Thanks for the measles yet again, Andy: Antivax vultures swoop in to spread misinformation among the Minnesota Somali immigrant community

Earlier this week, I took note of an ongoing measles outbreak in Minnesota. This outbreak affects the large Somali immigrant community there, and the reason for the outbreak is simple. Over the last decade, uptake of the MMR vaccine has plunged dramatically in the American-born children of the Somali community, from 92% to 42%, far below the level necessary for herd immunity. The reason for the drop is that antivaccine fear mongering has taken hold in the community, thanks to American antivaxers who targeted the community and Andrew Wakefield himself, who's visited the community at least twice (once during a previous measles outbreak in 2011) to promote his discredited idea that MMR causes autism. What opened up the community to antivaccine ideas was an unexplained autism cluster in the community that was widely reported on in 2008 but has subsequently been found not to have been real, with American-born Somali children not having a higher prevalence of autism than the American children in the same area.

When last I discussed the outbreak, the number of children stricken with measles had reached 32. Now, four days later, the number is up to 41 and still climbing as it spreads beyond Hennepin County:

State officials reported seven new cases of measles Thursday, bringing the case count to 41 in an outbreak that has now reached its first adult and spread beyond the state’s Somali community.

Health officials also said two of the 41 patients had been vaccinated for the highly-contagious disease.

As the outbreak grows, it has also spread beyond Hennepin County. There are now two cases in Ramsey County and one in Crow Wing County. A case in Stearns County that was announced last week has since been ruled out as measles, health officials said.

State health officials expect there to be more cases and repeated their call for unvaccinated Minnesotans to get shots.

Basically, the measles outbreak appears to be gaining steam, and who knows how far it will spread and when it will finally burn itself out? It's all because antivaxers saw an opportunity to "help" (in their eyes) parents from a Third World Country with little or no knowledge of autism. Unfortunately, their "help" consisted of taking the discredited pseudoscience of a British fraud named Andrew Wakefield and convincing large swaths of the Somali community that there really was good reason to worry that the MMR vaccine causes autism. The message took hold, along with many of the conspiracy theories that go along with it. The good news is that most Somalis in Minnesota don't appear to be antivaccine, just anti-MMR. The bad news is that other antivaccine ideas are spreading, with more parents buying into antivaccine tropes, such as "too many too soon" and the idea that children are "overvaccinated."

And right in the middle of this rapidly growing measles outbreak, who should appear to make things worse, but more antivaccine loons, led by Mark Blaxill? That's exactly what happened on Sunday:

A national speaker who believes there are links between vaccines and autism told a group of Somali-American parents Sunday night that they should choose whether to vaccinate their children by weighing risks and benefits. He also said the government has lied in its previous vaccine research and that the danger of measles is overstated.

About 90 people met at Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis to hear Mark Blaxill, who is on the executive leadership team of the nonprofit Health Choice, present information on measles outbreaks, autism rates and what he said were the fraudulent results of a 2004 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the link between autism and vaccines, a theory that health officials have debunked.

"It should be the right of every parent and family to make their own decisions," said Blaxill.

We've encountered Mark Blaxill on many occasions before over the years, for instance when he wrote a book with the now-deceased Dan Olmsted in which he laid down an amazing quantity of pseudoscience about polio, pesticides, and the poli vaccine. More recently, he appeared in Andrew Wakefield and Del Bigtree's antivaccine propaganda opus VAXXED.

I was somewhat intrigued. No, I wasn't intrigued by any of the claims and arguments that Blaxill made (although I will briefly touch on them). They're nothing that I haven't heard before many, many times. Rather, I was interested why Blaxill's affiliation was not listed as Safeminds, an antivaccine group he'd been with for a very long time, although he's still apparently involved with the antivaccine Canary Party. I had never heard of the group he's with now, Health Choice, but its team includes a rogues' gallery of antivaccine "luminaries." It even includes Ginger Taylor! It also looks as though the group has a broader focus than just antivaccine activism:

Health Choice is a non-profit organization focusing on awareness of health choices, education on nutrition, healing, and prevention of chronic illnesses for children and adults. Our group was formed in response to a study published in Academic Pediatrics that represented 43% of children (32 million) in the US suffers from a chronic health condition. It is our belief that these rates will continue to increase if parents are not aware of the unhealthy choices in their lifestyle such as industrial processed foods, side effects of vaccine choices, and other environmental and lifestyle factors. We want to help Americans understand how to have a healthy lifestyle, return to a state of wellness and promote sound choices for their children.

Make no mistake, Health Choice is clearly antivaccine, but it appears to go beyond nust vaccines. It's also based in Minnetonka, MN, which is outside of St. Paul and right where an antivaccine group would need to be to influence the Somalis, saying things like:

Blaxill — who says that he's not anti-vaccine — also explained Minnesota law and how parents can opt out of vaccinations, providing forms and access to a notary public for parents. Several nonprofits advocating parental choice in vaccinations were present, including the Minnesota Vaccine Safety Council, Health Choice and National Health Freedom Coalition.

Ah, yes. The old "I'm not antivaccine" gambit, so beloved of, well, antivaccine loons everywhere. Of course Blaxill is antivaccine. He was associated with Safeminds and Age of Autism, two very antivaccine organizations. He spreads misinformation that falsely claims that the MMR causes autism. Basically, he walks the antivaccine walk and talks the antivaccine talk. I've already discussed the Minnesota Vaccine Safety Council before, particularly how it's co-opted words like "freedom" and "rights" to conflate them with the desire of antivaccine parents to refuse vaccinations for their children.

