influenza
How accurate are Dana Ullman’s articles? To answer this amusing question, I asked the AI platform ‘Gemini’ to find all the false statements in one of Dana’s articles (yes, I do admit that I am reluctant to read though an entire nonsensical paper – it would give me a headache or worse). This is the precise task I asked for:
Give me a bullet point list of all false statements in this text: Lessons from the Flu Epidemic of 1918: The Dangers of Using Fever Suppressing Drugs for Viral Infections.
[In case you want to read this lengthy paper yourself, here is the link]And here is the response I got from Gemini (bold emphasis by AI):
The text you provided is a well-known article by Dana Ullman that blends historical events with controversial medical theories. While some of the historical context (like the 1917 aspirin patent expiration) is accurate, the medical conclusions and the data regarding homeopathy are widely considered false or highly misleading by the scientific and medical communities.
Here is a bulleted list of the primary inaccuracies and misleading statements in the text:
1. Misrepresentation of the 1918 Pandemic Deaths
- The “Aspirin Theory”: The text suggests that a “large number” of the 50 million deaths in 1918 were due to aspirin overdose. This is based on a hypothesis by Dr. Karen Starko. While high doses of aspirin likely contributed to some deaths, the scientific consensus remains that the vast majority of deaths were caused by secondary bacterial pneumonia and the extreme virulence of the H1N1 virus itself, not aspirin poisoning.
- Aspirin and Bleeding Lungs: The text claims bleeding in the lungs is a “known side effect of aspirin overdose.” While salicylates can cause pulmonary edema, the “hemorrhagic” (bloody) lungs seen in 1918 victims are a hallmark of the severe viral pneumonia caused by that specific strain of influenza, not a specific marker for aspirin toxicity.
2. Inaccuracies Regarding COVID-19 and NSAIDs
- NSAIDs and Blood Clots: The text states that ibuprofen and naproxen are “known to lead to blood clots.” This is a significant mischaracterization. While chronic, long-term use of certain NSAIDs is linked to a slight increase in cardiovascular risk, they are not a primary cause of the acute “clotting storms” seen in COVID-19 patients. In fact, many COVID-19 protocols involve using blood-thinning agents (like aspirin) to prevent clots.
- The 80% Risk Claim: The claim that NSAID users have an 80% greater risk of venous thromboembolism is taken from observational studies that show correlation, not causation. People taking NSAIDs often have underlying inflammatory conditions that already increase their risk of clots.
3. False Claims About Homeopathy’s Success
- 1918 Mortality Rates: The text claims a 1.2% death rate in homeopathic hospitals vs. 29% in conventional hospitals. These figures are widely considered unreliable and anecdotal. They were self-reported by homeopathic practitioners at the time, lacked standardized diagnostic criteria, and did not account for “selection bias”.
- WHO Recognition: The WHO does not recognize homeopathy as the “second largest system of medicine” in terms of efficacy or official endorsement. It only recognizes it as a widely used traditional practice.
4. Scientific Misconceptions About Fever
- Fever Suppression Spreading Virus: The text claims that suppressing a fever “can enable the virus to spread throughout the body.” Clinical studies have generally shown that taking antipyretics does not significantly worsen disease outcomes or increase viral shedding.
- The “Cytokine Storm” Claim: The article suggests that when a fever-suppressing drug wears off, a person may experience a “cytokine storm.” This is medically incorrect.
5. Out-of-Context Quotes
- Paul Offit and Jane Brody: The text quotes them in a misleading way. They are vocal supporters of conventional medicine and vaccines, and the usage here is considered cherry-picking.
Summary Note: The FDA and the CDC have both clarified that there is no scientific evidence that taking ibuprofen or other NSAIDs worsens COVID-19.
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I know, this is just one of his many nonsensical papers. But it nevertheless suggests that Dana puts in quite a lot of effort into misleading the public.
