A Knight in Dragonland

Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 Lancet article set off a wave of anti-vaccine hysteria, “changed and misreported reported results in his research” according to a Sunday Times investigation. Put in simpler terms, Andrew Wakefield is a liar and a fraud.
The Lancet article was thoroughly unconvincing even if the data behind it was sound. A [...]

[Read more]

No matter how you slice it, the vaccine schedule represents a miniscule exposure to antigens and organims compared to what people encounter as part of life. Worrying about the exposure from the vaccine schedule is like worrying about a thimble of water getting you wet when you are swimming in an ocean.
Dr. Mark Crislip, Science-Based [...]

[Read more]

Along with John Enders and Frederick Robbins, Thomas Weller won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries in viral tissue culture leading to the development of both the Salk & Sabin polio vaccines. His later work was also instrumental in developing vaccines for rubella (German measles) and varicella (chicken pox).
Dr. Weller [...]

[Read more]

Dr. Tosi, whose practice is so busy that I use it as a local epidemiological barometer, told me yesterday that he had his first positive Influenza A case of the season in the office. Usually we’ve started to see more cases by now. Hopefully this means we’re going to have a milder flu [...]

[Read more]

Am I actually the one scooping this? WHOI anchor Jen Christensen now has her own blog … News Anchor Mom.
She’s probably really regretting it now.  She has a post about the unfounded and extremely dangerous MYTH that autism is linked to vaccination. I, of course, went on a rant.

[Read more]

This post was prompted by a discussion on breastfeeding over at PI’s blog, which in turn was inspired by commentary on this post at Pointlessly Hypertechnical. There are also connections to comments made in an earlier discussion on my blog.
Breastfeeding, when successful, is the best source of nutrition for an infant’s health, and I [...]

[Read more]

Here’s the link to Arthur Allen’s excellent Slate article; he’s also written another article debunking the idea of an autism epidemic. Here’s the Blogfather’s post on the subject. Let me join them in lambasting this farcical nonsense.
Vaccination is the most important thing that I do as a pediatrician. Absolutely, positively, bar none. [...]

[Read more]