Funny how he uses a favorite antivaccine trope about "bullying":

"The vaccination schedule for children in this country has exploded since 1986," Blaxill said. "And we simply do not know all of the possible negative side effects of these vaccines as a collective group of immunizations."

And Blaxill said every citizen should know they do not have to feel pressure to vaccinate if they do not agree with the government's immunization programs.

"I have seen bullying by government agencies across the country, especially targeting new immigrants, to make them feel they have no other choice but to go along with an immunization schedule for children that, in my opinion, is too many and too soon for many of these kids," Blaxill said.

Worse, Blaxill's message is finding fertile ground among the Somalis:

Attendees Sunday night had varied opinions about vaccines and autism, despite the fact that any link has been thoroughly discredited by the scientific community.

Measles can be dangerous, said parent Ikram Mohamed, but the illness only lasts a short time.

In contrast, "Autism is not a curable disease," said Mohamed, as several Somali-American mothers in the front row cheered her on.

Mohamed, a mother of five who said she had delayed vaccination in four of her children due to fears about autism, said doctors need to inform parents that they can delay or opt out of vaccines.

Here's a news report on Blaxill's talk:

Truly, Mark Blaxill, Andrew Wakefield, and the rest of the antivaccine activists preying upon this community are despicable and deluded, promoting pseudoscience that is harming the Somali community. The result has been this:

Since the outbreak was first detected three weeks ago, health investigators have contacted about 2,500 people who were exposed to known cases, including at child care centers, health care settings and household exposures. People who were exposed and were not vaccinated are being asked to stay home from work, school, child care and other public gatherings for three weeks.

The public health control effort has involved 70 state workers at a cost of $207,000, the department said. Some county and private health care organizations have also been involved in exposure follow-up efforts.

Measles is no longer naturally occurring in the United States. State health officials believe, the current outbreak was most likely caused by an infected person who had caught measles in a foreign country.

There's little doubt that the outbreak will get worse before it gets better, and it's the fault of American antivaxers, including Andrew Wakefield. Thanks, Andy and Mark. Thanks yet again for the measles. You bastards.

ADDENDUM: This morning, The Washington Post featured a story on the Minnesota measles outbreak, Anti-vaccine activists spark a state’s worst measles outbreak in decades. It shows the pernicious effects of Wakefield's antivaccine propaganda:

The young mother started getting advice early on from friends in the close-knit Somali immigrant community here. Don’t let your children get the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella — it causes autism, they said.

Suaado Salah listened. And this spring, her 3-year-old boy and 18-month-old girl contracted measles in Minnesota’s largest outbreak of the highly infectious and potentially deadly disease in nearly three decades. Her daughter, who had a rash, high fever and a cough, was hospitalized for four nights and needed intravenous fluids and oxygen.

“I thought: ‘I’m in America. I thought I’m in a safe place and my kids will never get sick in that disease,’ ” said Salah, 26, who has lived in Minnesota for more than a decade. Growing up in Somalia, she’d had measles as a child. A sister died of the disease at age 3.

This is an aspect I hadn't thought of: In Somalia, measles is a deadlier disease than it is in the US because of the conditions and malnutrition there. Somali immigrants know this, and mistakenly felt safer in the US. Of course, the reason so few children get the measles these days is because of mass vaccination with MMR to the point where there is effective herd immunity. I can't help but wonder whether antivaxers took advantage of that, telling them they were safe. I know their message was that measles is not a threat to them in Minnesota, but autism is. Then they peddle the lie that vaccines cause autism.

Meanwhile, Wakefield, the scumbag that he is, is washing his hands of responsibility:

Anti-vaccine advocates defend their position and their role, saying they merely provided information to parents.

“The Somalis had decided themselves that they were particularly concerned,” Wakefield said last week. “I was responding to that.”

He maintained that he bears no fault for what is now happening within the community: “I don’t feel responsible at all.”

He's definitely responsible for this reaction to pediatricians speaking up after Blaxill's talk last Sunday:

Two pediatricians in the audience stepped up to a microphone to denounce the claims.

“I am very concerned, especially in the midst of a measles outbreak, to have folks come into a community impacted by this disease and start talking about links between MMR and autism,” said Andrew Kiragu, interim chief of pediatrics at Hennepin Medical Center in Minneapolis. “This is a travesty.”

He and the other doctors were interrupted by boos and yelling.

“For God’s sake, I want to know if vaccines are safe,” Sahra Osman shouted. She has a nearly adult son who received an autism diagnosis when he was 3. “My people are suffering! We’re not ignorant. I read a lot. I know a lot. I educate myself. . . . You don’t know what you are talking about.”

No, Andy. You are responsible. So is Mark Blaxill. So are the entire crew at the Age of Autism and every Minnesota antivaccine group who's promoted Wakefield's failed idea to a vulnerable population. If any children die, the blood will be on your hands.

More like this

Blaxill is one of the featured speakers at an antivax conference in Pittsburgh next month under the auspices of the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge. Other luminaries will include Bob Sears and James Lyons-Weiler (who appears to be working closely with at least one "medical freedom" group lobbying against vaccine mandates).

