkisson has something to sell.

There is nothing new in Sharyl Attkisson's report or techniques.
There is nothing new in Sharyl Attkisson’s report or techniques.

Unfortunately, some folks are still buying it…

You shouldn’t. Vaccines are safe and necessary and certainly aren’t associated with autism.

More on Sharyl Attkisson’s Full Measure Vaccine Debate Bombshell