NYT's Eric Lipton Defends Anti-Vaxxers as Measles Ravages Europe

By Alex Berezow, PhD — August 29, 2019 @ American Council on Science and Health

What should we make of New York Times reporter Eric Lipton? Here is a man whose words are constrained neither by facts nor basic decency.

He fell onto our radar screen a few years ago after he he wrote hit pieces targeting two high-profile scientists, Kevin Folta and Nancy Beck. Because he is a philosophy major with no expertise in science, he did the only thing a thoroughly unqualified person can do when attempting to criticize a scientist: he launched a smear campaign, liberally using "guilt by association" (industry, bad!) and other innuendos to undermine the credibility of two reputable scientists.

Dr. Folta rightly sued Lipton for libel. But in this country, libel lawsuits are basically impossible to win. After his inevitable victory, Lipton then bragged about it on Twitter. To say that this is behavior unbecoming of a journalist at one of the most powerful institutions in the country is putting it mildly.

NYT's Eric Lipton Defends Anti-Vaxxers as Measles Ravages Europe

Well, Lipton is back. Science writer Stephan Neidenbach reported that he is defending Moms Across America, a virulently anti-vaccine organization. Let's be honest. Scaring parents away from vaccinating their kids is tantamount to promoting child abuse. Yet, here is a tweet that Lipton posted on August 28:

Monsanto is clearly guilty of potty language and planning a metaphorical beating. Nobody is being literally beaten, as Mr. Neidenbach points out. Thus, Lipton's disdain for Monsanto -- in addition to his fallacious belief that any interaction with the biotech industry is inherently nefarious -- has led him not only to twist the meaning of a cherry-picked email but to defend a group, Moms Across America (MAAM), that is utterly indefensible.

MAAM claims that vaccines contain glyphosate and cause autism. There is no good reason to believe the former statement is true, and the latter has been disproven over and over again. The website also peddles all sorts of phony medicine, such as hemp oil (the benefits and risks of which medical science basically knows nothing) and magical detox potion (for the bargain price of $35.99!) that absurdly claims to "eliminate brain fog, improve memory, and... [d]etox from heavy metals and chemicals." (Hey FDA, where are you?)

If anyone deserves a metaphorical beating, it's the scam artists at MAAM who are a clear and present danger to global public health. Yet, NYT reporter Eric Lipton defends them. Because Monsanto.
Meanwhile, measles -- a vaccine preventable illness -- is ravaging Europe. The World Health Organization just reported that there have been nearly 90,000 cases of measles in Europe so far this year alone, which is up from 84,462 cases in 2018 and 5,273 in 2016. In other words, because of malevolent forces like MAAM, measles has surged well over 1600% in 3 years in Europe.

Eric Lipton Is a Scourge on Public Health

Eric Lipton's defense of the indefensible is a scourge on public health. The New York Times recently demoted Jonathan Weisman, a deputy editor based in Washington, DC, for displaying poor judgment. If there is any justice in the universe, Lipton should face the same fate.
 

Tags: anti-vaxxers, anti-vaccine, Eric Lipton, New York Times

'Harmless' Measles Kills a Flight Attendant. Anti-Vaxxers Are to Blame

By Alex Berezow — August 13, 2019 @ American Council on Science and Health

How many times have we heard in recent years that measles is no big deal? That it's just a harmless childhood disease (nicknamed "Mickey Mouse measles" following the Disneyland outbreak)? That people who are vaccinated shouldn't be afraid of it?

Well, those typical anti-vaxxer arguments have been proven decisively wrong in the most tragic way possible: A 43-year-old woman who was a flight attendant for the Israeli airline El Al has died after contracting measles and falling into a coma from encephalitis (brain swelling). She was vaccinated as a child, but as public health officials warn, vaccine protection can wear off over time.

The Tragic Truth About Measles

People in the developed world rarely die of measles. But that wasn't always the case. According to the CDC, before there was a vaccine against it, measles infected 3 to 4 million Americans each year, hospitalized 48,000, caused encephalitis in 1,000, and killed 400 to 500.