The conference is called "FOCUS 2017:VACCINE SAFETY SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY"

Whoops, should've warned you first about shielding your irony meters.

https://jameslyonsweiler.com/2017/04/21/ipak-focus-2017-why-is-everyone…

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Except for SB277 in California, it's starting to feel like the last two years of progress are circling the drain, especially after my state of Arizona just announced vaccine exemption rates are now climbing again (now over 5%) after two years of slightly increased vaccination rates (which unfortunately agrees with what I'm seeing in clinic):
http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/04/28/arizona-va…

It's no solace knowing that vaccine rates will eventually come back up after there have been enough VPD outbreaks.

By Chris Hickie (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

There's a lot of anti-immigrant sentiment being stirred up by this as well, with complaints about why are people allowed into the country without being vaccinated, or complains about "those people" bringing disease into America. Most people don't realize this is an issue of the Somali community being targeted by American groups and that issue didn't exist until after the Somali community was established here. Nothing good can come out of this.

I was afraid of that happening. Donald Trump explicitly targeted the Somali community in Minnesota during the election as a "breeding ground for ISIS." That laid the groundwork. There's also the nativist xenophobic slur that immigrants bring disease into the country. That isn't the case here, as you point out, but racists and nativists can lie about what's happening in Minnesota to fit that narrative. American antivaxers plus one Brit (Andrew Wakefield) targeted the vulnerable Somali population, and they are suffering the consequences. However, as the outbreak inevitably spreads beyond the Somali community (as it's begun to do), I fear a lot more anti-immigrant hatred will be whipped up against the Somalis.

I fear a lot more anti-immigrant hatred will be whipped up against the Somalis.

When I saw the title of this post I thought to myself, jokingly, "Orac will be hearing from counsel for the Vulture Anti-Defamation League." That thought turns out to be a case of "ha ha only serious". Vultures play an important role in the ecosystem. Wakefield, Blaxill, et al., do not. There are lots of people out there looking for any excuse--or no excuse--to hate on immigrant communities, especially those whose members are dark-skinned. This is happening with the Somali community in Maine, and they don't have the excuse of a measles outbreak, like the wingnuts of the Minneapolis suburbs do. Mark Dayton is a better governor than Paul LePage, but there is only so much Dayton can do.

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Orac: Could you please not compare vultures to anti-vaxxers? What Eric Lund said, basically. Vultures serve a purpose, whereas anti-vaxxers are fundamentally useless. (Note, Gnat, on the other thread.) I live near a vulture surfing area, by the way.

Eric: At this point, a cage full of mice would be able to be a better governor than Lepage.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

The anti-immigrant sentiment Terrie mentioned dominates the comment threads under the stories about the outbreak on the website of the Minneapolis StarTribune. A fair number of these, unfortunately, otherwise represent a 'skeptic' view of anti-vax. We need to be careful about this stuff in our own forums. Kudos to Orac for putting the blame where it belongs, and showing more sympathy than animus for the Somali parents. FWIW, those comments at the Strib do not represent the majority view of Minnesotans in general or folks in the Twin Cities metro area. The threads there are dominated by a dedicated group of right-wing cranks who post all the time and up-vote each others comments. The disturbing thing about the outbreak stories is that the regular MAGAs have been joined by new commenters articulating anti-immigrant rhetoric as a sub-theme under a main-theme of 'pro-science/pro-vax'. While I do find this worrying, I'd guess these remarks may reflect a fairly small group of self-styled 'pro-science' advocates who are Sam-Harris-fan-boy Islamaphobes, and feel empowered to let their asshat flags fly at the Stribby the broader nasty/smug tone already there.

For our own part, though, while they may be quite unrepresentative of 'our' community and relatively small in number, this scum is 'our' scum. 'We' need to be careful not to encourage them at the least, and we ought to counter their BS pro-actively, IMHO.

I have to say, I prefer vultures over anti-vaxers as well, but well, vultures are among my favorite birds.

I assume Young Master Crosby has thrown an offensive hissy fit over the realization that folks whose babies are born imperfect want them to actually live. I have a kid with multiple medical problems, including a genetic heart disorder, so I have heard this despicable song and dance before.

Young Master Crosby could benefit from getting away from the mother who taught him that he was damaged, and go find a qualified therapist to get over his issues. And, maybe, with lots and lots of work: make Young Master Crosby socially tolerable.

While Young Master Crosby has shown more intellectual ability than my disabled son, at least I can be proud of my son's accomplishments. These include both being employable and a really nice young man.

The threads there are dominated by a dedicated group of right-wing cranks who post all the time and up-vote each others comments.

This is why you should avoid reading newspaper comment threads unless you want to pray for a giant asteroid strike. In my experience, and the experience of others I trust, almost all newspaper comment boards have such a group of commenters. As I said above, they are looking for any excuse to hate on immigrants. They will use the fact that most Somalis are melanin endowed if they have to (it is, after all, the real reason), but most would prefer to have some other excuse, however feeble, because most of them still realize that many of their neighbors consider their real reason unacceptable. That Wakefield et al. have persuaded so many Somali parents to skip the MMR vaccine over autism fears gives the haters all the reason they need.

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

I assume Young Master Crosby has thrown an offensive hissy fit over the realization that folks whose babies are born imperfect want them to actually live.

No doubt he has, but that isn't the link he posted here. His post is quite off topic, and mostly content free, which is apparently how he likes things, based on most of the comments on his backwater of a blog.

My heart leaps up when I see vultures returning in early spring (this year we had a gratifying visit by these majestic birds to my backyard, where they roosted in the tall pines).

