A third of Canadians say science on vaccines isn't 'quite clear': poll

[OnlinePoker]

Source: National Post

In Canada, one tenth of children are going unvaccinated, meaning 750,000 have no immunity whatsoever against diphtheria, whopping cough, tetanus and measles.

As B.C. battles an outbreak of exquisitely infectious measles, a new poll suggests a third of Canadians are questioning the science behind vaccines.

The Angus Reid Institute online survey found that 29 per cent of those polled are of the opinion that the science on vaccinations against deadly childhood infections isn’t “quite clear.” And the skepticism rises with age, with 36 per cent of Canadians over 55 believing the science isn’t entirely convincing.

A further one-quarter — 26 per cent — believe there is a “real risk of serious side effects” from vaccinations, even though such bodies as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that side effects from childhood vaccines, for the most part, are minor (such as a sore arm, slight fever or fussiness) and serious reactions rare (occurring in less than one out of a million doses with the diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine, for example.)

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/a-third-of-canadians-say-science-on-vaccines-isnt-quite-clear-poll

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Just in case you thought the anti-vaxx idiocy stopped at the border.

[Aristus]

1. O, Canada! Unvaccinated Laaaaaaand!

Jesus. Not Canadians, too! We rely on Canada to be a source of calm, logic, and reason in a troubled North America.

[Major Nikon]

9. Who could have ever thought getting medical advice from a porn star would turn out bad?

[underpants]

2. Okay! LET ME SAY THIS RIGHT HERE AND NOW!

If those God Damned Canadians think they can out stupid us, they have no idea what they are getting into.

[rurallib]

6. Thank you for standing up for (it seems) the one thing

that the USA USA is still tops in!

As you say, if Canada wants to have a stupid off with us, well we are more than prepared!

[Bonhomme Richard]

3. I have come to the conclusion that 30%.....

of the people in every country are complete morons. Look at the 30% here that think trump is great...even now. What's the difference? In other countries they are ignored...here they drive policy. The thing is that it only happens when those in power believe they can marshall that ignorance to advance a particular agenda all the while thinking they can control it. I am sure it was that same 30% that put Hitler and every other despot in power.

[wcollar]

15. Bell Curve

Without getting into the validity of I.Q. tests -
An average I.Q. is 100. almost a third of the population is at 90 or below.........................

[Javaman]

4. the coming disease apololypse won't be by some unknown or "engineered" disease...

it will be something common, easy to prevent and should have been eliminated years ago.

it will happen because of ignorance and hair on fire hysteria about vaccines.

we are seeing the coming attractions now.

And I truly hate to say this but this won't get fixed until a wide spread outbreak of some "childhood" disease scorches a wide path through society.

once children start going blind, deaf or die, then and only then will the ignorant fall to the side and people will clamor for a "cure" aka vaccines.

I have fucking zero patience for the anti-vaxx assholes.

[Politicub]

17. Wait until the polio cases start

I hope that doesn't happen. Judging by accounts and pictures from the past, it sounds like a horrible disease.

The antivaxx parents are putting their kids' life at risk by withholding vaccinations.

[Javaman]

22. it is truly horrible. I had two childhood friends that got it.

both survived but not without long term effects on their health.

I recall both having to wear braces when I was in elementary school.

[matt819]

5. OK morons, try this

The MMR vaccine was introduced in the US in 1971, in Canada in 1975. Separate measles vaccines were available prior to that.

Acceptance rates were generally high, and measles outbreaks generally very low.

This graph pretty much reflects the reality of high vaccination rates/low outbreaks - https://www.statista.com/statistics/186678/new-cases-of-measles-in-the-us-since-1950/

The numbers for 2017 and 2018 seem low, but my guess is that the full results are not yet in.

So, take a look at measles outbreaks in 1950, 1960, 1970 - No MMR vaccine, high rates of measles. Lower rates since then, with a few outlier years in 198, 1990, and 1991 that are not explained in the chart.

The point? It's pretty clear to me that the MMR vaccine pretty much accounted for the reduction in measles outbreaks. If I had more time, I'd check the other disease stats, but, dammit, common sense, in short supply among the anti-vaxxers, tells you that the vaccines work.

Yeah, sure, now everyone's going to pull out autism statistics, and we're no further along. Nevertheless, if I had a child today, I'd vaccinate.

[OnlinePoker]

10. The number of kids with autism went up because of reclassification, not vaccines

Last edited Thu Feb 21, 2019, 03:00 PM - Edit history (1)

In 2013, they put Aspergers, Autism, Child Disintigrative Disorder and Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD-NOS) under the umbrella of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent vaccine/autism study in 1998 got this BS rolling and mouth-pieces like Jenny McCarthy threw gas on the fire. Every time an unvaccinated kid dies from a preventable disease, Wakefield should be charged with manslaughter.

[matt819]

18. I knew that

but I was in a hurry and couldn't come up with your concise comment. The other issue regarding statistics, especially wrt autism, is reporting. Measles is measles is measles. Autism? Not quite. And until the past couple of decades, it wasn't reported or, as you observe, classified as autism.

You are right, though. Wakefield, McCarthy, RFK jr should be held accountable for their actions as well.

