My editorial in today's Newark Star Ledger!

[Dendarii_Dame]

Re the (obnoxious) comments:

I saw a t-shirt that said, “You can be anything you want to be over the Internet. Why do so many people choose to be stupid?”

[LavenderBlue]

Follow-up letter about the editorial in today’s Star Ledger:

Letters: Vaccine, beach access and tax cuts - nj.com

The vaccine debate: No link to autism

The letter by Edward Parsons (“Opposing view needed,” Nov. 27) supporting the decision by the West Orange Library to deny Stacey Mintzer Herlihy the opportunity to speak about the importance of vaccinations shows, sadly, the lack of understanding of the scientific method by lay people.

The most likely reason no one of any standing was available to speak against vaccinations is because no such person exists. No controlled study — and yes, there have been many — has ever shown any link between vaccinations and autism, nor has any study documented any issue with vaccinations that is more threatening than the disease prevented by the vaccination.

Further, the failure to require that all children be vaccinated places everyone at risk. Reports have shown an increase in whooping cough linked to parents’ refusal to vaccinate their children. The overwhelming advantages of all vaccinations have been thoroughly documented, and claiming that a few anecdotal reports rise to the level of science is nonsense.

Denying Herlihy the opportunity to present invaluable health information will result in more childhood illnesses and deaths.

Robert Checchio, Dunellen

I used to be sort of okay with allowing religous and philosophical exemptions on vaccines. But it’s just too dangerous so I’ve changed my mind. Vaccinate them or homeschool them.

[LavenderBlue]

On a related note, that fucked up congressional moron Dan Burton is currently holding an anti-vaccine hearing:

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

Jackass.

[Jackmannii]

At least Burton is retiring, and it’s not clear who if anyone would carry on his dogged antivax vendetta.

There are good commentaries about the hearings here from people in the autism community.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@LavenderBlue

<snip> Vaccinate them or homeschool them.

I go even further - vaccinate them period. But then, I am from a known socialist hotbed.

Nice follow-up letter; that’s one of my current pet peeves, that so many people think that science and junk science should be given equal weight and equal representation. No, they shouldn’t. A crackpot yelling about his favourite lunacy is not the same as a peer-reviewed, well-educated scientist.

[Zyada]

The more I think about it, I don’t like the term “herd immunity” used in this context. It is certainly a scientifically correct term, and useful in an academic setting.

However, I think in a contentious discussion such as this, that phrase is actually counter-productive. Being “part of a herd” is generally considered to be something you don’t desire. It also feeds into these people’s self-image of being a rebel, knowing something that others don’t and/or being a victim of a grand conspiracy.

I suggest that we talk about this as a wall of immunity. Each vaccine given is one brick in that wall. Every person must contribute to the wall, or they are a hole in the wall. We’ve successfully walled away smallpox, we should be able to wall away many more diseases.

[Dendarii_Dame]

@Zyada

We’ve successfully walled away smallpox, we should be able to wall away many more diseases.

Recently I read about another disease we’ve “walled away”: rinderpest. It affected animals, which is one of the reasons they could get rid of it. People were more willing to vaccinate their herds than their families.

[Inner_Stickler]

Has anyone else been getting a result too large error for the comments? Maybe that’s the universe’s way of saying, you’ve done all you could.

[Leaper]

@gracer

I… just… can’t… :eek:

When you say something like that, out loud… does that not make you realise how insane you are?

Because I’m sure the caller thinks that Offit is a bought and paid for tool of Big Pharma, deliberately lying to the nation to line his pockets, so of course nothing he says will ever change his/her mind.

The saddest part of this whole thing (well, one of many, I suppose) is how the OP’s (and Kolga’s, if I read that post right) book had to be written and published at all. Sign of the times, I tell ya.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@Zyada

The more I think about it, I don’t like the term “herd immunity” used in this context. It is certainly a scientifically correct term, and useful in an academic setting.

However, I think in a contentious discussion such as this, that phrase is actually counter-productive. Being “part of a herd” is generally considered to be something you don’t desire. It also feeds into these people’s self-image of being a rebel, knowing something that others don’t and/or being a victim of a grand conspiracy.

I suggest that we talk about this as a wall of immunity. Each vaccine given is one brick in that wall. Every person must contribute to the wall, or they are a hole in the wall. We’ve successfully walled away smallpox, we should be able to wall away many more diseases.

You make a very interesting point. Wall of immunity - I like it!

[Ferret_Herder]

@Dendarii_Dame

Recently I read about another disease we’ve “walled away”: rinderpest. It affected animals, which is one of the reasons they could get rid of it. People were more willing to vaccinate their herds than their families.

That, plus the other method used to eradicate it was slaughtering the infected animals.

[Inner_Stickler]

@Leaper

Because I’m sure the caller thinks that Offit is a bought and paid for tool of Big Pharma, deliberately lying to the nation to line his pockets, so of course nothing he says will ever change his/her mind.

Heck, even in the comments for the editorial, some denialist posted a ‘summary’ of proven points, among them that LavenderBlue, Kolga and some of the more active pro-vaccination responders are pharma shills. Apparently accusation and proven fact are the same in that world.

[LavenderBlue]

@Leaper

Because I’m sure the caller thinks that Offit is a bought and paid for tool of Big Pharma, deliberately lying to the nation to line his pockets, so of course nothing he says will ever change his/her mind.

The saddest part of this whole thing (well, one of many, I suppose) is how the OP’s (and Kolga’s, if I read that post right) book had to be written and published at all. Sign of the times, I tell ya.

The accomplished doctor who wrote the foreword to our book is chief of the Infectious Disease Unit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Offit has been involved in the development of a vaccine for rotavirus, a virus that can cause all sorts of horrible side effects in little babies. He is the author of several books on vaccines.

He cannot do book tours because of death threats:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13auti.html

But there will be no book tour for the doctor, Paul A. Offit, author of “Autism’s False Prophets.” He has had too many death threats.

I spoke to Dr. Offit directly several times while we were writing the book. He is a patient and kind man who has done much good in this world. It says much about our times that he is afraid to show up at a book store while Dr. Andrew Wakefield, chief promoter of the bullshit vaccines cause autism theory, has no such problems doing so.

[LavenderBlue]

Incidentally here’s a study backing up my premise that giving journalistic credence to the anti-vax side is a bad idea:

The effect of falsely balanced reporting of the autism-vaccine controversy on vaccine safety perceptions and behavioral intentions - PubMed

Participants who read the balanced article were less certain that vaccines are safe, more likely to believe experts were less certain that vaccines are safe and less likely to have their future children vaccinated. Results suggest that balancing conflicting views of the autism-vaccine controversy may lead readers to erroneously infer the state of expert knowledge regarding vaccine safety and negatively impact vaccine intentions

.

[Zyada]

@Cat_Whisperer

You make a very interesting point. Wall of immunity - I like it!

And I keep thinking of the motto - Are you part of the wall, or are you the a hole in the wall?

[Cat_Whisperer]

@LavenderBlue

The accomplished doctor who wrote the foreword to our book is chief of the Infectious Disease Unit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Offit has been involved in the development of a vaccine for rotavirus, a virus that can cause all sorts of horrible side effects in little babies. He is the author of several books on vaccines.

He cannot do book tours because of death threats:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/13auti.html&lt;snip&gt;

Good grief.