Antivaxers returning to troll the comments here, not so much.

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

This is why you should avoid reading newspaper comment threads unless you want to pray for a giant asteroid strike.

Ditto YouTube comment sections.

He must be getting desperate for viewers or commenters....since he's really only got that Hans Litten troll.

Ditto YouTube comment sections.

Also applies to any story on Yahoo.

How about a nice billboard
"Rubella during pregnancy can cause autism in the baby.
The MMR protects against Rubella.
The MMR prevents one cause of autism."

Would it help?

By JustaTech (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Nah.

People speeding by would glance up at the billboard and see:

"MMR...cause...autism"

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Bother.

I did see a hopeful thing over on The Pump Handle the other day, the results of a study of community vaccination advocates on vaccination rates in two small cities in Washington state. It was effective! It's very heartening, especially when there all the stuff like this around.

By JustaTech (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

The anti vaxxers on the WaPo comment threads are crowing about it. Thankfully, they’re getting shot down for the moment.

Have people reminded the antivax crowd that OAText is not so much a publisher as a polluter, a source of (1) spam and (2) dumpster fires disguised as journals?

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

In an article from the Star Tribune (April 1, 2015) titled, Autism hits Somali kids harder, University of Minnesota study finds: Autism not more common among Somalis than whites.

Author Jeremy Olson writes, "The net result was that one in 32 Somali children in the study met the diagnostic criteria for autism, compared with one in 36 white children."

http://www.startribune.com/dec-2013-autism-hits-somali-kids-harder-says…

MJD says,

I agree...."Andy. You are responsible. So is Mark Blaxill."

By Michael J. Dochniak (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Really this whole post was an excuse for Orac to show off his Discovery Channel fetish, re the photo.

By Jake Crosby (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Jacob: Oh, buzz off. Go get yourself a new hobby, like a blowup doll or joining your fellow neckbeards on Reddit. And yeah, Jimmy Kimmel loves his kid, it's a shame your parents didn't, but you could still spite them by not being a turd like them.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

The Gnat just blew irony meters across the Internet....

A ray of hope regarding reading comments - Jezebel ran an article on this issue recently - www.jezebel.com

This site is geared for women, including fashion, celebrities and fluff - but also many hard hitting sarcastic articles on recent political developments. Definitely a feminist slant with some fun fluff for a laugh.

The comments raged against Wakefield and anti-vaxxers. Nary a voice from an anti-vaxxers. It was like a ray of sunshine.

By Jane Ostentatious (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Mr and Mrs Lappet-faced Vulture are a very cute couple.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

MJD: You're just as responsible, dude.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

#27
" neckbeards "
Hahahahaha. I find this term/describtion hilarious.

MJD: You’re just as responsible, dude.

I disagree. "Doctor" Wakefield, Mark, and all the other loons at AoA have plenty of blood on their hands, sure, but MJD is so far out there that nobody follows him. All the other crazies read his brain droppings and think 'that's just a little too far out for me', and ignore him. As far as I know, the only other person who believes his silly idea is Dunn, the co-author of his non-blockbuster book.

He wants to be a player in the anti-vax world, sure. But even they aren't crazy enough to take him seriously.

#4
Yes. A real concern.
The only targeting that should ever happen
at any time to any group, is that done by
professional authorised epidemiologists who
are working with the best data and motives.
All else is political, and likely selfish, and quite
likely somewhat nefarious, and again quite likely,
as seems to be the case here, one with potentially
tragic consequences, and broader community disruption.
Who are these self appointed fuckwits who think they are
some sort of bizzare parallel health information service?
Reminds me strongly of those bent- arse militia people
in USA.

Young Master Crosby, you were not damaged by vaccines. You were damaged by very bad parenting. Plus associating yourself with Mitchell.

Just forget the whole mess, and get real professional help. With luck you can guilt mommy and daddy into paying for it.

Chris: With luck you can guilt mommy and daddy into paying for it.
I hate to say it, but I think the Crosbys are genetically incapable of feeling guilt. Or anything, for that matter.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Johnny: I would like to believe that, yes, but keep in mind we're dealing with a fairly naive population here. If MJD claims to have a PHD, they're probably not going to research him and realize that he doesn't know anything about anything.

By Politicalguineapig (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

Regarding mjd - i see hope for him - i think Insolence may be " turning" him - one day. As someone who is probably on the spectrum, it's sad that he tries to blame vaxxines or latex for his kids problems, when its fairly obvious it's genetic - especially reading his comments which are not quite "clicking" despite his efforts. He's blaming latex or vaxxines or whatever when its obvious they inherited from their dad. But not the end of the world if you try to adjust.

As for Jake - similar problem. Shit - i wanted to be a model when i was young - why blame vaccines for ruining that unrealistic ambition? Found another career - survived. Get counselling and move on. You inherited autism probably - you are making it a wrakness when ir could be a strength. Grow!

By Jane Ostentatious (not verified) on 05 May 2017 #permalink

And MJD wonders why I don't let him out of moderation purgatory. Here he goes again with his latex fetish.

If MJD claims to have a PHD, they’re probably not going to research him and realize that he doesn’t know anything about anything.

Even if he does have a Ph.D., that doesn't mean he knows anything about anything. There have been examples of this phenomenon on this very blog.

There's also the old joke about generalists and specialists. A generalist is someone who knows nothing about everything. A specialist is someone who knows everything about nothing.

