Ewan's Corner

Posts Tagged ‘badscience’

http://www.badscience.net/2010/07/yeah-well-you-can-prove-anything-with-science/

“Their views on each issue were added together to produce one bumper score on the extent to which they thought science could be informative on all of these questions, and the results were truly frightening. People whose pre-existing stereotypes about homosexuality had been challenged by the scientific evidence presented to them were more inclined to believe that science had nothing to offer, on any question, not just on homosexuality, when compared with people whose views on homosexuality had been reinforced.

When presented with unwelcome scientific evidence, it seems, in a desperate bid to retain some consistency in their world view, people would rather conclude that science in general is broken. This is an interesting finding. But I’m not sure it makes me very happy.”

I’ll repeat the title again, in case you need reinforcement: the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) Vaccine Does Not Cause Autism. There is absolutely no scientific evidence linking the MMR vaccine to autism – any vaccine to autism in fact – and the only study which claimed such a link has been thoroughly discredited since its 1998 publication and recently officially retracted by the medical journal The Lancet:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention praised The Lancet’s retraction, saying, “It builds on the overwhelming body of research by the world’s leading scientists that concludes there is no link between MMR vaccine and autism. We want to remind parents that vaccines are very safe and effective and they save lives. Parents who have questions about the safety of vaccines should talk to their pediatrician or their child’s health care provider.”

This post is my contribution to the storm surrounding the myth that the MMR vaccine causes autism + a misinformed media and the resultant dangerous rise in the cases of Measles and Mumps around the world – diseases which should have been stamped out by now.

The anti-vaccination movement continues to contribute to death and suffering. The disaster in Haiti provides another example of the potential for serious harm resulting from resistance to vaccines defending against preventable diseases like tetanus.

Ben Goldacre, of BadScience.net and a bad science debunking hero of mine, said in a recent post:

You could regard this as your stimulus to make a pledge to take on
anti-vaccine quacks wherever they appear, and make a deposit in the
karma bank, promising to write a letter, or a blog entry, or make a
formal complaint about the next outburst you see in the media. I think
this is very important. –Ben Goldacre

and he also has plenty to say on the dangerous role of the media in the whole storm, as well as schmucks like Jeni Barnett, as does Stephen Fry:

“The fatuity of the Jeni Barnett woman’s manner – her blend of
self-righteousness and stupidity, her simply quite staggering inability
to grasp, pursue or appreciate a sequence of logical steps – all these
are signature characteristics of Britain these days. The lamentable
truth is that most of the population wouldn’t really understand why we
get so angry at this assault on reason, logic and sense. But we have to
keep hammering away at these people and their superstitious inanities.
We have to. Well done you and well done all you supporting. I’ve
tweeted this site to my followers. I hope they all do their best to
support you. Publish and be damned. We’ll fight them and fight them and
fight them in the name of empricism, reason, double blind random
testing and all that matter.”

~~Stephen Fry

Mr Fry is correct – the anti-vaccination movement is an assault on reason, logic and sense.

Wired’s article is probably the best one I’ve come across on the subject (thanks Janet, and thanks author Amy Wallace) – An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All. It points out how the effects of falling vaccination rates can be devastating – and references other studies that, among other things, “help dispel one of the commonly held beliefs among vaccine-refusing parents: that their children are not at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases“.

The bottom line: Pseudo-science preys on well-intentioned people who, motivated by love for their kids, become vulnerable to one of the world’s oldest professions. Enter the snake-oil salesman.

To be clear, there is no credible evidence to indicate that any of this is true. None. Twelve epidemiological studies have found no data that links the MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) vaccine to autism; six studies have found no trace of an association between thimerosal (a preservative containing ethylmercury that has largely been removed from vaccines since 20011) and autism, and three other studies have found no indication that thimerosal causes even subtle neurological problems. The so-called epidemic, researchers assert, is the result of improved diagnosis, which has identified as autistic many kids who once might have been labeled mentally retarded or just plain slow. In fact, the growing body of science indicates that the autistic spectrum — which may well turn out to encompass several discrete conditions — may largely be genetic in origin. In April, the journal Nature published two studies that analyzed the genes of almost 10,000 people and identified a common genetic variant present in approximately 65 percent of autistic children.

~~Wired, An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All

Links and resources:

• Measles Outbreak Triggered by Unvaccinated Child (Case illustrates that people who chose not to vaccinate put others at risk, researcher says) – HealthDay, March 22, 2010
• An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All (Wired, October 2009)
• U.S. court rules again against vaccine-autism claims (Reuters, March 12th 2010)
• The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe – their fun and informative podcasts have dealt with the anti-vaccine movement before (e.g. Podcast 232 – the 2009 year in review – is well worth listening to)
• New York Times health – Don’t Blame Flu Shots for All Ills, Officials Say (September, 2009)
• WSJ article L.A. Confidential: Seeking Reasons for Autism’s Rise (Feb 2010)
• Should I vaccinate my baby? (from our very own local Skeptic Detective, May 2009)
• Making things a little more personal – little Dana McCaffery (2009)
• Babycentre has plenty of vaccine information:
  • Does the MMR vaccine put my child at greater risk for autism?
  • Vaccines and autism: Separating fact from fiction
  • Autism-vaccination link back in the news

I don’t think I’ve ever had the occasion to congratulate a newspaper – usually exactly the opposite. But for this I think the Guardian (and Ben Goldacre) deserve serious congratulations both for courage under fire and responsible journalism:

Matthias Rath drops his million pound legal case against me and the Guardian.

A classic Bad Science post which made me spill my tea when I reached the PPS:
All time classic creationist pwnage.
Andrew Schlafly (a “right wing christian activist”) is taken apart by Richard Lenski – a scientist with a sense of humour, a great writing style and some recent fame over lab results which appear to show evolution in action (i first heard about his results a few days ago via Slashdot).
The PPPS in Lenski’s reply mirrors my own puzzlement when it comes to Christians who refuse to believe in evolution:

“P.P.P.S. You may be unable to understand, or unwilling to accept, that evolution occurs. And yet, life evolves! [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pur_si_muove] From the content on your website, it is clear that you, like many others, view God as the Creator of the Universe. I respect that view. I find it baffling, however, that someone can worship God as the all-mighty Creator while, at the same time, denying even the possibility (not to mention the overwhelming evidence) that God’s Creation involved evolution. It is as though a person thinks that God must have the same limitations when it comes to creation as a person who is unable to understand, or even attempt to understand, the world in which we live. Isn’t that view insulting to God?”
—Richard Lenski