Anti-Vax vs. the Center for Disease Control
This bit of Anti-Vaxxer illogic was shared recently on a friend of mine's Facebook page.
What makes it remarkable is it's absolute sanctimonious arrogance.
What makes it remarkable is it's absolute sanctimonious arrogance.
In modern parlance, this chart, supposedly from the CDC, is what's known as "Fake News."
Below are actual comments from the CDC about the effectiveness of vaccines:
"Before the middle of the last century, diseases like whooping cough, polio, measles, Haemophilus influenzae, and rubella struck hundreds of thousands of infants, children and adults in the U.S. Thousands died every year from them. As vaccines were developed and became widely used, rates of these diseases declined until today most of them are nearly gone from our country."
Below are actual comments from the CDC about the effectiveness of vaccines:
"Before the middle of the last century, diseases like whooping cough, polio, measles, Haemophilus influenzae, and rubella struck hundreds of thousands of infants, children and adults in the U.S. Thousands died every year from them. As vaccines were developed and became widely used, rates of these diseases declined until today most of them are nearly gone from our country."
- Nearly everyone in the U.S. got measles before there was a vaccine, and hundreds died from it each year. Today, most doctors have never seen a case of measles.
- More than 15,000 Americans died from diphtheria in 1921, before there was a vaccine. Only two cases of diphtheria have been reported to CDC between 2004 and 2014.
- An epidemic of rubella (German measles) in 1964-65 infected 12½ million Americans, killed 2,000 babies, and caused 11,000 miscarriages. Since 2012, 15 cases of rubella were reported to CDC.
A second CDC article discusses a series of measles outbreaks from 2008-2017
"From January 1 to October 7, 2017, 120 people from 15 states (California, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles.
In 2016, 86 people from 16 states were reported to have measles. In 2015, 188 people from 24 states and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles. In 2014, the United States experienced a record number of measles cases, with 667 cases from 27 states reported to CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD); this is the greatest number of cases since measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000."
Source: www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html
"From January 1 to October 7, 2017, 120 people from 15 states (California, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles.
In 2016, 86 people from 16 states were reported to have measles. In 2015, 188 people from 24 states and the District of Columbia were reported to have measles. In 2014, the United States experienced a record number of measles cases, with 667 cases from 27 states reported to CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD); this is the greatest number of cases since measles elimination was documented in the U.S. in 2000."
- The majority of people who got measles were unvaccinated.
- Measles is still common in many parts of the world including some countries in Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Africa.
- Travelers with measles continue to bring the disease into the U.S.
- Measles can spread when it reaches a community in the U.S. where groups of people are unvaccinated.
Source: www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html