By Eric Lund (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

I missed MJD claiming to have a Ph D - where did that happen?

While I agree that in theory some loons might fall for MJD's silly ideas, in fact, nobody has. Search the web for MJD and, and you won't find anyone who support him. The only thing supporting his ideas are his own work. If he didn't cite his work, nobody would.

I have to give him credit for the fact that he hasn't created sock accounts anywhere that I've found to try to create the illusion that he has followers.

But, hey, maybe I'm wrong. I often am. Maybe there is someone out there that believes him. I can't find them, but maybe someone else can.

In other News of the Weird, I walked into the family room this morning to see my spouse watching an episode of Investigation Discovery about the Jeffrey Bradstreet suicide/murder/alien abduction. Family members have concluded he was murdered (the FDA is on the suspect list) but his trophy wife isn't buying it.

https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/tv-shows/scene-of-the-crime-with…

Meantime, the coverup of a chiropractic healer's fatal shooting fails to draw national media attention (how conveeenient that the alleged shooter died in a hospital, hmmm....).

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/suspect-in-burlington-chiropra…

Erin at Health Nut News is not fooled.

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

MJD doesn't have a doctorate in anything. He doesn't even have a master's. He has a BS in Chemistry.

Dina Fine Maron's February 19, 2015 article in SciAm:

In the U.S. it was one of the only recent efforts to audition new methods for getting more parents to follow childhood vaccine recommendations. The majority of U.S. parents—83 percent—vaccinate with the recommended schedule but the gap in full vaccination has help set off the multistate measles outbreak that has gripped the U.S. since late last year. The spread only underscores how little researchers know about ways to boost vaccination rates among American communities. Scientific American interviewed nine experts studying or experimenting with ways to get parents to vaccinate their kids and analyzed the available peer-reviewed literature. The picture that has emerged elucidates a gap in public health knowledge and strategy when it comes to getting hesitant parents to accept vaccine recommendations for their kids. It also reveals that the sweet spot for intervention are parents that are on the fence, not those who have already decided against vaccines.

Indeed, in the case of the Washington State peer educators program, researchers did not expect the vaccine-resistant parents to switch course—the hope was to inform parents who have not yet made up their minds. The program’s backers are still analyzing whether they achieved the short-term goals of raising awareness and affecting parental attitudes. Certainly, swaying more parents in low-vaccine communities to favor immunization would likely curb outbreaks, because so many vaccine-hesitant parents appear to live in clusters.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-get-more-parents-to-v…

FWIW, Jake's latest fatuous post at his pathetic web site demonstrates that he still can't understand the Polymerase Chain Reaction, which is now both so vital an experimental tool and so ubiquitous that it's used in freshman biology labs. A renowned expert on PCR techniques, Stephen Bustin, testified at the Omnibus Autism Proceeding and summarized the results of his thorough evaluation of the O'Leary lab here:

https://www.intechopen.com/books/recent-advances-in-autism-spectrum-dis…

Let's just say that Jake's reliance on yet another discredited Wakefield study while ignoring the great weight of the evidence to the contrary is, um. informative--or it's lying.

https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/category/legal/autism-omnibus/omnibus…

Thank you for reminding me about The Pump Handle, JustaTech. Here's Kim Krisberg's May 1 2017 article at The Pump Handle,

An evaluation of the three-year intervention, published last month in Health Promotion Practice, is very encouraging: parents who described themselves as “vaccine hesitant” fell from 23 percent to 14 percent, while parental concerns about their peers’ decisions not to vaccinate rose from 81 percent to 89 percent.

PumpHandle:

http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2017/05/01/study-training-parents…

Abstract of the Health Promotion Practice article:

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1524839917697303?journalCod…

@ #42 Johnny

I couldn't find much else about MJD's latex fetish either. Well, I did find out that he apparently had a web site a few years ago that managed to gain some minor bit of attention for its design (or lack thereof) and unethical/illegal use of images (http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/dailysucker/2011/11/13/mallard-adhesive…). Apparently, the site has not stuck around.

So, the Gnat is getting desperate it appears.....

brian: "Let’s just say that Jake’s reliance on yet another discredited Wakefield study while ignoring the great weight of the evidence to the contrary is, um. informative–or it’s lying."

It amazes me how many Americans think the MMR only came into this world in 1988, when the first on in the USA was introduced 1971. And that one was modified just seven years later due to better MMR vaccines used elsewhere using a different rubella. I bet some of the parents who are afraid of the MMR vaccine probably received one in the 1970s or 1980s.

People who cannot even look up the history or type of vaccine used in their own country should not be pretending to be "researchers."

So this is what it comes down to? Advertising your blog posts on someone else's blog instead of letting us go over and read organically? You know, like when you want to go to the circus to see the clowns and up and do it without the clowns having to advertise it?

Weird.

Anyway, the situation in Minnesota is expanding rapidly. There are more suspect cases than you can shake a stick at. Of course, the odds of being a case are disproportionately higher if you're not vaccinated than if you are. Also, a lot of cases are in those too young to be vaccinated. They're the ones who are going to have to be followed-up consistently for sequelae. See, that's not something that people like Jake think about when they go off about vaccines.

Jake still hasn't answered a few questions from the other day, but that's par for the course, right? Shall we ask him again or just go on enjoying our weekend?

I think I'll enjoy the weekend.

Heck, I'll save you the effort of going over to Jake's.

