Skeptico

RFK Jr. gets the RFK Jr. treatment

I refer to my piece on Monday: Robert F. Kennedy Junior’s completely dishonest thimerosal article.

Remember how Kennedy’s article starts off with emotive language – the meeting is at an “isolated” conference center “nestled in wooded farmland… to ensure complete secrecy”, etc.?

Well, according to MSNBC News, Cult News and others, earlier this year Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at the headquarters of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment – that’s the cult of the 35,000 warrior chief channeled by Judy Z. Knight. (I wrote about this group in my review of the film What The (Bleep) Do We Know!? (sic).)

Kennedy spoke at Ramtha? Hum. If I take the information on Kennedy’s talk to Ramtha and give it the same treatment as Kennedy does in the first paragraph of his article, I could write something that starts:

In March 2005, a restricted audience composed only of Ramtha’s current students, gathered for a meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Junior at the isolated Ramtha compound in Yelm, WA.  Convened by a 35,000 year old warrior spirit from Atlantis, the meeting was held at JZ Knight’s ranch, a place of special beauty nestled in deep serenity at the foothills of Mount Rainier, to ensure complete secrecy.

Sounds suspicious, doncha think? Perhaps I’ll write an article for Salon and Rolling Stone. All I need is a long boring transcript of the meeting that no one will read and I’m off to the races. Anyone?

Robert F. Kennedy Junior’s completely dishonest thimerosal article

Edited January 16, 2011

5½ years after the fact, Salon have decided to withdraw the RFK Jr. article that this post is about. When you click the “Salon” link below you will be taken to a Salon page headed Correcting our record, where they explain that they have now removed the post in its entirety. Salon's reasoning includes:

"…continued revelations of the flaws and even fraud tainting the science behind the connection make taking down the story the right thing to do." The story's original URL now links to our autism topics page, which we believe now offers a strong record of clear thinking and skeptical coverage we're proud of -- including the critical pursuit of others who continue to propagate the debunked, and dangerous, autism-vaccine link.

I’m glad Salon have finally caught up to where the rest of us were over five years ago.  Better late than never. I’m fairly sure that RFK Jr. hasn’t revised his absurd position though (it's still on Kennedy's own website, without even any of the corrections that Salon made to their article), and so I believe this post is as relevant as it was in June 2005 in demonstrating how cluelsss RFK Jr. actually is.

The original 2005 post continues below.

Robert F. Kennedy Junior’s completely dishonest thimerosal article

I’m referring to his scare piece in Salon and Rolling Stone, linking Autism to the Thimerosal (mercury) preservative used in vaccines. Kennedy’s article has been roundly criticized by Orac (also here), Autism Diva, Blendor, Soapgun and no doubt others. I decided to hold off a detailed post until I had read the report in question. Even so, I felt Kennedy’s article had gotten off to a rather inauspicious start:

In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Ga. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoochee River, to ensure complete secrecy.

Note the emotive language – an “isolated” conference center “nestled in wooded farmland… to ensure complete secrecy”. Sounds suspicious, yes? Well, not really. Perhaps Kennedy should have read the actual full 286 page transcript of the meeting because then he would have learned (page 257) that it was only held there because there had been a Super Comp Computer Conference at the same time and that the Simpsonwood center was the only place available in Atlanta at such short notice. He might also have noted the closeted location had “created a spirit that (the meeting) benefited from”. But that would have robbed Kennedy of his sensationalist opening, I guess.

And the conspiracy mongering didn’t stop there. At the end of Kennedy’s first paragraph is:

All of the scientific data under discussion, CDC officials repeatedly reminded the participants, was strictly "embargoed." There would be no making photocopies of documents, no taking papers with them when they left.

Sounds shady, right? Wrong. Again, if you read the transcript you’ll find the participants were actually told:

…consider it embargoed and protected until it is made public on June 21 and 22 at the ACIP. There is a plan to do that. (Page 256)

Completely different: it was only embargoed until official release later that same month. Kennedy seems intellectually dishonest in taking these non-issues and writing them up to make it sound as though there is something fishy going on.

Anyway, having set the scene to his satisfaction he launches into his sensationalist story.

The “Secret” Meeting

The experts were meeting to discuss a CDC study to evaluate if there were health risks from mercury in vaccines. Kennedy quotes scientists at the meeting agreeing that Thimerosal was responsible for a dramatic increase in autism and a host of other neurological disorders among children. He goes on to state:

But instead of taking immediate steps to alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of thimerosal, the officials and executives at Simpsonwood spent most of the next two days discussing how to cover up the damaging data. According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry's bottom line.

