Europe, especially France, has been hit by a major outbreak of measles, which the U.N. health agency is blaming on the failure to vaccinate all children.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that France had 4,937 reported cases of measles between January and March — compared with 5,090 cases during all of 2010. In all, more than 6,500 cases have been reported in 33 European nations…
WHO has found that young people between 10 and 19 have not been getting immunized as they should, she said.
To prevent measles outbreaks, officials need to vaccinate about 90 percent of the population. But vaccination rates across Europe have been patchy in recent years and have never fully recovered from a discredited 1998 British study linking the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella to autism. Parents abandoned the vaccine in droves and vaccination rates for parts of the U.K. dropped to about 50 percent.
That discredited 1998 study comes from fraud Andrew Wakefield. His honesty in science is at about the level of a global warming denier and creationists. Yet despite that – and despite all the deaths he has caused – he is still viewed as some great savior.
Of course, we can’t blame him 100%. Maybe 97.4%, but not 100%. The media has a hand in all this, too. Whenever any outlet talks about vaccines, they almost always allow kooks to have a place at the table. It’s outrageous. These kooks present highly selective statistics, distort tiny, inconclusive studies, and scaremonger. I’ve seen it locally and nationally. In fact, the only news organization of note that I ever see take these liars to task is CNN, and even then not always. Anderson Cooper seems to be the only person around who has any balls on the matter.
Filed under: News | Tagged: Anderson Cooper, Andrew Wakefield, Anti-vax, Deaths, Fraud, Vaccines, Vaccines are safe |
For the Sake of Science 
Your blog and others that publicize this issue are helping. I have had several friends who were worried about what they have heard from the anti-vax crowd. I keep a folder of factual information on my computer, and keep it updated from blogs like yours.
When my friends ask me about vaccinations – I always forward that folder. Every friend that I’ve forwarded the information to has vaccinated their child.
I teach at a school with 700 kids PK – 5th, and 4 are are not vaccinated. 2 are immune compromised due to cancer treatment and can not be vaccinated, one is allergic to something in one set of vaccinations (he has the other vaccinations), one has crazy parents.
The last one is going to be banned from school at the beginning of next year, because his waiver is up.
Great policy from your school system, Kimberly. The nut bags should not be allowed to compromise everyone else. If they want to be different, then let them stew by themselves and stay away from the rest of us.
Even the NY Times doesn’t get it in its current article on that scumbag Wakefield. They mix in praise for him by others along with the truth.