Here's what he wrote:

"There is no available measles vaccine, only the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. The former prevents measles, the latter causes measles to linger in the guts of children who developed autism and GI disease as a result of MMR. Measles has made a comeback in the US and UK because there is no measles vaccine available – just the MMR which every child should be protected from. Below is a nearly 20-year old story about the withdrawal of the measles vaccine in the UK by the manufacturer because of – get this – high demand for its use. That demand followed publication of exonerated Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s paper on MMR-injured children. Former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden is complicit in covering up their injuries."

Followed by this article from The Independent: ht tp://www.independent.co.uk/news/measles-jab-withdrawn-due-to-high-demand-119…

Given how infectious measles is, the lack of MMR coverage for children in that community & how tight-knit a community it is, I'm sure we're going to see a lot more cases before this ends.

A real shame, especially since such a high percentage of kids have required hospitalizations.

Oh, good grief. Young Master Crosby has absolutely no idea that the MMR vaccines introduced in the UK in 1988 were not the same as the MMR vaccine introduced in the USA in 1978! Also, that the "demand" for single measles vaccines were due to Wakefield make idiotic stuff up in a news conference. Stuff that was not in his now retracted fraudulent paper!

It is stupidity topped with complete idiocy!

I walked into the family room this morning to see my spouse watching an episode of Investigation Discovery about the Jeffrey Bradstreet suicide/murder/alien abduction. Family members have concluded he was murdered (the FDA is on the suspect list) but his trophy wife isn’t buying it.

Erin at Health Nut News is not fooled.

According to other members of the Loonisphere, Erin is only pushing the Dead Doctor Conspiracy as a false flag operation to discredit the antivaxx movement and heighten the atmosphere of fear:
http://www.waronwethepeople.com/sex-drugs-internet-fraud-the-secret-lif…

It is like a fractal Fake Flag made up of lots of little Fake Flags.

Do read it. I learned, for instance, that you can detect a photoshopped image by tilting your computer screen and viewing it at an angle, whereupon a fake image will change colour as the underlying real pixels show through.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

"I learned, for instance, that you can detect a photoshopped image by tilting your computer screen and viewing it at an angle, whereupon a fake image will change colour as the underlying real pixels show through."

This is an application of Porter-Duff composition of which I was previously unaware.

I wonder what happens if you leave the screen alone and tilt your head, or if you get the same effect whether the tilt is with respect to X, Y or Z axis. And if you use GIMP instead of Photoshop will you see satanic verses?

... you can detect a photoshopped image by tilting your computer screen ...

Well, they've accomplished something in my mind. They've made me regard the idiot Monckton as knowledgeable by comparison (I'm referring to his clueless analysis of a published JPEG of Obama's birth certificate).

“There is no available measles vaccine, only the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. The former prevents measles, the latter causes measles to linger in the guts of children who developed autism and GI disease as a result of MMR."

Every time Jake writes something, I'm amazed at what little he knows with as much time as he has spent on education. Good grief this elemental molecular biology and physiology.

By Science Mom (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

Do read it.

"On April 13, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Dr. Joseph Mercola, America’s wealthiest online natural health products saleman, on five counts of unfair and deceptive trade through Mercola.com. The very next day, according to the FTC Press Release, Mercola agreed to pay out as much as $5,334,067 to more than a thousand defrauded customers who paid between $1,200 and $4,000 each for a falsely advertised 'tanning bed.'"

Oddly, the signature dates on page 20 of the "agreement" (PDF) were from February 9 and appear to be a faxed image. Yes, it's a proposed stipulation. I'm not in the mood to go look up the actual status. Kind of a weird thing for the FTC to be serving up, though.

There is no available measles vaccine, only the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine. The former prevents measles, the latter causes measles to linger in the guts of children who developed autism and GI disease as a result of MMR.

What's striking to me is that he admits measles vaccine works--that any vaccine works. Or is it only the sacred measles-only vaccine that St. Andrew was flogging to replace the MMR he tried to fraudulently discredit that works, while all other vaccines are worthless and/or harmful?

By The Very Rever… (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

Well, that's fascinating stuff herr doktor - though I got dizzy less than halfway through that diatribe, trying to figure out the conspiratorial permutations.

I can go you one better. Did you know that "investigative journalist", Sherri Kane is actually a Provocateur in a Troll Triad? A Psy.D. says so:

"Troll Triad is a cyber psychology, forensics and group-profiling construct introducing a three-pronged archetypal model defining groups of online users who engage in defamation of character, slander & libel...Troll Triad attempts to introduce and describe groups of online users who use Information and Communications Technology to defame, manipulate, curry favor and seek support from other like-minded online users. Troll Triad is also a conceptual framework and template describing how future groups of successful iPredators will be partitioned into three archetypal segments.
This troika includes the Cerebral, Provocateur and Crier Archetypes. When these three elements mix correctly, the Troll Triad becomes a masterpiece of human predation alchemy."

https://darkpsychology.co/sherri-kane-horokane-len-horowitz-exposed/

It's entertaining when the woo-ful turn on each other in paranoid delusional fashion. One of my all-time favorite examples involved the Man Who Walked Through Walls, Major Gen. (ret.) Albert Stubblebine and his sidekick Rima Laibow of the Natural Solutions Foundation, who were exposed by those in the know* as government/pharma agents.

*in other words, nuttier than a Collin Street Bakery fruitcake.

By Dangerous Bacon (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

...the Man Who Walked Through Walls, Major Gen. (ret.) Albert Stubblebine and his sidekick Rima Laibow of the Natural Solutions Foundation

Are they the Puthoff and Targ of the 21st Century?