(My bold.)

Wow! Serious charges that appeared to be supported by the selected quotes linked from the article. (And you’ll note, he only has these thanks to the Freedom of Information Act – we should be grateful to relentless investigative reporters like Kennedy, right?) However, having read the full 286 page transcript I am honestly at a loss to understand how anyone could possibly come to that conclusion. In fact, the meeting did not conclude that thimerosal was responsible for an increase in autism and did not discuss any cover up. It did discuss possible future studies.

The actual transcript shows this was phase one of a two phase study. The second phase would be carried out if phase one gave “any hint of an association” (page 30) that needed investigating. The first day of the meeting (pages 1 to 167), consisted of presentations of the data with much questioning and discussion of: the meaning of the results; what evidence there might be (or not) for a causal link; confounding factors (ie other things that might have caused the results). This is an honest group of scientists interested in getting to the truth, not a group “discussing how to cover up the damaging data”. Not even close.

Then it gets interesting. On day two, the experts each get a turn giving their view on whether there is a causal link between thimerosal and autism. The participants were asked to rate the possibility of a causal link on a scale of one to six: one being a weak causal link, six strong. From page 189 to 222 you can read of one attendee after another (with just one exception) grading the likelihood of a causal relationship as being either a one or a two out of six. The mean value given by the group (page 253) was 1.8 - very little evidence for a causal link.

There was only one exception (Dr. Weil) who gave it a four. Guess which one Kennedy quoted? (No prizes.) Here are some more representative quotes I pulled from the transcript:

Part one, is there a causal association between ethylmercury and neurological effects noted in the Vaccine Study Datalink project? The answer is no. Why not? From a toxicologists (sic) viewpoint there is no dose response relationship (Page 191)

To me the increasing mercury levels in your population at one month… is so small that it would suggest to me that you have a confounder here. That this is not due to mercury. (page 213)

I gave it a value as 1. I think the strength of the associations are mostly weak and the weaker the associations, the more likely bias might explain some of this. (Page 217)

This is not designed as a study to look at the effects of these vaccines on the different outcomes, but it is using data collected for other reasons, so it is not a carefully controlled prospective cohort study to study. We are using data that was collected for other purposes. (Page 218)

Kennedy’s version is totally inconsistent with the transcript. Quite honestly, only someone with a preconceived belief in a causative relationship and who was fixed in that view no matter what the evidence, would view this meeting as “discussing how to cover up the damaging data”.

The “Paid” Cover-up

But it gets worse. Kennedy continues:

The CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to conduct a new study to whitewash the risks of thimerosal, ordering researchers to "rule out" the chemical's link to autism. It withheld Verstraeten's findings, even though they had been slated for immediate publication, and told other scientists that his original data had been "lost" and could not be replicated.

(My bold.)

I have searched Kennedy’s article including the “Thimerosal resource guide” page provided by Salon and I have not found one shred of evidence that the CDC paid the Institute of Medicine to “whitewash” any thimerosal / autism link. It’s certainly a very serious accusation that I am not prepared to take on Kennedy’s say-so (especially considering the dishonesty in the bits of his article I have been able to check).

I presume he’s referring to Institute of Medicine reports of 2001 or 2004 that stated that there is no link between mercury and autism. I guess it would be too much for Kennedy to show what is actually wrong with these studies, rather than making wild accusations of a cover-up. And too much to show what is wrong with this comprehensive review of the literature in 2004 that also failed to find a link. I guess so.

Old Fallacies

The article goes on to repeat the old “links to vaccine industry” ad Hominem that both Orac and I have debunked before, and also quotes the (flawed) studies by the Geiers (ditto). I won’t labor the point – you know Kennedy is using fallacious reasoning.

When I first read Kennedy’s piece, I was shocked that there had apparently been some kind of cover up about thimerosal. It seemed I would have to re-examine my previous views on the subject as all good skeptics should when new evidence appears. And that was even though I have full knowledge of studies in Denmark and Canada that show autism rates increasing even though thimerosal has been banned in those countries for years. Even though I knew this, the article still sounded convincing. So I can well understand people reading this article and believing it and being livid with the vaccination industry, the CDC and everyone else involved.