It has been reported that, under the ardent anti-vax Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named Lousiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham as its new principal deputy director. His track record speaks fro itself: Under Abraham’s leadership, the Louisiana health department waited months to inform residents about a deadly whooping cough (pertussis) outbreak. Earlier this year, Abraham told a Louisiana news outlet that he doesn’t recommend COVID-19 vaccines because, as he put it: “I prefer natural immunity.” In February, Abraham ordered the health department to stop promoting mass vaccinations, including flu shots, and barred staff from running seasonal vaccine campaigns. Abraham also is a big fan of using the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and the de-worming drug ivermectin to treat COVID-19, despite studies finding both ineffective against the viral infection. In 2021, Abraham was the seventh-highest prescriber of ivermectin out of 12,000 practicing physicians in his state. This fits with his record of troubling prescriptions. In 2013, he was one of the top opioid prescribers.
Furthermore, Abraham believes the Affordable Care Act should be repealed and opposes the expansion of Medicaid. On the topic of COVID-19, Abraham has said that masking, lockdowns and vaccination requirements “were practically ineffective.” He said that the adverse effects of COVID vaccines were “suppressed”, that “we don’t know” whether recipients of COVID vaccines can safely donate blood, and suggested that COVID vaccines may be linked to miscarriages. Abraham issued a directive in February 2025 instructing Louisiana state workers to end long-standing mass vaccination clinics and stop promoting seasonal vaccines.
Of course, Abraham’s views are well-aligned with Kennedy’s. Abraham has even spoken out against adding fluoride to water, like the health secretary. Kennedy is diligently working to reshape the CDC to fit his anti-vaccine views, conspiracy theories, and unproven ideas. This was made very clear recently, when Kennedy directed the CDC to rewrite one of its webpages to falsely link vaccines to autism.
As soon as the appointment had been announced, experts started protesting against it. “Dr. Abraham is unqualified,” said Thomas Farley, who served as health commissioner in both New York City and Philadelphia. Dr. Nirav Shah, an epidemiologist who served on the CDC under the Biden administration, criticized the appointment on X. “Dr. Abraham has been on the wrong side of several important public health issues over the past decade,” Shah wrote. “His track record, which includes undermining confidence in vaccines and minimizing the risk of outbreaks, disqualifies him from steering an agency charged with protecting all Americans.”
Changes in the vaccine advisory process in the United States have disrupted immunization guidance, which reinforces the need for independent evidence review to inform decisions regarding immunization for respiratory viruses during the 2025-2026 season.
The researchers conducted a systematic review of U.S.-licensed immunizations against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and influenza. They searched databases on PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science for updates of the most recent review by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Evidence-to-Recommendations for each disease, which was performed during the 2023-2024 period. Outcomes included vaccine efficacy and effectiveness against hospitalization, other clinical end points, and safety.
Of 17,263 identified references, 511 studies met the inclusion criteria. Covid-19 mRNA vaccines against the XBB.1.5 subvariant had pooled vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization of 46% (95% confidence interval [CI], 34 to 55; from cohort studies) and 50% (95% CI, 43 to 57; from case-control studies) among adults and 37% (95% CI, 29 to 44) among immunocompromised adults. In a case-control study, vaccines against the KP.2 subvariant showed an effectiveness of 68% (95% CI, 42 to 82). Maternal RSV vaccination (for infant protection), nirsevimab for infants, and RSV vaccines in adults who were 60 years of age or older showed vaccine effectiveness of 68% or more against hospitalization. Influenza vaccination had a pooled vaccine effectiveness of 48% (95% CI, 39 to 55) in adults between the ages of 18 and 64 years and 67% (95% CI, 58 to 75) in children against hospitalization. Safety profiles were consistent with previous evaluations. The diagnosis of myocarditis associated with Covid-19 vaccines occurred at rates of 1.3 to 3.1 per 100,000 doses in male adolescents, with lower risk associated with longer dosing intervals. The RSVPreF vaccine was associated with 18.2 excess cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome per million doses in older adults; a significant association with preterm birth was not observed when the vaccine was administered at 32 to 36 weeks’ gestation.
