Bad Astronomy

How to crush antivax arguments

David Gorski is a surgical oncologist, and also a well-known though bepseudonymed blogger for Science Blogs. His anti-antivaccination stance is legendary, for good reason: he is incredibly well-spoken and his posts railing against the pro-measles (haha) crowd routinely eviscerates them.

But none of his posts has ever done so in such a remarkably thorough fashion as in this lengthy post in which he destroys the movement from top to bottom. What we have there, ladies and gentlemen, is the be-all and end-all of posts about the antivaxxers, showing their lack of evidence, their ad hominem attacks, their lies, their fraud, and everything else that makes them one of the greatest health threats in the United States, if not the world.

From the vacuous pseudoscientific nonsense of antivax spokeswoman Jenny McCarthy, to the out-and-out evillness of Andrew Wakefield, the father of the modern movement whose conflicts of interest when it comes to vaccines are simply breathtaking, Dr. Gorski’s post is nothing short of what should be The Link, the one you send to all parents who question whether they should vaccinate their children or not. Everything you need is there, with the history, quotations, false claims, and everything else about the antivax movement, including links to more information. I’ve put it in my sidebar blogroll, and if you think children should stay healthy and not get measles, rubella, pertussis, the flu, encephalitis, and even possibly die, then please help promote Dr. Gorski’s post. You may help save thousands of lives.