But I now know Kennedy’s article is a shockingly dishonest piece of crap from beginning to end. Dishonest and manipulative. He starts with sensationalist language to imply there is something wrong going on, softening up his readers for what comes next. The scene set he, frankly, lies about what happened at the meeting. (Either that or he didn’t read the transcript – your call.) And in the absence of evidence to back up his claim, I suggest Kennedy also made up the bit about the Institute of Medicine whitewashing any embarrassing results. Kennedy wrote his alarmist piece in the knowledge that very few people (in reality – virtually zero) would bother to read the lengthy transcript to find out what actually happened.  It’s nothing short of shameful from someone who I had previously believed to have the highest integrity. My only question is, why? Perhaps he’s just losing it, I don’t know.

So does thimerosal in vaccines cause autism? Honestly, I have no idea although I doubt it – the increasing incidence of autism in Canada and Denmark despite bans of thimerosal would appear to falsify a causative link. But I do know that this piece of garbage from Kennedy has not advanced our knowledge. In fact it has probably put us back, as focus will be placed back on thimerosal rather than on looking for what really causes autism.

Update June 29, 2005:

Read the follow up article: Lies, damn lies, and quote mining – an expose of how Kennedy quote mined the IOM report to make it seem that it said the exact opposite of what it really said.

Salon and Rolling Stone go to the Dark Side

You may have seen Robert F. Kennedy Junior’s thimerosal/autism scare piece in Salon and Rolling Stone that is no doubt going to be quoted ad Nauseam by anti-vax nuts. I haven’t had time yet to read the 286 page report RFK cites, and I won’t comment in full until I have. However Orac today flushes RFK’s credibility down the toilet in a superb piece of writing.

Irony Alert!

The irony award this week goes to… Dr Jay Gordon who writes in the Huffington Post blog:

When medical research manipulates data to prove what you suspect is false, doubt the research, not your original impression.

Um, perhaps Gordon will apply that method to this post by (er) Dr Jay Gordon that refers to the “excellent research” by the likes of Geier and Geier. That shouldn’t be too much of a stretch: their research has been shown to be full of methodological errors.

Or perhaps he should look at the work of Geier and Geier and apply the method used in this post by (er) Dr Jay Gordon where he states a pro-vaccine study “borders on being worthless” because its lead author conducts trials sponsored by vaccine manufacturers. He concludes:

…the appearance of impropriety is strong enough to make me ignore the study. You should, too.

As Orac has noted, Geier and Geier make a living as expert witnesses against the vaccine companies:

David A. Geier, his son, is president of MedCon, a medical–legal consulting firm that helps vaccine injury claimants to obtain money from both the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and through civil litigation.

(My bold.)  MedCon - now there’s an appropriately named firm.

Dr Gordon, allow me to present these two guys:

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

PS: Orac has just posted a much more detailed rebuttal of Dr. Gordon’s piece.

Huffington Post huffs and puffs

Today Orac has another piece on the Puffington Host’s anti-vaccination obsession. After several anti-vax pieces, the “Host” allowed one pro-vax rebuttal piece by Dr. Mark Strassburg, which was promptly followed by a content-free fallacy ridden “response” from Dr. Jay Gordon.

Gordon notes that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other pro-vax authors have “a very cozy relationship with the vaccine industry”, as though that is actually an argument against vaccines. Of course, this is just ad Hominen – attack the person making the argument rather than the argument itself. If he had any actual arguments refuting the research presented by the AAP or other organizations, he would presumably have presented them. I guess it’s easier to smear the source than provide any actual evidence.

Orac also points out the hypocrisy:

…why, then, does it not seem to bother Dr. Gordon in the least that David Geier and Dr. Mark Geier, whose research he once again singles out to cite approvingly and both of whom make a significant part of their livings providing legal counsel and consulting and expert witness services to parents pursuing legal action for alleged "injuries" due to vaccination? Doesn't that count as a financial conflict of interest? Yet Dr. Gordon thinks their research is "excellent." Or why doesn't it bother him that their work has been criticized for sloppiness and methodological flaws and they've been rebuked for risking patient confidentiality while mining the CDC's database.

Good questions I’d like to see Gordon answer.

The rest of Gordon’s post is equally bizarre. First, he dismisses Strassburg’s argument comparing birth rates and stork populations:

Dr. Strasburg’s reductio ad absurdum story about storks in Belgium is distracting and not germane to this discussion.