The authors concluded that the evidence supports the safety and effectiveness of immunizations against Covid-19, RSV, and influenza during the 2025-2026 season.
On this blog, we have a surprising amount of commentators who seem unconvinced about the benefits of vaccinations, particularly the COVID vaccinations. Therefore, I thought that this recent article might help these confused people to better understand the current evidence.
In contrast to the self-appointed ‘experts’ claiming that vaccinations do more harm than good, the authors of this excellent paper come from the most reputable institutions in the US:
- 1Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.
- 2Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.
- 3Department of Pediatrics, Mass General Brigham for Children and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
- 4Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston.
- 5Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
- 6Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
- 7Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, WI.
- 8Harvard Medical School, Boston.
- 9Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
- 10Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University, Montreal.
- 11Division of Infectious Diseases, Brown University Health and Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI.
- 12Division of General Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston.
- 13Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.
Will this new paper convince many anti-vaxers? I sure hope so but somehow I also have my doubts.
I am not in the habit of using my blog for telling personal anecdotes, but today I make an exception.
I just got both my flu and my COVID jabs. For this, I had made an appointment at my GP surgery, arrived in time and swiftly received the flu vaccination from a nurse. For the COVID jab, I was told to make an appointment at a pharmacy, because the GP surgery would not do this.
So, I made an appointment at one of the few pharmacies in Cambridge that offer this service. When I arrived, I was surprised how crammed the space was where customers had to wait their turn. It felt as though I had arrived in a third world country. The room was so small that I (and with me everyone else) could not help overhearing the OTC consultations that took place between the customers and the pharmacist.
In particular, there was a young man seeking help. He had had a vaccination [I did not catch which] and fainted a few hours later. He was worried and asked the pharmacist for advice. The pharmacist told him to consult his GP. The man explained that he had tried, but could not get an appointiment until 3 weeks. The pharmacist then gave him 2 medications for his problem together with instructions how to take them. The man thanked him, paid and left the pharmacy. A few minutes later I was called into the tiny consulting room, received my COVID immunisation, thanked the pharmacist and went home.
Here are the questions raised by this seemingly banal series of events:
- Why is it impossible for my GP practice to give me both flu and COVID jabs at the same time?
- Would it not be much more economical for the NHS to do this?
- Would it not have wased less of my time as well?
- Why was the worried man who had fainted told to wait 3 weeks for a GP appointment?
- Why are worried patients not seen more swiftly!
- Why did the pharmacist precribe him 2 medications? (I am not aware of any drug that would be effective in such a case.)
- Pharmacists are supposed to be available for patients with minor ailments; but does that not mean they have an obvious conflict of interest when they then sell drugs that are of questionable usefullness to desperate people?
It seems to me that, with a more thoughtful organisation, the NHS could run better and cheaper. It also occurred to me that one has to sympathise with people who are put off by this sort of thing and subsequently prefer to consult practitioners of so-called alternative medicine.
PS
I am pleased to report that none of the two vaccinations caused the slightest adverse effects.
Influenza poses a major health challenge due to its variability, pandemic potential and absence of an effective cure. These fact render prevention crucial. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the link between influenza vaccination and so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) practices among Palestinian adults, along with factors influencing vaccination rates. It also evaluated participants’ attitudes towards SCAM and beliefs regarding herbal and vitamin use for influenza management.
The study was carried out between 18/02/2024 and 23/04/2024. A self-administered online questionnaire was shared through social media and personal communication. This questionnaire was aimed at all adults aged 18 and above. Both descriptive and regression analyses were performed.
The study included 363 participants, revealing an influenza vaccination rate of only 9%. A significant correlation was found between vaccination status and the use of:
- manipulative therapies,
- body-based methods,
- mind-body medicine.
No significant relationship was noted with herbal remedies or alternative medical systems.
