It’s not 1913, it’s 2013.
Yet, children are getting sick and some are even dying from polio, measles, and pertussis (whooping cough) in the U.S. and Great Britain, thanks to vaccination scares led by the media and celebrities championing outdated science.
Debunked medical studies from 15 yrs. ago were being pushed by the media as late as 2008 and the fear which kept many from getting their children vaccinated is still causing harm. Even though the media has stopped pushing the junk science [1], celebrities have continued to spread false information about the safety of vaccines.
Celebrities like Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy and left-wing environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,have continued to warn of the dangers of vaccines against childhood illnesses. For over a decade, they have been the spokespersons for an outdated theory linking autism to childhood vaccines. Conversely, more than 16 studies [1] have shown that there is no link between autism and vaccines.
NBC’s chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman warned in 2008 [2], that there would be outbreaks of polio and measles among children in the US because of the anti-vaccination scares. And now, Great Britain is facing a childhood measles epidemic.
NPR reported [3] May 22, 2013, that since 2012, over 3,200 children have been afflicted with measles in Great Britain, simply because parents have been afraid to vaccinate their children. In February 2009, a child died of whooping cough in Australia because her parents bought into the anti-vaccine scare. Likewise, Boulder, Colo., and Washington State have been affected by outbreaks of whooping cough in recent years and at least one child came near to death from the illness.
Discovery Magazine noted [4] that left-leaning geographical areas tend to buy into the anti-vaccine scare more readily than other sections of the country. This might explain why liberal celebrities are influential despite their lack of medical expertise.
One of the most vocal anti-vaccine crusaders, Jenny McCarthy, is rumored to be Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s replacement on the morning talkshow “The View.”