Thanks to vaccines and modern healthcare, these numbers are way down. But that still doesn't mean that measles is harmless. The CDC further reports that approximately:

• 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who get measles are hospitalized
• 1 in 20 children with measles get pneumonia (which can be lethal)
• 1 in 1,000 children who get measles will develop encephalitis (which can cause deafness or intellectual disability)
• 1 to 3 in 1,000 children who get measles will die from respiratory or neurologic complications

There is also evidence that measles wreaks havoc on the immune system, partially "erasing" its memory of past infections. Science News reported, "The resulting 'immune amnesia' leaves people vulnerable to other viruses and bacteria that cause pneumonia, ear infections and diarrhea."

The Way of a Fool Is Right in His Own Eyes

But scientific facts and pleas for personal responsibility to protect the most vulnerable among us (the immunocompromised, children too young to be vaccinated, and the unknown among us whose vaccine has worn off) do not matter to the selfish fools who continue to reject vaccines. They have blood on their hands, they don't care, and society has not chosen to hold them accountable.
So expect this tragedy to repeat. Again and again and again.

Sicko, Southern Border-Style

April 12, 2019 By Brian C. Joondeph

Sicko is one of Michael Moore’s many movies, focusing on the U.S. health care system, costs, the uninsured, and the usual liberal talking points. Despite his many criticisms of U.S. health care, when Moore was sick with pneumonia, he chose hospitalization in a New York City hospital rather than in one of those countries with a supposedly far better health care system, say, Cuba.

He could make a sequel to Sicko, this time focusing on the southern border of the U.S. and the hordes of sick men, women, and children invading America, bringing all sorts of exotic diseases on top of the many other problems they bring, including crime. These diseases are making many Americans sicko.

It’s more than simply lice or scabies, annoying conditions, but hardly a mortal threat to Americans. Instead it’s contagious diseases that we haven’t heard much about in decades or since many of us were afflicted as children. These diseases are making the news, but as predictable as sunrise and sunset, the media and government officials are at a loss to explain the resurgence of these mostly once-eradicated conditions............. Read more

Measles epidemic in Madagascar kills more than 900, says WHO

Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG — The World Health Organization says that an epidemic of measles in Madagascar has caused more than 900 deaths.  According to WHO figures, there have been more than 68,000 cases of the disease in which 553 deaths were confirmed and another 373 suspected from measles since the outbreak began in September.  Those most at risk are infants from nine to 11 months old.

The epidemic is blamed on a low immunization rate for measles across the island nation over a period of many years, according to WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. The vaccination rate is estimated to be less than 60 percent, according to figures from WHO and UNICEF figures, he said.  Madagascar has launched a nationwide campaign to try to bring the outbreak under control, through mass vaccination campaigns and surveillance. (This appeared here.)

Observations From the Back Row: 5-3-11

...
“De Omnibus Dubitandum”

I went back into my files because there wasn’t anything the particularly struck me last night. I think killing the terrorist mastermind of 911 has sucked the air out of everything else. I am a looking at some issue that involves HAARP. Don’t ask….I still don’t get it. But at this point I think this is a fascinating issue and will follow up when I have enough time to dig into it.

These articles go back a little way. I intended to write an article about the anti-vaccine movement last year and so I started saving source articles. My problem is that I have way too many articles that I have started and stopped. Often times I need to do more research on the information, or I just don't have time and then I forget about the article because some other issues arose. I started saving these articles last year and then forgot about them until today. I intend to be more attentive to this subject.

Another dangerous loon who wants to "protect" people from vaccinations: The man who encourages the sick and dying to drink industrial bleach - Vulnerable people with cancer, Aids, influenza and malaria are being urged to drink Miracle Mineral Solutions (MMS) – described by the FDA as 'industrial bleach' (Guardian)

Unfortunately the antivaxxers pop up from time to time, attempting to waste everyone's time and create fear and havoc in health care. Here's a small sampling of recent community health problems due to lower than optimal vaccination uptake:

Vaccine superstitions have consequences: Baby boy dies from whooping cough A five-week-old South Australian boy has died from whooping cough, as state health authorities report a rise in the number of cases of the highly contagious disease. The five-week-old boy was admitted to hospital last Saturday but died in intensive care on Tuesday, SA Health said. He was the first infant to die from whooping cough in the state since 2001.

