RFK - Make America Healthy? again?
I believe this guy is going to need his own thread.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/14...
A department spokesperson confirmed Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham had ordered his staff to stop engaging in media campaigns and community health fairs to encourage vaccinations, even as the state has experienced a surge in influenza.
well, duh
“Public health is really united on this issue: For more than a century, vaccines of all kinds have been a cornerstone of improving public health in America,” Avegno told the city council on Thursday. “There’s not scientific debate on this, this is as close as you can get to established fact that vaccinations, particularly mass vaccinations, and community immunity, saves millions and millions of lives.”
So I tracked down the study since I can see the whole post on my computer, which I wasn't on earlier, and there is a linked study.
A study not published in a legit, reputable scientific journal, mind you. "Science, Public Health Policy and the Law" is low credibility with no solid peer-review standards and has a history of pushing conspiracy theory crap. Basically a blog.
Methods: The study population comprised children born and continuously enrolled in the Florida State Medicaid program from birth to age 9. Vaccination uptake was measured by numbers of healthcare visits that included vaccination-related procedures and diagnoses. Cross-sectional analyses were performed to calculate prevalence odds ratios (Aims 1-2). A retrospective cohort design was used to compute relative risks specifically of ASD (Aim 3).
The funniest part is that it tries to use "doctors visits with vaccinations and diagnoses" as one of the axes. Um...more doctor visits = more opportunities for diagnosis. Gee, when you go to the doctor more you get diagnosed more. Can you believe people that go to the doctor > 0 times get diagnosed with {x} more than people that go 0 times? Crazy.
The study cherry-picked a group with unique health challenges (continuously enrolled in Florida's Medicaid program) and is baffled that they get diagnosed more often the more they go to the doctor. Truly a kindergarten level attempt at creating a biased study. So bad it could only have been done intentionally.
Just a hilariously bad study in a sham journal.
This idea is LONG dead and attempts to rejuvenate like this are sad and desperate.
it's only science if it gets published by the DNC
This isn't kindergarten. You should know what a straw man is by now.
Gannigan's 2 favorite words the past 24h:
1) kindergarten
2) strawman
Don't like getting called out for straw man? Try this new, revolutionary technique:
Don't make straw man arguments. You do realize that it's a basic logical fallacy right? When you make a straw man argument, you both fail at making a point and demonstrate that you either don't know what a straw man argument is or lack the discipline to restrain yourself from making one.
Simply put: it's on you. It's my duty to point out poor logic when you try to use it against me.
Oh I don't care what you say. Just pointing out you learned 2 new words recently and are trying to add them to conversation as often as you can to show your newfound intellect.
I love that you think that because you have the vocabulary and knowledge of basic logic of a lawn mower that I just learned those words.
lololol
No, sweetie. I have to use those words a lot because people keep acting like kindergartners and using straw men when trying to refute my posts. That's it.
edit: just for a laugh I did a search. Here's me calling out a straw man argument on this message board in 2010.
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showp...
Don't fret. You were only off by 15 years (but I'm sorry to tell you I had known what a straw man argument was for at least 15 years before that). That's pretty good for you.
Apparently it was 2009, not 2010. Weird that I misread that. Make it 15+ years.
Texas measles outbreak now up to 124 confirmed cases: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/d...
18 people are hospitalized so far: https://apnews.com/article/measles-texas...
As for relevance to this thread, RFK Jr. made himself rich by chairing a "charity" which spreads anti-vaccine propaganda and publishes anti-vax books with his name on the cover. Both he and the organization have been vocal in criticism of vaccines and mandatory measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations.
Texas measles outbreak now up to 124 confirmed cases: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/d...
18 people are hospitalized so far: https://apnews.com/article/measles-texas...
As for relevance to this thread, RFK Jr. made himself rich by chairing a "charity" which spreads anti-vaccine propaganda and publishes anti-vax books with his name on the cover. Both he and the organization have been vocal in
Texas mandates the measles vaccine in schools from pre-kindergarden.
