Bemoaning the Anti-Vaxers; Welcome to my World

Surprise! (NOT) There’s a new measles epidemic centered on California’s Disneyland, primarily because of non-vaccinated children. What is not so much surprising as it is interesting (and gratifying) is the way the mass media has by and large come down against the antivaccine movement responsible for the carnage. More amusing is listening to long-time med bloggers sound off: I do not have personal experience with the anti-vaxxers. My colleagues in other states tell me that many of these fools are well-educated. Obviously they are anti-science. I believe that many such vaccine deniers believe that diet and supplements will trump modern medicine. The striking rise in measles is directly attributable to this ignorant selfishness. I am having difficulty explaining how angry this makes me. Angry? Hello! Welcome to my world: May 2014 January 2011 May 2014 June 2012 March 2013 December 2006 and more. I have been vilified, cursed, accused of “sucking at the teat of big pharma”, and worse. One of the above pieces generated an (outrageously false) accusation of plagiarism. Talk about angry! I’m still reduced to trembling just thinking about it. And my experiences are nothing compared to those of Dr. Paul Offit. He’s been fighting this fight longer than all of us combined. Only now are the anti-vaxers starting to get the negative press they so richly deserve. Here’s the thing, though: anger is not a useful emotion to bring to the interaction w...
Source: Musings of a Dinosaur - Category: Primary Care Authors: Tags: Medical Source Type: blogs