Huh? Reductio ad absurdum is defined as:

a mode of argumentation that seeks to establish a contention by deriving an absurdity from its denial, thus arguing that a thesis must be accepted because its rejection would be untenable

Strassburg’s point was that correlation is not causation and is totally germane to the discussion. Calling this reduction ad absurdum is, well, absurd. I guess Gordon has never heard that post hoc ergo propter hoc is a logical fallacy, or he would have understood Strassburg’s point.

Even more absurd is this:

The Institute of Medicine chose to ignore excellent research supporting a link between thimerosal and autism. Look at Dr. Geier’s presentation in particular.

Okey dokey, I clicked on the Geier’s presentation link and clicked on the study abstract, which concluded:

Conclusions. With the possible exception of tics, there was no evidence that thimerosal exposure via DTP/DT vaccines causes neurodevelopmental disorders.

Get that? The study concludes there is no evidence of neuro-developmental disorders from thimerosal (apart from – just possibly – tics). No evidence of a link. And this is Gordon’s “excellent research” supporting his position. It’s his best shot.

Well, I posted a comment to Gordon’s piece:

A completely worthless and content-free post from Jay Gordon. Stating that he AAP has a “cozy relationship with the vaccine industry” is nothing more than a poisoning of the well ad Hominem – insulting the messenger instead of providing any evidence of wrongdoing.

You should check out the work of some real bloggers who have commented on these ridiculous stories this site has been promoting

Orac provides sound commentary, and a rebuttal to Jay Gordon’s latest post, with evidence:

(With links to Orac, Autism Diva and Skeptico

I got the message that all comments are read before they are posted. It’ll be interesting to see if the Huffington Post is a real blog and allows my comment to be posted.

PS: I guess it is a real blog - they posted it.

More on Autism, mercury and chelation

Following from yesterday’s article, a couple more items on autism and mercury.

First, according to the CDC, symptoms of organic mercury poisoning might include:

paresthesias (pins and needles), headaches, ataxia (loss of the ability to coordinate muscular movement), dysarthria (difficulty in articulating words, caused by impairment of the muscles used in speech), visual field constriction, blindness, and hearing impairment.

While symptoms of autism usually include:

Abnormal reactions to sensory stimuli (i.e., senses may be over- or underactive). Touches may be experienced as painful, smells may be overwhelmingly unpleasant, and ordinary daily noises may be painful. Loud noises (e.g., motorcycle going by, vacuum cleaner) and bright lights may cause inconsolable crying.

Other signs of the disorder in infants include the following:

• Appears indifferent to surroundings
• Appears content to be alone, happier to play alone
• Displays lack of interest in toys
• Displays lack of response to others
• Does not point out objects of interest to others (called protodeclarative pointing)
• Marked reduction or increase in activity level
• Resists cuddling

They don’t look much alike to me.

Next, an article by James R. Laidler, MD, who was once an impassioned supporter of chelation therapy for autism, but who examined the actual evidence and changed his mind:

There were more treatments for autism than I could ever hope to try on my son, and every one of them had passionate promoters claiming that it had cured at least one autistic child—usually their own. There were blood tests, urine test, hair tests, saliva tests, brain wave tests and eye tests, all claiming to be able to find the specific cause for a child’s autism. And they had specific treatments for each of those causes. Sure, some of them were contradictory, but nobody seemed to mind that. What really caught my interest was the proposition that thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative in vaccines, caused autism and chelation therapy could cure it. Advocates of this idea spoke authoritatively, with impressive lists of references and well-designed PowerPoint slides. I was intrigued even though the children I had seen with mercury poisoning did not behave like my autistic son and the recommended dosage for the chelating agents made no sense to me.

(Snip)

In the following months, we stopped every treatment except speech and occupational therapy for both boys. They did not deteriorate and, in fact, continued to improve at the same rate as before—or faster. Our bank balance improved, and the circles under our eyes started to fade. And quite frankly, I began to get mad at myself for being so gullible and for misleading other parents of autistic children.

Looking back on my experiences with "alternate" autism therapies, they seem almost unreal, like Alice's adventures in Wonderland. Utter nonsense treated like scientific data, people nodding in sage agreement with blatant contradictions, and theories made out of thin air and unrelated facts—and all of it happening right here and now, not in some book. Real people are being deceived and hurt, and there won't be a happy ending unless enough of us get together and write one.

(My bold.)

He could be describing much of alternative medicine, of course.

