Tag: vaccine research

What Makes Someone Anti-Vaccine?

Few people like to call themselves anti-vaccine.

Even Jessica Biel says that she isn't anti-vaccine...
Even Jessica Biel says that she isn’t anti-vaccine…

They instead choose other labels for themselves, such as pro-safe vaccine, pro-vaccine choice, pro-informed consent, or that they are a vaccine skeptic.

What Makes Someone Anti-Vaccine?

Don’t be fooled though.

Most people think that Jessica Biel is anti-vaccine.

Most of these folks are clearly anti-vaccine.

Do you think Jenny McCarthy is anti-vaccine?
Do you think Jenny McCarthy is anti-vaccine?

How can you tell?

Folks who are anti-vax push myths and misinformation about vaccines.

Whether it is because they believe that vaccines aren’t safe, aren’t necessary, or that they don’t work, they work to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

“You don’t have to dig far to know that vaccines have caused tremendous harm. Have they had benefits? Absolutely. Which is why I remain somewhat on the neutral side in saying that I am not anti-vaccine,” said Dr. Paul Thomas. “I’m pro-safe vaccines. I’ve progressed along to the point where I now don’t believe there is such a thing.”

Still not sure of the differences?

Does that sound like he isn't anti-vaccine?
Does that sound like he isn’t anti-vax?

You can typically tell if someone is anti-vaccine by how they answer common questions about vaccines. Ask about shedding, MTHFR, or SV40, etc.

Even Jim Carrey said that he wasn't anti-vaccine!
Even Jim Carrey said that he wasn’t anti-vax!

Remember when Kat Von D said she was going to raise her baby without vaccinations?

“Just to set the record straight from the beginning, I just want to say I am not anti-Semitic, and I am not an anti-vaxxer.”

Kat Von D

Does that mean she is now vaccinating her kid?

“What I am is a first-time mother. I am one of those moms that reads everything. Anything that is going in my baby or on my baby, I research like a complete and total nerd. After doing a bunch of research and reading the ingredients, naturally I experienced some hesitancy.”

Kat Von D

Nope.

“Since then, we have decided as parents to consult with our pediatrician and just let him educate us and guide us. But, unlike before, I have learned my lesson and I am choosing not to make our decision or any of our baby’ s health records public.”

Kat Von D

Hopefully she chose a pediatrician who isn’t anti-vaccine…

Celebrities Who Say They Aren’t Anti-Vaccine

Who else has said that they aren’t anti-vax?

  • Robert “I’m not anti-vaccine. I want safe vaccines.” DeNiro
  • Mayim “we are a non-vaccinating family… but I’m not anti” Bailik
  • Jenna “I’m not anti-vax” Elfman
  • Kirstie “I’m not ANTI vaccines but we MUST take responsibility 4 choosing which ones WE give OUR children & ourselves. They aren’t ALL harmless” Alley

Anyone else?

More on What Makes Someone Anti-Vaccine?

More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic

Are you skeptical about vaccinating your kids?

What is a vaccine skeptic?

That’s good!

You should be skeptical of just about everything. Many of us are.

It’s good to ask questions, do research, and doubt what people tell you…

The thing is, you can’t just be skeptical about stuff you don’t want to believe. You should be skeptical about everything. So don’t blindly buy into anti-vaccine arguments because they’re what you want to hear.

They’re likely the type of propaganda you need to be more skeptical of!

More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic

Wait, why would I want you to become a vaccine skeptic?

Well, if you do it right, you are going to realize that vaccines are safe, with few risks, and that they are very necessary.

Our first 8 questions hopefully got you started on seeing through anti-vaccine arguments, but here are some more you should think about:

  1. If the MMR vaccine is associated with autism, then how come the incidence of autism went up when they stopped using the MMR vaccine in Japan? Remember, Japan stopped using the combination MMR vaccine in 1993 because it had been linked to aseptic meningitis (the problem was with the mumps vaccine strain they were using, which was different than the one used in the United States, where there was no aseptic meningitis issue). And rates of autism have increased in Japan, just as they have in other countries. So much for the idea that the MMR vaccine is associated with autism, right?
  2. If vaccines don’t even work, then how come every time vaccination rates have dropped in an area, we have seen outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases?
  3. If vaccines are associated with SIDS, then why did the incidence of SIDS go down so much when we put infants to sleep on their backs, even as they were vaccinated and protected against more diseases?
  4. If vaccines don’t really work and we just change the names of the diseases, like smallpox became monkeypox, then where are all of the kids with monkeypox?!?
  5. If vaccines are associated with SIDS, then why didn’t the incidence of SIDS go down in Sweden when they stopped using the DPT vaccine between 1979 and 1996?
  6. Why didn’t the reanalysis of CDC’s MMR autism data, the whole thing behind the CDC Whistleblower and Brian Hooker’s paper (which ended up being retracted), find an association between the MMR vaccine and autism in everyone, not just the small subset of African American males?
  7. If the Brady Bunch measles episode was supposed to push the idea that measles was mild, then why did Marsha end up vaccinating her own kids?
  8. What else do you believe? Do you believe in chemtrails? Homeopathy? That you shouldn’t treat kids with cancer with chemotherapy?

Be more skeptical of the misinformation that anti-vaccine folks use to scare you away from vaccinating and protecting your kids.

