[[link removed]]
VACCINES TELL A SUCCESS STORY THAT ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. AND TRUMP
FORGET
[[link removed]]
Mark R. O'Brian
July 26, 2024
The Conversation
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]
_ Vaccines have saved many tens of millions of lives in the last 50
years. Nevertheless, misinformation leads many people to reject or be
denied their benefits. These are some of the top false vaccine stories
purveyed by RFK Jr and similar 'skeptics.' _
Toddler about to receive a vaccine from a doctor, by SELF Magazine
(CC BY 2.0)
Vaccinations have provided significant protection for the public
[[link removed](24)00850-X] against infectious
diseases. However, there was a modest decrease in support
[[link removed]]
in 2023 nationwide for vaccine requirements for children to attend
public schools.
In addition, the presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a
leading critic of childhood vaccination
[[link removed]], has given him a prominent
platform in which to amplify his views. This includes an extensive
interview [[link removed]]
on the “Joe Rogan Experience,” a podcast with over 14 million
subscribers
[[link removed]].
Notably, former President Donald Trump has said he is opposed to
mandatory school COVID-19 vaccinations
[[link removed]],
and in a phone call Trump apparently wasn’t aware was being
recorded, he appeared to endorse
[[link removed]]
Kennedy’s views toward vaccines.
I am a biochemist
[[link removed]] and
molecular biologist
[[link removed]]
studying the roles microbes play in health and disease. I also teach
medical students and am interested in how the public understands
science.
Here are some facts about vaccines that skeptics like Kennedy get
wrong:
Vaccines are effective and safe
Public health data from 1974 to the present conclude that vaccines
have saved at least 154 million lives worldwide
[[link removed](24)00850-X] over the past 50
years. Vaccines are also constantly monitored for safety
[[link removed]]
in the U.S.
Nevertheless, the false claim that vaccines cause autism persists
despite study [[link removed]] after
study [[link removed]] of large populations
throughout the world showing no causal link between them.
Claims about the dangers of vaccines often come from misrepresenting
scientific research papers. Kennedy cites a 2005 report
[[link removed]] allegedly showing massive brain
inflammation in monkeys in response to vaccination, when in fact the
authors of that study state that there were no serious medical
complications. A separate 2003 study
[[link removed]] that Kennedy claimed
showed a 1,135% increase in autism in vaccinated versus unvaccinated
children actually found no consistent significant association between
vaccines and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Kennedy also claims that a 2002 vaccine study
[[link removed](02)11682-5] included a control
group of children 6 months of age and younger who were fed
mercury-contaminated tuna sandwiches. This claim is false.
Aluminum adjuvants help boost immunity
Kennedy is co-counsel with a law firm that is suing the pharmaceutical
company Merck
[[link removed]]
based in part on the unfounded assertion that the aluminum in one of
its vaccines causes neurological disease. Aluminum is added to many
vaccines as an adjuvant
[[link removed]] to
strengthen the body’s immune response to the vaccine, thereby
enhancing the body’s defense against the targeted microbe.
The law firm’s claim is based on a 2020 report
[[link removed]] showing that brain tissue
from some patients with Alzheimer’s disease, autism and multiple
sclerosis have elevated levels of aluminum. The authors of that study
do not assert that vaccines are the source of the aluminum, and
vaccines are unlikely to be the culprit.
Notably, the brain samples analyzed in that study were from 47- to
105-year-old patients. Most people are exposed to aluminum primarily
through their diets, and aluminum is eliminated from the body within
days [[link removed]]. Therefore,
aluminum exposure from childhood vaccines is not expected to persist
in those patients.
Vaccines undergo the same approval process as other drugs
Clinical trials [[link removed]] for
vaccines and other drugs are blinded, randomized and
placebo-controlled studies. For a vaccine trial, this means that
participants are randomly divided into one group that receives the
vaccine and a second group that receives a placebo saline solution.
The researchers carrying out the study, and sometimes the
participants, do not know who has received the vaccine or the placebo
until the study has finished. This eliminates bias.
Results are published in the public domain. For example, vaccine trial
data for COVID-19 [[link removed]], human
papilloma virus [[link removed]] and
rotavirus [[link removed]] is available for
anyone to access.
Vaccine manufacturers are liable for injury or death
Kennedy’s lawsuit against Merck contradicts his insistence that
vaccine manufacturers are fully immune from litigation.
His claim is based on an incorrect interpretation of the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, or VICP
[[link removed]]. VICP is a no-fault
federal program created to reduce frivolous lawsuits against vaccine
manufacturers, which threaten to cause vaccine shortages and a
resurgence of vaccine-preventable disease.
A person claiming injury from a vaccine can petition the U.S. Court of
Federal Claims through the VICP for monetary compensation. If the VICP
petition is denied, the claimant can then sue the vaccine
manufacturer.
The majority of cases
[[link removed]]
resolved under the VICP end in a negotiated settlement between parties
without establishing that a vaccine was the cause of the claimed
injury. Kennedy and his law firm have incorrectly used the payouts
under the VICP to assert that vaccines are unsafe
[[link removed]].
The VICP gets the vaccine manufacturer off the hook only if it has
complied
[[link removed]]
with all requirements of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and
exercised due care. It does not protect the vaccine maker from claims
of fraud or withholding information regarding the safety or efficacy
of the vaccine during its development or after approval.
Good nutrition and sanitation are not substitutes for vaccination
Kennedy asserts that
[[link removed]] populations
with adequate nutrition do not need vaccines to avoid infectious
diseases. While it is clear that improvements in nutrition,
sanitation, water treatment, food safety and public health measures
have played important roles in reducing
[[link removed]] deaths and severe
complications from infectious diseases, these factors do not eliminate
the need for vaccines.
After World War II, the U.S. was a wealthy nation with substantial
health-related infrastructure. Yet, Americans reported an average of 1
million cases per year [[link removed]] of
now-preventable infectious diseases.
Vaccines introduced or expanded in the 1950s and 1960s against
diseases like diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, polio, mumps,
rubella and Haemophilus influenza type B have resulted in the near or
complete eradication [[link removed]] of those
diseases.
It’s easy to forget why many infectious diseases are rarely
encountered today. The success of vaccines does not always tell its
own story. It must be retold again and again to counter
misinformation.[The Conversation]
_Mark R. O'Brian
[[link removed]], Professor
and Chair of Biochemistry, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences, University at Buffalo
[[link removed]]_
This article is republished from The Conversation
[[link removed]] under a Creative Commons license. Read
the original article
[[link removed]].
The Conversation is a nonprofit, independent news organization
dedicated to unlocking the knowledge of experts for the public good.
Get fact-based journalism written by experts in your inbox each
morning with a Conversation newsletter
[[link removed]].
* vaccines
[[link removed]]
* misinformation
[[link removed]]
* RFK jr.
[[link removed]]
* Donald Trump
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]
INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT
Submit via web
[[link removed]]
Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]
Manage subscription
[[link removed]]
Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]
Twitter [[link removed]]
Facebook [[link removed]]
[link removed]
To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]
