Posts Tagged vaccination
The Anti-Vax Movement Turns Anti-Bix: Weetabix and Autism
Posted by Marsh in Media, Pseudomedicine, Public Health, vaccination on July 6, 2009
Jenny McCarthy is an idiot. Even better than that, she’s an American idiot, being idiotic over there in that America place. That’s not a good thing for America, fair enough – but at least it’s enough to give us that lovely sense of smug superiority that we English enjoy over our formerly-colonial brethren. ’Wheat and dairy make kids high,’ she says. ’Paediatricians know nothing‘. And then there’s:
“I do believe sadly it’s going to take some diseases coming back to realize that we need to change and develop vaccines that are safe. If the vaccine companies are not listening to us, it’s their fucking fault that the diseases are coming back. They’re making a product that’s shit. If you give us a safe vaccine, we’ll use it. It shouldn’t be polio versus autism“. Source: Time magazine, April 2009.
She even released a video to tell us all about it, replete with demonic smile and crazy crazy eyes – originally hosted on www.generationrescue.org (I’m not hyperlinking to them – call me petty), after a wave of criticism/ridicule it was taken down. Fortunately, this being the internet and all, nothing is ever lost – you can witness the McCarthy rant on youtube for yourself (part 1, part 2). Go ahead, I urge you, it’s nothing short of astounding. Oh that Miss McCarthy, she’s such a crazy yankie loon, we’d never get anything like that over here, not us smart and superior, many-sceptered-isle, green-and-pleasant-lands sorts.
So could somebody please tell that to the Daily Mail? Because, frankly, they’re letting the side down, and showing us up. ’I helped my son cope better with autism by changing his diet,’ the headline claims. The headline claims. The article itself actually tells a different story. Read the rest of this entry »
Measles Myths
Posted by Mike in Media, Public Health, vaccination on June 9, 2009
Sir Sandy Macara, the former chairman of the British Medical Association, suggested last week that the MMR vaccine should be made compulsory in the UK, for children wishing to take advantage of a state education. This follows a huge increase in measles cases, which is directly attributable to the decline in vaccination rates, in turn attributable to uncritical reporting of the discredited Wakefield study which linked the MMR vaccine to autism.
As part of their coverage, the BBC’s regular “Have Your Say” feature posed the question “Should the MMR jab be compulsory?”. The comments which followed made my blood boil and my toes curl. So, for your delectation, here is a list of myths I’ve picked up from HYS – with responses.
If it helps, I could hear Mark Crislip’s voice in my head as I wrote this.
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