Of course, the cranks are unmoved. Their position is not based on a rational assessment of the evidence, and therefore evidence will not move them from their perch. What they have been doing is repeating tired anti-vaccine tropes. Unfortunately they are getting some exposure from residual false balance in the media.<\/p>\n
This is a separate problem we have been fighting, and making some headway. Mainstream media has to learn that they don’t need to have a crank give the “other side” every time they report a science or health news story. In 2014 the BBC changed their policy<\/a> to explicitly move away from false balance in science reporting. This was a great victory for critical thinking in science reporting, but it has yet to become the standard everywhere.<\/p>\n Orac writes today<\/a> about the persistent problem of false balance, citing a recent New York Times article that quote anti-vaccine loons for “balance.”<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s premature to blame the increase in reports of measles on the unvaccinated when we don\u2019t have all the facts yet,\u201d said Barbara Loe Fisher, the president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a group raising concerns about inoculations. \u201cI do know this: Fifty-seven cases of measles coming out of Disneyland in a country with a population of 317 million people is not a lot of cases. We should all take a deep breath and wait to see and get more information.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nothing to see here. Move along. \u00a0Let’s not draw the obvious conclusions until the news cycle moves on and the public’s short attention span kicks it. What – the Patriots deflated their footballs? Let’s talk about that.<\/p>\n Another instance of false balance gives us another common anti-vaccine (and alternative medicine in general) trope – if only we had good nutrition and didn’t inject chemicals into our bodies we would be immune to all disease. The article, Valley doctor: Don’t vaccinate your kids<\/a>, cites Dr. Jack Wolfson of Wolfson Integrative Cardiology.<\/p>\n Wolfson does not believe in vaccination. “We do not need to inject chemicals into ourselves and into our children in order to boost our immune system,” he said.<\/p>\n The cardiologist also believes the key is to have a healthy immune system. In order to have that, he says, you have to avoid chemicals, get enough sleep, exercise, take good supplements, and have proper nutrition.<\/p>\n “I’m a big fan of what’s called paleo-nutrition, so our children eat foods that our ancestors have been eating for millions of years,” he said. “That’s the best way to protect.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Right – avoid chemicals. In order to avoid chemicals you would have to avoid food. You wouldn’t survive very long without chemicals.<\/p>\n A healthy lifestyle is, of course, a good thing and a solid part of science-based medicine. It is a complete fiction, however, to claim that a healthy lifestyle will make one immune to infectious disease or other illness. It will make you healthier, but not immune. We are engaged in biological warfare with infectious microbes. We do not have an insuperable advantage over them. Sometimes they win. Sometimes we win, but the infections cause pain, suffering, lost productivity, and permanent damage in the meantime.<\/p>\n He also trots out the “ancient wisdom” trope, as if our cavemen ancestors had the perfect diet. They lived on the brink of starvation and death. Their fossils indicate<\/a> that they were disease ridden.<\/a>\u00a0The Western diet is not perfect and suffers from excess, but it is vastly superior to our prehistoric ancestors. We have access to a far wider variety of food, including fresh fruits and vegetables year round. We are taller and healthier because of superior nutrition.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/theness.com\/neurologicablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/measles-graph-300x179.png\" "\\"measles")
<\/a>Anti-vaccine doctors keep reassuring us that measles is no big deal, even though 25% of those infected had to be hospitalized. Anti-vaxxers are also continuing to try to benefit from the success of vaccines. Eighty-seven cases is not that many in the big picture, although the number is certain to rise. But this misses the point – we are seeing the return of outbreaks of a disease that, prior to vaccines, affected tens of thousands of people. \u00a0These outbreaks are not worse precisely because most people still get vaccinated. The rate for the MMR vaccine is about 90% overall. Without the protection of vaccines the Disneyland outbreak would have affected thousands of people.<\/p>\n