Finally, an item today on the effects the anti-vaxers have, supported by celebrity idiots and the press, from the Guardian’s Bad Science guy. I wish I could write like that.

Mercury in vaccines and chelation therapy

A Californian couple is convinced chelation therapy has alleviated the symptoms of their autistic son, who they believe got his autism from mercury in the thimerosal preservative in a vaccine. Chelation therapy is a lotion or pill that strips the body of such heavy metals, and when supposedly treating autism is typically combined with severe dietary restrictions plus multiple vitamin and mineral supplements.  The story goes:

Jamie Handley was a happy, healthy baby who reached all his developmental milestones until he turned 18 months, his parents said. Then, he started spinning in circles and standing on his toes and no longer responded to his name. They were eventually told he was autistic

(Snip)

For Jamie's parents, the proof they need is in front of them: Jamie, now 3 years old and several months into treatment, is plump and playing baseball. His smile has returned.

"Every day brings small, steady gains," said Lisa Handley of Lafayette "Our life is filled with hope and the conviction that Jamie won't just improve, but will completely recover."

Hum. It seems to me there are several questionable things about this story.

The first is that there is no evidence of a link between mercury in vaccines and autism. More to the point, there is even evidence of no link:

Denmark mandated removal of thimerosal from vaccines in 1992. Even allowing for continued use of thimerosal-containing stocks of vaccine, Danish children were thimerosal-free by 1995. Autism prevalence in Denmark has risen in exactly the same fashion as in the United States and the United Kingdom.

(Study here.)

Secondly, as I reported Michael Fitzpatrick writing a couple of days ago, the symptoms of mercury poisoning and those of autism, are different.

The third puzzle is why is this kid’s autism linked to thimerosal? According to Quackwatch, manufacturers stopped using thimerosal in children’s vaccines in 2000, and so few children now under age four have ever received a thimerosal-containing vaccine. However, this child is stated to be three years old. He could have been one of the “few”, I suppose.

But the thing that really puzzles me is this. Even if thimerosal does cause the neurological damage related to autism, and even if chelation removes all the thimerosal, why would this child be getting better? Surely the damage has already been done? I could see that perhaps he wouldn’t get any worse, but how would he be getting better? If someone can explain how chelation therapy can repair neurological damage already done, I’d be really interested.

Why do this child’s parents think chelation made him better? Impossible to say, but incorrect initial diagnosis of autism springs to mind. Or maybe they are over-optimistic in reporting improvements. In any case, you can’t draw any conclusions from just one story or from anecdotes in general.

I guess it is good to stop putting thimerosal in vaccines if it means more parents will vaccinate their children. And if thimerosal is part of the problem, the numbers of cases should begin to drop. Alternatively, the Danish results may be replicated, and autism may continue to rise regardless. I don’t know what the answer is, but I’d bet autism will continue to rise. And I’ll also bet that won’t stop the peddlers of chelation and other dubious cures from continuing in business.

By the way, I’ve just noticed Orac today has an excellent and more detailed article on vaccines and autism.  In addition, Autism Diva has more information on autism, mercury in vaccines, chelation therapy and related subjects than you can shake a stick at. A recommended read.

No evidence of harm

There is a new book by David Kirby, called Evidence of Harm, apparently supportive of the idea that mercury in vaccines causes autism in children. Of course, there is no evidence for this, but that hasn’t stopped the anti-vaxers. Refreshingly, Michael Fitzpatrick, a doctor, parent of an autistic child and author of MMR and Autism: What Parents Need to Know, has written a critical review of Kirby’s book, entitled Mercury and autism: a damaging delusion. A couple of relevant quotes:

It is true that mercury is potentially toxic to the developing infant brain and that, as babies were given more vaccines, the total dose of mercury received increased (though it remained at trace level, and it has now fallen as immunisation authorities have, in deference to popular anxieties, shifted to non-mercury vaccines). Yet, exhaustive studies, carried out in the USA, the UK and elsewhere, and surveyed by the US Institute of Medicine in an authoritative report last year, have failed to reveal any link between exposure to thimerosal and autism (3). The so-called 'epidemic of autism', which some parents blame on vaccines, is better explained by the increased recognition of the condition among both parents and professionals and by the expansion of diagnostic categories. Though campaigners claim that the symptoms of mercury toxicity are similar to those of autism, on closer inspection, they are quite distinct. Mercury poisoning typically causes an unsteady gait and slurred speech, visual disturbances and numbness in fingers and toes. None of these features is characteristic of autism.

