by Andrew Maynard | Feb 20, 2015 | Vaccines
Yesterday, Hank Green and the YouTube channel SciShow posted a particularly good video on the anti-vaccination movement. Unlike many commentators from within the science community, instead of vilifying parents who don’t get their kids vaccinated – or are hesitant about doing so – Green takes a science-grounded look at why people reject vaccines.
by Andrew Maynard | Feb 4, 2015 | Health, Vaccines
Yesterday, I posted a piece examining the oft-quoted mortality rate for measles of one to two deaths per thousand cases of infection. Today, I want to look at what can be learned from more recent and more comprehensive dataset – this one from the 2008-2011...
by Andrew Maynard | Feb 3, 2015 | Communication, Health, Vaccines
If you catch measles, what are your chances of dying? When I was a kid, measles was one of those things you were expected to catch. I had it when I was five, and must confess, I don’t remember much about the experience. I do remember being confined to bed....
by Andrew Maynard | Nov 29, 2014 | Vaccines
A few weeks ago I talked with Katie Wells at Michigan Radio about why some people are reluctant to get flu shots – myself included up to last year. The interview was rebroadcast on Marketplace this last week, and can be heard here: The prompt for the story was...
by Andrew Maynard | Oct 28, 2014 | Vaccines
If you hadn’t noticed, today’s Google doodle celebrates the 100 year anniversary of Jonas Salk’s birth – Salk pioneered the first successful inactivated virus based vaccine for Polio. As The Guardian reminds us, it’s a good reminder of...
by Andrew Maynard | Sep 12, 2014 | Communication, Public Health, Vaccines
Anyone following the Twitter #vaccinesNOVA hashtag on the evening of Wednesday September 10 would have seen their stream seemingly overwhelmed by the #CDCWhistleblower hashtag. Wednesday was when NOVA’s documentary Vaccines – Calling The Shots aired, and...
