4 Ways Vaccine Skeptics Mislead You on Measles and More – KFF Health News

Measles is on the rise in the United States. The number of cases in the first quarter of this year was approximately This was 17 times more than thatOn average, during the same period in each of the prior four years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. half the people infected – Mainly children – have been admitted to hospital.

It’s going to get worse, mainly because a growing number of parents are deciding not to vaccinate their children against measles, as well as diseases like polio and whooping cough. 80% of measles cases this year are in people who are not vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Many parents have been affected by a flood of misinformation spread by politicians, podcast hosts and influencers on television and social media. These personalities repeat decades-old beliefs that erode trust in the established science supporting routine childhood vaccines. KFF Health News examined the rhetoric and explained why it’s misguided:

no big deal

A common distortion is that vaccines are not necessary because the diseases they prevent are not dangerous enough, or rare enough, to be of concern. Cynics accuse public health officials and the media of spreading fear about measles, even though cases are being reported in 19 states.

For example, an article posted on the National Vaccine Information Center’s website — a regular source of vaccine misinformation — argued that the resurgence of concern about disease is “‘the sky is falling’ propaganda.” It called measles, mumps, chicken pox, and influenza “politically incorrect.”

Measles causes fatal disease 2 out of every 1,000 According to the CDC, children are infected. If this sounds like a bearable risk, it is worth pointing out that a large portion of children with measles will need to be hospitalized for pneumonia and other serious complications. For every 10 cases of measles, one child develops the disease ear infection Which can cause permanent hearing loss. Another strange effect is measles virus can destroy A person’s existing immunity, meaning they will have a harder time recovering from influenza and other common illnesses.

According to one study, measles vaccines have averted the deaths of approximately 94 million people, especially children, over the past 50 years. april analysis Led by the World Health Organization. Along with vaccinations against polio and other diseases, vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives globally.

Some skeptics argue that vaccine-preventable diseases are no longer a threat because they have become relatively rare in the U.S. (true – because of vaccination.) This argument led Florida’s Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, to state that the mother- Fathers told they can send their unvaccinated children to school amid a measles outbreak in February. “You’ll look at the headlines and you’ll think the sky is falling,” Ladapo said On News Nation newscast. “There’s a lot of immunity.”

As this lax attitude leads parents to refuse vaccination, protective herd immunity will wane, and outbreaks will grow larger and faster. A rapid measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019 affected the undervaccinated population, causing 83 deaths within four months. Even more so due to the chronic lack of measles vaccination in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 5,600 people are dying Last year, more than 200 people died due to this widespread disease.

The ‘You Never Know’ Trope

Since the early days of vaccines, they have been frowned upon by a section of the public because they are unnatural compared to the abundance of infection and the nature of plague. has become “bad” Decades redefined, In the 1800s, vaccine skeptics claimed that people got smallpox from the smallpox vaccine Sprouted horns And behave like animals. More recently, they blame vaccines for diseases ranging from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to autism to immune system disruption. Studies do not support these claims. However, skeptics argue that their claims are valid because the vaccines have not been adequately tested.

In fact, vaccines are one of the most studied medical interventions. Over the past century, large-scale studies and clinical trials have tested vaccines during their development and after their widespread use. More than 12,000 people took part clinical trials The most recent vaccine approved prevents measles, mumps and rubella. Such large numbers allow researchers to detect rare risks, which is a major concern because vaccines are given to millions of healthy people.

To assess long-term risks, researchers sift through reams of data for signs of harm. For example, a Danish group analyzed a database A study of more than 657,000 children found that those who were vaccinated against measles as children were no more likely to be diagnosed with autism later than those who were not vaccinated. In another study, researchers analyzed the records 805,000 children The study looked at children born between 1990 and 2001 and found no evidence that multiple vaccinations could weaken children’s immune systems.