So what exactly is your claim ?
That's a pretty easy one.
"The recent upswing in cases statewide comes as the measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners has dropped, from almost 97% in the 2019-2020 school year to 94.3% in 2023-24. Texas is among the majority of states that have seen vaccination declines since the pandemic."
When vaccination rates drop, diseases can spread more easily. It's really not that complicated. Due to herd immunity, many diseases have been effectively but not literally eradicated. When vaccination rates drop, there can be local outbreaks like this, especially in locales that have lower than average vaccination rates.
That's almost certainly what is happening here. And it's due to vaccine mis and disinformation, like that spread by many on this forum, and the chief anti vaxer rfk.
Texas mandates the measles vaccine in schools from pre-kindergarden.
So what exactly is your claim ?
That Texas has one of the weakest "mandates" in the country that can be circumvented with nothing more than a notarized affadavit?
"Requesting an Exemption for Reasons of Conscience
To get an exemption from vaccinations for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs, the child's parent, legal guardian, or a student 18 years or older must complete several steps. A completed, signed, and notarized affidavit in a form must be provided by the department to the school or childcare facility. The affidavit should state that the child's parent, legal guardian, or a student 18 years or older is refusing vaccinations because of their conscience, including religious beliefs.
Submitting an Exemption for Reasons of Conscience
Give the form to the school or childcare center within 90 days after it's signed and stamped by a notary. The paper is good for two years after the notary date. A child or student not immunized because of their conscience or religion might not be allowed to go to school if there is an official emergency or epidemic. "
Correct. As stated in the linked news article, the epicentre of the outbreak is one with the highest number of vaccine opt-outs for children.
It was in fact necessary to add the news article to state this, as the official article from The Department of State Health Services services made no such mentions. Go figure.
As for that my "claim" is, it is that politics has consequences. Listening to fraudulent anti-vax nutcases for health advice is not a good idea. By logical extension, making them Secretary of Health and Human Services is a horrible idea.
"The recent upswing in cases statewide comes as the measles vaccination rate among kindergarteners has dropped, from almost 97% in the 2019-2020 school year to 94.3% in 2023-24. Texas is among the majority of states that have seen vaccination declines since the pandemic."
When vaccination rates drop, diseases can spread more easily. It's really not that complicated. Due to herd immunity, many diseases have been effectively but not literally eradicated. When vaccination rates drop, there can be lo
Wait. I thought correlation doesn't equal causation.
It doesn't. Hope that helped. Lower vaccination rates have been proven MANY times to cause (at least) localized outbreaks. Plus the mechanism that causes that is well understood. This wasn't being used to provide evidence of that assertion.
It doesn't. Hope that helped. Lower vaccination rates have been proven MANY times to cause (at least) localized outbreaks. Plus the mechanism that causes that is well understood. This wasn't being used to provide evidence of that assertion.
Proven How?
How come there aren't outbreaks in the other states where vax rates have dropped then?
Proven How?
How come there aren't outbreaks in the other states where vax rates have dropped then?
Because the virus isn't there? Dude this isn't even hard. You can even just read the article. People caught it out of the country, came home, and spread it to unvaccinated people.
The virus doesn't just spawn around unvaccinated people. Try to guess what would happen if you dropped a sick person in a crowd of unvaccinated people in one of those places.
Try at least a little critical thinking.
Because the virus isn't there? Dude this isn't even hard. You can even just read the article. People caught it out of the country, came home, and spread it to unvaccinated people.
The virus doesn't just spawn around unvaccinated people. Try to guess what would happen if you dropped a sick person in a crowd of unvaccinated people in one of those places.
Try at least a little critical thinking.
You still haven't offered any proof that a 2% drop from 97% to 95% in vaccination rate caused the outbreak.
But at least we know the virus only goes to one state and doesn't travel to other states . Lol
lol shocker that people bad enough at math to think vaccines might cause autism also are too bad at math to understand hers immunity.