By The Very Rever… (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

Major Gen. (ret.) Albert Stubblebine and his sidekick Rima Laibow of the Natural Solutions Foundation, who were exposed by those in the know* as government/pharma agents.

Laibow is a shameless, unrelenting grifter who has never missed a single opportunity to put out her hand for more of her readers' money. But for some reason her detractors in the Alt-Med community do not feel they can criticise her on those grounds.

nuttier than a Collin Street Bakery fruitcake

I did have to wonder, after reading the Mercola-Elizabeth expose, whether to thank Big Brother for raising the crazy-pill ration to twenty grammes a week.

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

Are they the Puthoff and Targ of the 21st Century?

Those two are still alive; Stubblebine isn't. The lot have been disappointing me in terms of Dead Pool picks for some time, as I refuse to reuse choices as a matter of principle.

Well, one could start a rumor that the AVX crowd are Crusaders who use Korans as toilet paper and have targeted the Somalis as a way to get Muslims infected. It's just words, after all.

By Spectator (not verified) on 06 May 2017 #permalink

"one could start a rumor that the AVX crowd are Crusaders..."

Funny as a concept, playing with phosphorous in reality.

Let's stick with honesty and the vast amount of scientific consensus from across the globe.

@ Orac's minions,

It's legal, and healthy, to be a pro-vaccine safety advocate.

It's socially awkward, and often unhealthy, to be an anti-vaccine advocate.

It's impossible to be a pro-vaccine safety advocate and an anti-vaccine advocate.

In my opinion, Orac attempts to make the impossible become possible by using raw-imagery, respectful insolence, and demoralizing humor.

A specific example:

The introductory image shows 2+ bloody vultures devouring a baby antelope, then, Orac uses a baby blue background as a means of beautification when applying respectful insolence (see comment #40).

Finally,

What is a rate-limiting-step for vaccine continuous- improvement?

A. Andrew Wakefield
B. Vaccine induced Autism
C. Orac and his minions
D. Vaccine contraindications
E. All of the above

It is well known that when in doubt, choosing (C) increases the probability of successfully answering the question.

By Michael J. Dochniak (not verified) on 07 May 2017 #permalink

It's not just words to these people. Bad idea.

Oh, so the American Loon believes that "we" are preventing vaccines from being safer & more effective?

Sorry, but looking at the current R&D pipeline for vaccines, what I see is a continual improvement in manufacturing, processing and efficacy - plus utilizing a host of new understandings of immune science to develop vaccines capable of tackling Cancer and other conditions.

You really need to get out more, because the rest of us do.

Oh, so the American Loon believes that “we” are preventing vaccines from being safer & more effective?

Well, yeah. Look at it from his point of view.

MJD believes that he has found a major safety flaw in vaccines. This flaw is responsible for a great deal of pain and suffering, and, by the way, also explains how vaccines cause autism. He has attempted to spread the word, and "Make Vaccines Safe Again" #MVSA.

Nobody believes him*. Nobody is more vocal in that disbelief than the minions at RI, and indeed our host has gone to great lengths to muzzle him.

Therefore, our host and his minions are only too happy to carry on with an unsafe product that poisons kids and condemns them and their families to a life of pain and suffering, because reasons.

It's more or less logical, isn't it?

*Well, everybody agrees that latex allergies exist, and can be a problem. It's really a matter of scale, and that whole silly autism thing.

@MJD:

It’s legal, and healthy, to be a pro-vaccine safety advocate.

Lying and exaggerating the risks and adverse events of vaccination is NOT pro-vaccine safety advocacy. This has been pointed out to you before.

By Julian Frost (not verified) on 07 May 2017 #permalink

Baby antelope? Looks like generic carrior to me.

By Jane Ostentatious (not verified) on 07 May 2017 #permalink

I meant "carrion".
In other news, UK's "The Guardian" includes a video essay on a survivor of polio in Nigeria.

By Jane Ostentatious (not verified) on 07 May 2017 #permalink

I intended to key in "carrion".
In other news, UK's "The Guardian" includes a video essay on a survivor of polio in Nigeria.

By Jane Ostentatious (not verified) on 07 May 2017 #permalink

Johnny (#71) writes,

Therefore, our host and his minions are only too happy to carry on with an unsafe product that poisons kids and condemns them and their families to a life of pain and suffering, because reasons.

MJD says,

If there is acquiescence from our gracious host (Orac), the analogy described below may bring clarity.

The use of rubber bullets. The consequence of such ammunition is counter-intuitive (i.e., less logical) based on the weapons design and intent.

In comparison the use of said bullet-like material in vaccine packaging, which can release antigenic contaminants, is counter-intuitive based on the vaccines design and intent (i.e. do no harm).

Johnny, I make no apology for the round-about way of structuring this analogy in that Orac has placed limitations (e.g., auto-moderation) on my ability to provide precise and accurate teachings on this critical vaccine-safety initiative.

By Michael J. Dochniak (not verified) on 08 May 2017 #permalink

And I make no apology to putting you in automoderation, because your vaccine Latex fetish irritates the crap out of me and many of my readers.

I live in the Twin Cities and had to go see my PCP. They are heavily screening for any possible measles cases in an attempt to halt the spread, asking screening questions almost before you can give your name. And I live on the other side of the city from most of the outbreak.