(Snip)

Though the increasingly unpopular drug companies provide a convenient focus for parental anger, there is little evidence to support the wild allegations made by campaigners and no reason why companies should pay damages in relation to unsubstantiated claims. Indeed, the real problem facing the government is supply shortages resulting from the reluctance of pharmaceutical companies to continue producing vaccines. For some time an area of low investment and low profitability, vaccine production is increasingly threatened by the climate of risk aversion and litigiousness - as the anti-mercury campaign aptly illustrates.

(My bold.)

As well as frightening parents into not vaccinating their kids, the anti-vaxers are frightening corporations, who fear costly and time-consuming lawsuits, from making the stuff anyway. And all because of an ingredient that doesn’t produce symptoms anything like those of the thing they're using to do the frightening.

Mumps epidemic in UK

There is a Mumps epidemic in the UK, according to the BBC:

Cases are being seen in people born before MMR became routine in 1988 and children who have not been vaccinated, possibly due to vaccine safety fears.

(Snip)

The World Health Organization recommends that at least 90% of all those eligible receive the vaccine.

However, Dr Gupta's group said uptake of MMR among two-year-olds in the UK fell from around 92% in early 1995 to around 80% in 2003/4.

"In some areas of London, as few as 60% of two-year-olds had received a first dose of MMR.

"This would account for our recent experience with mumps in younger children," they said.

(My bold.)

Risks of disease v. risks of immunization:

Mumps

Cases: 200,000 per year before vaccine became available, currently 3,000-5,000 per year

Encephalitis: 2 in 100,000
Testicular swelling: 1 in 5 adults
Deafness: 1 in 20,000
Death: 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 10,000

MMR Vaccine (Mumps Component):

Severe allergic reaction: less than 1 in 1,000,000

Sigh.

Polio rises – thanks anti-vaxers!

Thanks to religious anti-vaccination propaganda, Polio is on the increase:

Nearly two years after radical Islamic preachers told parents to refuse to have their children vaccinated against polio for fear it was part of a U.S. plot against Muslims, the repercussions are still being felt: A Nigerian strain of the virus that causes the crippling disease has cropped up as far away as Indonesia.

In this case it is Islamic preachers who have been causing the problems. We shouldn’t feel too smug though: the West has its own anti-vaxers who also rely on ignorance to oppose such proven solutions. These range from quacks such as Naturopaths to celebrity idiots like Bill Maher. Whatever its source, it results in unnecessary suffering. Polio is a horrible crippling disease that has been eliminated in the Western world.

The same old fallacies are being employed, including:

I do not agree that we exported polio to any country. If these countries were carrying out vaccinations ... they should not have had any cases.

Wrong. Vaccination is not always 100% effective; it relies on what is known as “herd immunity”.  That is, if a sufficiently large proportion of the population is immune through vaccination, few people will get the disease because it can't gain a foothold.  However, there will always be people who cannot be vaccinated or for whom vaccines will be ineffective, for example people who are:

• Receiving immunosuppressive treatment, perhaps for cancer
• Allergic to the vaccine
• Too young to be vaccinated
• Unable to mount an immune response to the vaccine
• Inflicted with immunosuppressive diseases like AIDS.

These people need the herd immunity, it is their only protection. A small number of healthy people can freeload in this group also. But once more than a few start doing it, the whole thing breaks down. The lack of vaccination in Nigeria allowed the disease to gain hold and it spread to other countries where the disease had been eradicated, and presumably they had ceased full vaccination:

Fifteen other countries where polio had been eradicated have been re-infected from Nigeria since 2003, when northern Islamic leaders led a vaccine boycott.

(My bold.)

All thanks to anti-vaccination propaganda.  Good job.

Idiot week

It is idiot week on TV. I just heard Bill Maher (HBO) say that vaccines don’t prevent disease. Also, that Pasteur recanted on his deathbed. So what? Modern medicine relies on more recent studies than just Pasteur - his theories have been confirmed and improved upon, even if he did recant.  But wait - he didn't recant.  In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny: “what a maroon!”

Just look at this from UNICEF.  The vaccine didn't have any effect on Polio, Bill?  Really?

And what about measles, pertussis, smallpox… ?

Whenever a population believes an idiot like Maher and stops vaccinating, disease rates always increase. Always.

Idiot!