Higher income and better health status were linked to increased vaccination likelihood (P-value<0.05), indicating a need for targeted public health campaigns. Although 63% of participants were familiar with SCAM, 34% had never used it for influenza, highlighting a knowledge gap. Popular natural remedies like Vitamin C, ginger, and honey reflect a trend toward preventive healthcare despite concerns over costs and skepticism about SCAM’s effectiveness.
The authors concluded that vaccine hesitancy is influenced by multiple factors, including context and types of SCAM use. Cultural beliefs and personal health philosophies significantly shape attitudes toward SCAM use and vaccination.
On this blog, we have discussed dozens of papers showing a link between various forms of SCAM and uptake of various form of vaccinations (please use the search fascility, if you want to know the details). We have seen that consumers from all parts of the world are less likely to vaccinate, if they are enthusiastic about SCAM. The reasons for this association, and the role of SCAM practitioners in it seem fairly clear:
- SCAM practitioners tend to advise against vaccination;
- SCAM practitioners tend to claim that their own treatments protect against infections;
- SCAM practitioners tend to stress the risks of vaccinations;
- SCAM practitioners tend to claim that vaccinations are not effective;
- SCAM practitioners tend learn these fallacies during their training;
- SCAM practitioners tend to get bombarded with such messages in their ‘professional’ literature;
- Many consumers believe the nonsense they hear from SCAM practitioners, particularly if they share their anti-establishment/science mind-set.
The damage caused in this way by SCAM practitioners is untold. Is it not time to educate SCAM practitioners properly in order to prevent the damage they do to public health?
Redwood is expected to deliver a presentation at the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting on Thursday using a report on thimerosal that is currently available online. This document contains misleading information and cites a source that apparently does not exist, according to one author, who also pointed out that he is falsely cited in the report.
Thimerosal is a preservative in vaccines meant to prevent contamination. It’s currently used in about 4% of flu shots but was removed from routine childhood vaccines in 2001. “To the best of my knowledge, the study in rats referred to in the planned CDC presentation by Lyn Redwood listing Berman RF as first author does not exist,” Robert F Berman, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of California Davis, said. “I have not published a paper with that title or with that set of co-authors in the journal Neurotoxicology in 2008. Also, none of my research has made any statements about possible thimerosal effects on microglia in the brain or resulting in neuroimmune effects.”
Redwood has held a longstanding belief that mercury exposure through thimerosal-containing vaccines causes autism. Specifically, she has directly attributed her son’s autism to mercury exposure from childhood vaccines as recently as October 2024 in a podcast with RFK Jr. However, decades of research has found no link between autism and vaccines or any vaccine preservative, including thimerosal.
“Thimerosal was removed from all routine childhood vaccines in the US out of an abundance of caution – it is still used as a preservative in much of the world. Many studies have demonstrated that it is safe and has no association with neurodevelopmental disorders,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases and AAP’s liaison to ACIP. A thorough report of existing evidence by the Institute of Medicine in 2004 concluded, “the body of epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also confirms, “research does not show any link between thimerosal and autism.”
At least one vaccine expert said she shuddered Wednesday at the idea of Redwood joining HHS. Fiona Havers, a 13-year CDC veteran who worked on vaccine policy, stated: “Lyn Redwood is well-known for spreading vaccine misinformation. It is troubling that Redwood may now have an official role within HHS and will potentially be in a position to interfere with official messaging about vaccine safety.”
Redwood and Kennedy have long been close. In a conversation between the two of them on Kennedy’s podcast last year, Kennedy credited Redwood with being the figure who “coordinated” the “stalking crusade” by mothers who convinced Kennedy to begin looking into the potential harms of vaccines in the early 2000s. Redwood was also involved in Kennedy’s recent presidential campaign, coordinating volunteer and petition-gathering trainings in Georgia, her home state, according to sign-up pages on the campaign’s website.