SA Chief Medical Officer Professor Paddy Phillips said "babies and young children are the most vulnerable to complications following infection, as tragically demonstrated in this case".

"Vaccination provides the best protection against whooping cough," he said.

"It's important that everyone makes sure their vaccination is up-to-date."

Prof Phillips encouraged families to protect babies by ensuring everyone who has regular contact with them is vaccinated.

"Babies under six months of age are not able to complete the required series of vaccinations so they remain especially vulnerable," he said.

There have been more than 1000 additional cases of the disease in South Australia so far in 2010 compared with the same time last year. (AAP)

Deadly Whooping Cough, Once Wiped Out, Is Back California is in the midst of its worst outbreak of whooping cough in a half-century. More than 2,700 cases have been reported so far this year — eight times last year's number at this point. Seven of the victims, all infants, have died.

And here's what really worries pediatricians like USC's Harvey Karp: Doctors thought they wiped out whooping cough when they developed vaccines decades ago.

The disease hits young children hardest, especially ones who are not vaccinated or who have not yet built up full immunity. The prescribed vaccination regimen begins with a shot at two months and continues until children are 5 years old. For many children, it can take that long for complete immunity to develop — and until then, they're vulnerable. (NPR)

Deadly Diseases Making a Comeback Whooping cough, measles, rickets: These diseases, once considered Victorian plights, are making a comeback in the U.S. Decades ago, such diseases bloomed due to poverty, malnutrition and a lack of health care; these days, they're in due mostly to anti-vaccine anxiety and a modern lifestyle. Dr. Camille Sabella, who practices pediatric infectious diseases in the Center for Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the Pediatrics Institute and Children's Hospital at Cleveland Clinic, gives us some insight into why these illnesses are once again causing outbreaks. (AOL)

Measles outbreak alarms health authoritiesHealth authorities across New South Wales and Queensland are urging residents to make sure they are immunised against measles.

A spate of outbreaks across the eastern seaboard has doctors worried that a pandemic that was raging in South Africa during the World Cup is quietly spilling across the Indian Ocean.

GPs say the reluctance by some parents here to immunise their children has put the public in danger of a major outbreak. (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)

Americans' immunity to mumps less than idealAbout 90 percent of young to middle-aged Americans have antibodies against the mumps virus -- a level of immunity that is at the low end of what's needed to prevent significant outbreaks of the infection, a government study finds.

The findings underscore the importance of having children receive the recommended two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

Mumps is a viral infection that causes fever, headache, muscle aches and swollen glands around the jaw. Most people recover in a few weeks, but in a small number of cases the infection can have complications such as inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) that can be life-threatening; hearing loss (usually temporary); or painful inflammation of the testicles or ovaries. (Reuters Health)

UN health agency reports on spread of polio outbreak in Angola and DR Congo
8 September 2010 – The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today that the recent outbreak of polio in Angola is spreading into other, previously polio-free parts of the country and the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) outbreak that began in April 2007 has now been recorded in the DRC’s Kasai province, which borders Angola. (UN News Centre)

Antivaxxers take note: vaccines stop polio outbreak in Tajikistan This is wildly good news! Through Vaccine Central I learned that a major polio outbreak in Tajikistan has been stopped! How? Through vaccination.

Yup. The first reports of polio were confirmed in April — 413 of them. However, that ended in late June, when no new cases were reported. That is credited to the thousands of doctors and nurses who not only vaccinated at least 97% of the children in each region of the mountainous country, but also flooded the area with multi-lingual informational leaflets, posters, and banners.

And they succeeded! With no new reports, it appears this outbreak was stopped cold. And with the AVN in Australia getting hammered repeatedly in the press, I can now have some hope that the movement here in the United States, spearheaded by Jenny McCarthy, will die off as well. Vaccinations work, and they save a lot of lives. (Bad Astronomy)

My Take - These celebrity "epidemiologists" need to be prosecuted for every sick child that dies.  And so does the doctor whose fraudulent research was the basis for much of this stuff. 

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax -

Of cabbages and kings,

And why the sea is boiling hot,

And whether pigs have wings."

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