Maine confirms its first case of measles in 20 years

Yazata said:
I don't really doubt that at least one of these seemingly mythical "anti-vaxers" is out there who has convinced somebody to not get vaccinated. The question is how prevalent it is.
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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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I'm reasonably alert and I've never personally encountered any 'anti-vaxers' or ever seen any of their literature. The only reason that I have for thinking they exist at all is the rather hysterical stuff that I read written by those who claim to oppose them.
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That's great. I have met them - both online and in person. They exist.
But even here in the SF bay area, they still aren't at the recommended 95% or whatever it is, more like 80%. But again, I don't think that shortfall is the result of any organized anti-vaccination movement. Like MR says, it's more typically the result of laziness or disinterest.
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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.
 
Yazata:

Yazata said:
Well sure, as long as you hedge your propositions with words like some, they effectively become unfalsifiable.
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It's easy to find statements on the web from people who will tell you outright that they aren't vaccinating their children because they believe vaccines are dangerous. The issue of falsifiability goes away once you find just one of those accounts. Go take a look.

I don't really doubt that at least one of these seemingly mythical "anti-vaxers" is out there who has convinced somebody to not get vaccinated. The question is how prevalent it is.
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It's prevalent enough to make a difference.

In Australia, we have several political parties that put out an anti-vaccinating message. Some people vote for those parties, and presumably act in accordance with the views they promote regardless of whether representatives of those parties get elected or not. That is, the parties reflected the views of their constitutents.

I'm reasonably alert and I've never personally encountered any 'anti-vaxers' or ever seen any of their literature.
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It's not hard to find their literature, if you bother to look.

It may well be that you do not typically mix company with people who believe vaccines are harmful, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Beware of extrapolating from your own personal experience. You might not personally know many Trump voters either, but there's no doubt they exist in great numbers.
 
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.
 
Do you believe vaccines cause autism, Magical Realist?
Would/do you vaccinate your own children?
 
You didn't answer my question, Magical Realist. Try again.

And yes, I am up on all my vaccinations, and so are my children.
 
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?
 
Yes. Your turn, Magical Realist. Please answer the questions I asked you. Then we can discuss my vaccinations further.
 
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