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The appointment is yet another piece of convincing evidence for the frantic ‘rush to the bottom’ of the US government in general and Kennedy’ team in particular.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tends to prioritize inherent general immunity instead of vaccination, thereby contributing to widespread vaccine hesitancy or refusal amidst the general public. The objective of this investigation was to furnish evidence regarding the profiles and drivers of seasonal influenza vaccine hesitancy (IVH) among TCM clinicians. Between January and May 2022, the Chinese researchers conducted a nationwide survey in China with embedded an influenza vaccine hesitancy scale to 3085 registered clinicians (1013 TCM and 2072 Western medicine (WM) clinicians).
The results suggest that TCM clinicians exhibit lower possibility of influenza vaccine uptake and are less likely to recommend the immunisation to the patients. 58.3 % TCM clinicians and 52.3 % WM clinicians were categorized as being influenza vaccine hesitant. Compared to WM clinicians, TCM clinicians have lower confidence in vaccine (p < 0.001) and are less inclined to accept others’ vaccination recommendation (p < 0.001). Higher educational attainment in TCM (postgraduate: OR = 1.98, 95 %CI,1.30–3.02; doctor: OR = 2.20, 95 %CI, 1.28–3.77) and ignorance of influenza vaccination cost policy (OR = 1.76, 95 %CI, 1.18–2.63) are significantly associated with increased influenza vaccine hesitancy.
The authors concluded that the concerns and doubts towards influenza vaccine is highly prevalent in the Chinese clinicians, especially those practicing TCM. High TCM educational degrees and ignorance of influenza vaccination cost policies are two primary risk factors for developing influenza vaccine hesitancy.
The findings are, I think, far from surprising. There is plenty of evidence about the negative stance towards influenza and other vaccination that practitioners or proponents of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) display, e.g.:
- Do views about so-called alternative medicine (SCAM), nature and god influence people’s vaccination intentions?
- Use of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and its association with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status
- Chiropractors Aren’t The Solution To The Primary Care Shortage: the thorny issue of vaccination
- An osteopath and anti-vaccination activist received a well-deserved and long-overdue indefinite suspension
- Prison sentence for a German HEILPRAKTIKER who issued false vaccination certificates
- Interest in so-called alternative medicine is linked to vaccination coverage
- Naturopath jailed for selling fraudulent vaccination documents
- Vaccination rates of Canadian healthcare professionals: those of chiropractors and naturopaths are at the lowest
- A Professor for Integrative and Anthroposophical Medicine claims that severe adverse effects of COVID vaccinations are 40 times more frequent than officially recognized
- Preference of so-called alternative medicine predicts negative attitudes to vaccination
- Intelligence, Religiosity, SCAM, Vaccination Hesitancy – are there links?
- A well-known opponent of vaccination has died of COVID after self-treatment with MMS
- The International Chiropractors Association’s Statement on Vaccination
- A naturopath promoting fake news about COVID vaccinations
- More information on homeopaths’ and anthroposophic doctors’ attitude towards vaccinations
- The UK Society of Homeopaths, a hub of anti-vaccination activists?
- HOMEOPATHY = “the complete alternative to vaccination” ?!?!
- Are anthroposophy-enthusiasts for or against vaccinations?
- Far too many chiropractors believe that vaccinations do not have a positive effect on public health
- Naturopaths’ counselling against vaccinations could be criminally negligent
- HOMEOPATHS AGAINST VACCINATION: “The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is yours and yours alone”
- Use of alternative medicine is associated with low vaccination rates
- Integrative medicine physicians tend to harbour anti-vaccination views
- Vaccination: chiropractors “espouse views which aren’t evidence based”
With so much evidence and unquestionable serious harm being caused by these SCAM anti-vaxxers, the obvious question is this:
WHY IS SO LITTLE BEING DONE ABOUT IT?
As we have discussed previously, there is an outbreak of measles affecting unvaccinated children in the US. In an attempt to reassure the US public, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said that the U.S. Department of the Health and Human Services is watching the Texas measles outbreak. “It’s not unusual,” he claimed when pressed by reporters. “We have measles outbreaks every year.” This, of course, is quite misleading.