Still, those who spread vaccine misinformation, such as candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., dismiss large-scale, scientifically tested studies. For example, Kennedy argues that clinical trials of new vaccines are unreliable because vaccinated children are not reliable Comparison with placebo group In which saline solution or any other substance is available without any effect. Instead, many modern trials compare updated vaccines with older vaccines. This is because it is unethical to put children at risk by giving them sham vaccines when the protective effect of vaccination is known. one in Clinical trials of the 1950s Because of the polio vaccines, 16 children in the placebo group died of polio and 34 children became paralyzed, said study author Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A book On the first polio vaccine.

Too-Much-Too-Soon Trope

Many best-selling vaccine books on Amazon promote the risky idea that parents should skip or delay their children’s vaccines. “Not all vaccines on CDC’s schedule may be right for all children at all times,” writes Paul Thomas in his bestselling book “The Vaccine-Friendly Plan.” He supports this conviction, saying that children who “have followed my protocols are the healthiest in the world.”

Since the book was published, Thomas’s medical license was temporarily suspended in Oregon and Washington. Oregon Medical Board Documented how Thomas persuaded parents to forego CDC-recommended vaccines, and reported that he “reduced” the disagreeing mother to tears. Many children in their care suffered from whooping cough and rotavirus, diseases that could have been easily prevented with vaccines, the board wrote. Thomas recommended fish oil supplements and homeopathy instead of an emergency tetanus vaccine to an unvaccinated child with a deep laceration to the skull. The boy contracted severe tetanus, which left him in the hospital for nearly two months, where he required intubation, tracheotomy, and a feeding tube to survive.

The CDC-recommended vaccination schedule is designed to protect children at the most vulnerable points of their lives and minimize side effects. The combination vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella is not given to infants in the first year of life because antibodies temporarily passed on from their mother may interfere with the immune response. And because some children do not generate a strong response to that first dose, the CDC recommends a second dose when the child enters kindergarten because measles and other viruses spread rapidly in group settings.

It may be unwise to delay MMR dosing further because data suggests Children who are vaccinated at age 10 or older are more likely to have adverse reactions such as seizures or fatigue.

About a dozen other vaccines have different timelines, with overlapping windows for best response. studies have shown MMR vaccines can be given safely and effectively in combination with other vaccines.

The ‘They Don’t Want You To Know’ Trope

Kennedy compared the Florida surgeon general to Galileo in his foreword to LaDapo’s new book on overcoming fear in public health. Just as the Roman Catholic Inquisition punished the renowned astronomer for promoting theories about the universe, Kennedy suggests that the scientific establishment persecutes dissenting voices on vaccines for nefarious reasons.

Kennedy writes, “The persecution of scientists and doctors who dare to challenge contemporary orthodoxy is not a new phenomenon.” His fellow lawyer Nicole Shanahan has campaigned on the idea that Conversation about vaccine harms Has been censored and the CDC and other federal agencies hide data Because of corporate influence.

Claims like “they don’t want you to know” are not new among anti-vaccine groups, even though it has long been a major voice in the movement. The most-listened-to podcast in America, “The Joe Rogan Experience” regularly features guests who cast doubt on the scientific consensus. Last year on the showKennedy reiterated the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism.

Rather than ignore that concern, epidemiologists have taken it seriously. They have conducted more than a dozen studies Searched for a link between vaccines and autism, and repeatedly found none. “We have conclusively rejected the theory that vaccines are linked to autism,” said Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia. “So, the public health establishment shuts down those conversations immediately.”

Federal agencies are transparent about seizures, arm pain and other reactions caused by the vaccines. and government There is a program to compensate Persons whose injuries are scientifically determined. nearby 1 to 3.5 out of every million doses Measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines can cause life-threatening allergic reactions; A person’s lifetime risk of death from a lightning strike is estimated to be four times higher.

“The most concrete thing I can say is that my daughter has had all the vaccines and every pediatrician and public health person I know has vaccinated their children,” Meyerowitz-Katz said. “Nobody would do it if they thought there were serious risks.”