More on Becoming a Vaccine Skeptic

Inappropriate Use of Vaccine Studies

Have you ever wondered how anti-vaccine do their vaccine research?

These types of binders of anti-vaccine information are typically filled with vaccine studies that folks end up misusing to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
These types of binders of anti-vaccine information are typically filled with vaccine studies that folks end up misusing to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

While they used to have to rely on Google University for their vaccine research, they now have folks making them ready made binders chock full of misinformation!

Misusing Vaccine Studies

As with their misuse of Google and Pubmed, a lot of the problems with these binders is that anti-vaccine folks cherry pick studies that support what they want to hear.

And in many cases, they read things into studies, thinking they support their views against vaccines, when they really don’t.

You're not gonna catch measles from someone's urine....
You’re not gonna catch measles from someone’s urine….

Is this 1995 study, Detection of Measles Virus RNA in Urine Specimens from Vaccine Recipients, a warning about shedding?

Anti-vaccine folks would sure like you to think so, but the thing is, measles is a respiratory illness.

“In this systematic review, we have determined that there have been no confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of the measles vaccine virus.”

Greenwood et al on A systematic review of human-to-human transmission of measles vaccine virus

Detecting vaccine strain measles in urine isn’t something to be concerned about because it can’t lead to an infection.

Anyway, you’re not going to get measles from shedding after someone was vaccinated. If you do, you will be the first!

Misusing MTHFR Tests

Have you wondered why anti-vaccine are so concerned about their MTHFR test results?

“In conclusion, the invalid interpretation that the determination of the MTFHR variant is an acceptable reason for vaccine exemptions is not based on the precepts of replication and rigorous clinical testing. It is unfortunate that the loose application of our exploratory report has been misinterpreted and used to inappropriately justify exemption of children from medically indicated vaccines.”

David M Reif, Ph.D. on the Inappropriate Citation of Vaccine Article

Turns out it is because a few anti-vaccine doctors misinterpretated an old study about the smallpox vaccine.

Now that the author of that study has called them out, will they stop?

Other Vaccine Studies That Are Misused

Of course, there are more…

The article totally misinterpretated the study...
The article totally misinterpretated the study…

Remember when anti-vaccine folks thought that the polio vaccine was causing outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease?

“Well, that’s actually totally backwards. Our article suggests that FAILURE to get vaccinated with polio vaccine might set you up for Hand Food Mouth disease (EV71).”

It wasn’t…

And then there is the study that had anti-vaccine folks thinking that 38% of the kids in the Disneyland measles outbreak were vaccinated.

This isn't a study about vaccine-associated measles...
This isn’t a study about vaccine-associated measles…

The study was about new ways to detect measles vaccine reactions.

“During measles outbreak investigations, rapid detection of measles vaccine reactions is necessary to avoid unnecessary public health interventions.”

Roy et al on Rapid Identification of Measles VirusVaccine Genotype by Real-Time PCR

These are folks with a fever and a rash after their MMR vaccine.

This is not people with vaccine-associated measles.

Misusing Scientific Research

Remember when they thought that the study, Deaths Reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, United States, 1997–2013, reported that 79% of deaths in VAERS occurred on the day a child received a vaccine?

Did they read the study?
Did they read the study?

That’s not what the study said…

The study simply said that “For child death reports, 79.4% received >1 vaccine on the same day.”

It wasn’t the same day they died though.

“No concerning pattern was noted among death reports submitted to VAERS during 1997–2013.”

Moro et al on Deaths Reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System

In fact, the study “did not detect any concerning patterns that would suggest causal relationships between vaccination and deaths.”

What about when anti-vaccine folks say that only 1% of vaccine side effects are reported to VAERS? That has to be true, right?

Not exactly.

That claim is based on an old study about drug reactions and was not specific to vaccines.

“To counter the propaganda by anti-vaccine activists, the research and public health communities have to adjust their communication.”

Stephan Guttinger on The anti-vaccination debate and the microbiome

Does any of this surprise you?

Can we counter this type of anti-vaccine propaganda and keep it from scaring parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids?

Sure.

But first we all have to recognize that they are doing it!

More on Misusing Vaccine Studies

The CDC Vaccine Price List Conspiracy is Officially Dead

You remember the CDC Vaccine Price List Conspiracy, right?

The birth of a new anti-vaccine conspiracy theory!
The birth of a new anti-vaccine conspiracy theory!

After all, they just made it up last week..

Anyway, it was notable for not only being one of the sillier conspiracy theories anti-vaccine folks have come up with lately, but for spawning a secondary conspiracy theory that was even worse.

Apparently you can make up your own anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.
You can’t make this stuff up – apparently you can…

Yes, they thought that there “was so much hysteria around measles” because the vaccines were expiring.

The CDC Vaccine Price List Conspiracy is Officially Dead

Of course, MMR vaccine isn’t expiring…

This box of MMR was received in March 2019 and doesn’t expire until October 2020.

And those expiring contracts?

They were renewed! Just like they are every year.

So did everyone stop talking about measles and getting folks vaccinated?

Are all of the measles outbreaks over? Do they still have medical martial law in New York?

Did you buy into this conspiracy theory? Although it was obviously ridiculous, it only took a few minutes of real research to find proof of why it was so ridiculous.

More on the CDC Vaccine Price List Conspiracy