Maine confirms its first case of measles in 20 years

From Dr. David Gorski, a surgeon at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Institute:

"The bottom line is that hard-core antivaxers are a minority. They are and remain cranks. Moreover, for the most part they are marginalized, which is as it should be. Unfortunately, they have an outsized influence on reasonable parents who just don’t have the scientific background to recognize their misinformation and pseudoscience for what they are, contributing to vaccine hesitancy. A President who shares their fears and has no problem spouting off on Twitter or using the tools of the Presidency to spread whatever message pops into his head at any given time could easily increase that influence."

From VOX, out of an article on anti-vaxxing by Julia Belluz:

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Every health researcher I talked to for this piece worried that President Trump’s seeming willingness to court anti-vaxxers like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is emboldening the movement.

Infectious diseases doctor Paul Offit has linked the growing vaccine refusal to “[this] age where science denialism is institutionalized” — noting that several of Trump’s Cabinet picks hold views that are antithetical to science. “It’s just a world turned upside down.”

“[Vaccine denialism] could get worse under Trump,” Omer said, “not only because of his rhetoric but because of the cuts to the public health funding,” referring to the fact that money for public health measures like immunizations is on the chopping block under the current Republican Congress.
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That's great. I have met them - both online and in person. They exist.

There is no question that anti-vaxxers are having an effect. Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at the Boston's Children's Hospital, lists the top seven reasons parents don't get their kids vaccinated. Number 3 is they fear they will get autism. This, of course, has been completely debunked, but is the #1 tool that anti-vaxxers continue to use to convince parents to avoid vaccination. Number 5 is that vaccines are full of dangerous toxins, which is another common anti-vaxxer talking point. And number 7 is that they trust people in their communities more than they trust doctors - so they are clearly listening to anti-vaxxers.

 

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Antivaxxers are as ubiquitous as witches were in medieval Europe, spreading plagues and cursing babies just by looking at them. They can often be found hanging out in Disneyland with Jenny McCarthy T-shirts sneezing their cooties on defenseless children. At night they gather in suburban mansions and hold infection parties to get all their own children sick. These people really should be hunted down and burned at the stake in the holy name of Science.

 

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Are you up on all your vaccinations James R?

 

When's the last time you had your measles vaccine?

 

Ladies and Gentlemen - Magical Realist, and his "magical" ability to avoid answering a direct (and simple) question.

What's wrong MR? Afraid to answer it?

 

No, just discredited like any other anti-science cranks.

 

lol