MJD @68: The box is grey, not blue, and it is automatic to indicate a comment by the blog owner.

Perhaps get your screen and/or eyes checked?

By JustaTech (not verified) on 08 May 2017 #permalink

It’s entertaining when the woo-ful turn on each other in paranoid delusional fashion. One of my all-time favorite examples involved the Man Who Walked Through Walls, Major Gen. (ret.) Albert Stubblebine and his sidekick Rima Laibow of the Natural Solutions Foundation, who were exposed by those in the know* as government/pharma agents.

It gladdened my cold little heart, and may even bring joy to Orac's energy cells, to see the anti-vax hard-liners* condemning Wakefield as a vile money-sucking Big-Pharma opportunist, interested only in selling his own vaccines.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=665184310335252&id=10…

* "Hard-line" as "demanding a total ban on vaccination, rather than an option".

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 08 May 2017 #permalink

Terrie -- I just got back from taking my daughter to the doctor (nothing serious) and can confirm they are now screening for measles exposure. Another new addition: instead of just handing masks out at checkin if you have flu-like symptoms, they now have hand sanitizer and a facemask dispenser that you have to physically walk around to get to the checkin, in hopes of getting people masked as early as possible if they have symptoms. I have no idea how well it's actually working, but I appreciated the effort.

Orac:

It’s also based in Minnetonka, MN, which is outside of St. Paul and right where an antivaccine group would need to be to influence the Somalis

No, it's actually in the west metro, so it's a suburb of Minneapolis. The Twin Cities are very much fraternal twins. ;-) But rather more significantly here, Minnetonka is in the wealthier part of town. There's a big, sprawling lake (Lake Minnetonka, once considered sacred to the natives and so of course now exploited to the hilt by wealthy Minnesotans) surrounded by some of the richest communities in the state, including the city of Minnetonka itself but also Woodland (one of the wealtheist cities in America, per capita), Orono, Deephaven, Tonka Bay, Minnetonka Beach, Minnetrista, Wayzata.... There are some huge houses with gorgeous lakefront property there. It's not terribly far from Chanhassen, either, the wealthy suburb where Prince lived. There are pockets of wealth around the Twin Cities, but it's that West Metro area where the *really* rich are particularly concentrated.

So it's got a lot in common with the communities a lot of the recent antivax efforts have come out of. Rich, highly educated, overwhelmingly white, a very privileged lifestyle. I actually have family living out in that area, and you really feel it when you drive through there. Minnetonka itself is one of the more cosmopolitan towns around the lake, with a substantial commercial district, but even there the average household income is double the average household income of Saint Paul. (Go to the really rich little bedroom suburbs nearby, and the average income is more than quadruple what it is in Saint Paul. And there *are* wealthy neighborhoods in St. Paul to pull the average up. Difference is fewer poor families to pull the average down in the more exclusive suburbs.)

So yeah. Even locally here, this crap is being pushed onto the most disadvantaged groups by the most privileged groups, who are either oblivious to that distinction, or who revel in it, feeling that they are sharing their brilliance without really understanding what it's actually going to mean for those families.

By Calli Arcale (not verified) on 08 May 2017 #permalink

According to other members of the Loonisphere, Erin is only pushing the Dead Doctor Conspiracy as a false flag operation to discredit the antivaxx movement and heighten the atmosphere of fear:

In tangentially-related Dead Doctors news, possibly responding to the internecine conspiracy-weaving, Thom and Candice Bradstreet have taken down / cashed in the GoFundMe page they set up to profit from Jeff Bradstreet’s suicide:
http://www.gofundme.com/xscefs

Only the Archived version remains.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170411111920/https://www.gofundme.com/xsc…

By herr doktor bimler (not verified) on 08 May 2017 #permalink

herr doktor bimler:

I noted with some interest the following from the original site:

"If there are any funds in the GoFundMe account remaining after such effort is completed, then those funds will be returned to donors or donated to an autism charity. Full disclosure will be made as to the use of funds and any disbursement of any remaining funds."

Where, I wonder, would one go to find such an accounting? Surely such fine, upstanding citizens would not dream of failing to carry out such a self-imposed obligation.

sarcasm off

It gladdened my cold little heart, and may even bring joy to Orac’s energy cells, to see the anti-vax hard-liners* condemning Wakefield as a vile money-sucking Big-Pharma opportunist, interested only in selling his own vaccines.

Hey, Jake was crapping all over him before his latest routine.

It is like a fractal Fake Flag made up of lots of little Fake Flags.

Do read it.

I'm intrigued why the document linked in this passage, which is styled as an "exhibit," is hosted by the Hawaiʻian Department of Land and Natural Resources:

"Big Pharma’s concerns were so great that the United Nations (UN) AIDS Secretariat to the UN Theme Group on AIDS was directed to censor Horowitz’s scientific publication in the British peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypothesis."

^ As one might have expected, decrementing the "Ex-C" counter yields yet more PDFs, although it seems to stop with 52, which is a scan of some book pages detailing the objections of Pele practitioners to geothermal energy.

“Big Pharma’s concerns were so great that the United Nations (UN) AIDS Secretariat to the UN Theme Group on AIDS was directed to censor Horowitz’s scientific publication in the British peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypothesis.”

I rather enjoyed the advertisement at the end of the 'article' for Oxysilver with added 528 Frequency Resonance. I had forgotten that such things existed.

By Chris Preston (not verified) on 18 May 2017 #permalink