[3catwoman3]

20. The way I try to illustrate your excellent point...

...when trying to explain this is - "If the criterion for short stature in women was 5 feet 0 inches, a certain portion of the population would fit that standard. If, suddenly, the standard was changed to 5 feet 4 inches, many more women would be categorized as short.

The spectrum seems so very broad that it almost seems that if one is even a tad quirky, there is a label that can be applied.

[yaesu]

7. Back in the 18th century people understood the principles of vaccination

Hell, Abigail Adams had her family inoculated against smallpox in 1775. Its been around and proven for over 250 years, whats not to be clear about?

[Javaman]

23. because there are morons today who think they are special and don't need shots.

they prescribe to the tiger repelling rock theory.

"I live in a city no where near tiger territory by a measure of a couple of continents, therefore, my rock works."

[Fix The Stupid]

8. Go see the actual survey...it's not as bad as the headline makes it...

http://angusreid.org/mandatory-vaccination-canada/

They took that one result and ran with it...

[Fix The Stupid]

11. lol... 1723 people took part in the "survey"

1723/36,000,000 people equals 0.000047% of the population...

And we get " a 1/3 of the population of Canada.."

Clickbait nonsense.

[OnlinePoker]

13. Then you would say the same for every political poll coming up for 2020?

The vast majority of them will use an even smaller sample size, 1000-1500 Americans, to make their forecasts.

[Fix The Stupid]

14. Yes. n/t

[Javaman]

24. then it's clear that you don't trust nor understand statistics then. okay. nt

[Fix The Stupid]

25. lol..Ok...

Hilarious, coming from the site where if you post certain GOVERNMENT stats you get a hide...

Keep it up. I'm rolling over here.

[Javaman]

30. gotcha, bending the narrative to fit your BS. I hope you enjoy your stay. nt

[LanternWaste]

19. 1503+ is a valid sample.

Rethink your premise, insert objective evidence, reach a new conclusion.

In other words, try again, this time with critical thought.

[mainer]

12. Meanwhile 900 people dead of measles in Madagascar

There’s currently an epidemic there, with around 70,000 cases of measles. They have a low vaccination rate. Yes, it really is a deadly disease.

https://www.businessinsider.com/measles-epidemic-in-madagascar-kills-more-than-900-says-who-2019-2

[workinclasszero]

16. Anti vax is a Russian misinformation campaign

Russia trolls 'spreading vaccination misinformation' to create discord

24 August 2018

Social media bots and Russian trolls have been spreading disinformation about vaccines on Twitter to create social discord and distribute malware, US researchers say.

Troll accounts that had attempted to influence the US election had also been tweeting about vaccines, a study says.

Many posted both pro- and anti-vaccination messages to create "false equivalency", the study found.

It examined thousands of tweets sent between 2014 and 2017.

Vaccination was being used by trolls and sophisticated bots as a "wedge issue", said Mark Dredze from Johns Hopkins University.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45294192

[WhiteTara]

21. WHO says it's Russian disinformation

Can you believe this? I was taken aback when I read that Ukraine had almost 54,000 cases last year so I did some research and here's what I found.
Here's my column
http://eureka.news/free-parking-67/

Measles, Facebook and Russia seem like non-sequiturs that shouldn’t be grouped in the same sentence; but horrifying enough, they all belong together.

According to the CDC, measles is the most infectious of all preventable diseases; being airborne, it can transmit with stunning efficacy each time an infected person exhales. Unlike the flu virus, which requires close proximity, the measles virus spreads over space and time.

Considered eradicated in the U.S. since 2000 because of vaccinations, WHO now fears a global comeback as measles cases have recently spiked 30% worldwide. Shockingly, they cite Russia’s worldwide vaccination disinformation campaign being spread through Facebook and other social media.

more at link: http://eureka.news/free-parking-67/

Of course, I'd love for you to finish reading at the link for my eyeball reward.

[melm00se]

26. this is not limited to just the USA and Canada

countries in Europe have the same issue:

https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/08/25/anti-vax-fears-drive-a-measles-outbreak-in-europe

"Two-fifths of people in France—a country whose people pop antibiotics like sweets—believe that vaccines are unsafe. A quarter of Greeks and Ukrainians are also hostile. During recent outbreaks, some countries had dozens of health-workers coming down with measles—which suggest that they, too, may have a dim view of vaccines. A survey of French doctors in 2014, for example, found that nearly a quarter believed that some of the officially recommended vaccines were not useful."

[BamaRefugee]

27. "EXQUISITELY INFECTIOUS"?????? wtf is that?

[OnlinePoker]

28. I was curious as well.

Another site I found said the virus is "exquisitely adept at finding people who are susceptible to it, and infecting them".

[Panich52]

29. Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/23/russian-trolls-spread-vaccine-misinformation-on-twitter?CMP=share_btn_tw

[Major Nikon]

31. B.C. Parents furious after discovering son's hidden vaccine stash

https://www.thebeaverton.com/2019/02/b-c-parents-furious-after-discovering-sons-hidden-vaccine-stash/

[OnlinePoker]

32. Thankfully, the Beaverton is a satire site similar to The Onion. n/t