Yes, there are regular outbreaks, but they are hardly comparable to the current one. The last person to succumb to measles in the US died in 2015 during an outbreak in Clallam County, Washington state, in which only a couple dozen people were infected. Measles was then identified as the cause of death of a woman. The autopsy found that she had “several other health conditions and was on medications that contributed to a suppressed immune system,” the US Health Department said at the time.
Kennedy misstated a number of further facts:
- Kennedy claimed that most of the patients who had been hospitalized were there only for “quarantine.” Dr. Lara Johnson at Covenant, the hospital in question, contested that characterization. “We don’t hospitalize patients for quarantine purposes,” said Johnson, the chief medical officer.
- Kennedy claimed that two people had died of measles. Yet Andrew Nixon, the spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services clarified that, at the time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified only one death.
Gaines County has reported 80 measles cases so far. It has one of the highest rates of school-aged children in Texas who have opted out of at least one required vaccine, with nearly 14% skipping a required dose last school year.
Some of the hospitalised patients’ respiratory issues progressed to pneumonia, and they needed an oxygen tube to breathe, Johnson explained. Others had to be intubated, though Johnson declined to say how many. “Unfortunately, like so many viruses, there aren’t any specific treatments for measles,” she said. “What we’re doing is providing supportive care, helping support the patients as they hopefully recover.”
Last week, Trump seemed to buy into the already thoroughly debunked vaccines-cause-autism conspiracy that Kennedy famously has been promoting for years. Trump claimed that the Pennsylvania Dutch’s simplistic and unvaccinated lifestyle could be used as a potential model to avoid the disorder.
Meanwhile, multiple vaccine projects have been stopped by Kennedy. He paused a multimillion-dollar project to create a new Covid-19 vaccine in pill form on Tuesday. This project was a $460 million contract with Vaxart to develop a new Covid vaccine in pill form, with 10,000 people scheduled to begin clinical trials on Monday. Of that, $240 million was reportedly already authorized for preliminary research.
Furthermore, the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, or VRBPAC, was scheduled to meet in March to discuss the strains that would be included in next season’s flu shot, but federal officials told the committee that the meeting was canceled, said committee member Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit told NBC News that no explanation was given for the cancellation of the yearly spring meeting, which comes in the middle of a flu season in which 86 children and 19,000 adults have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In an email to NBC, Norman Baylor, a former director of the FDA’s Office of Vaccine Research and Review, said, “I’m quite shocked. As you know, the VRBPAC is critical for making the decision on strain selection for the next influenza vaccine season.”
Finally, an upcoming CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting was also postponed last week. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, was scheduled to meet Feb. 26 through Feb. 28. The group of independent experts convenes three times a year on behalf of the CDC to weigh the pros and cons of newly approved or updated vaccines. The postponement will put Kennedy at odds with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is a doctor and the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which oversees HHS. Kennedy had promised Cassidy to give the Senate prior notice before making changes to certain vaccine programs. “If confirmed, he [Kennedy] will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without change,” Cassidy said in a speech on the Senate floor supporting Kennedy’s HHS nomination earlier this month.
The dangerous mess the new US governement got itself into within days of alledgedly governing seems monsterous. It is hard to conclude that Kennedy is competent or has abandonned his longstanding anti-vax stance. He clearly does not persue a reasonable strategy to protect the US from outbreaks of infections, endemics or pandemics. On the contrary, he is playing fast and loose with the health of US citizens and. as a consequence, with the health of all of us.
In spite of the safety and efficiency of the COVID-19 vaccines and the many promotion efforts of political and expert authorities, a fair portion of the population remained hesitant if not opposed to vaccination. Public debate and the available literature point to the possible role of people’s attitudes towards medical institutions as well as their preference for so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) on their motivations and intentions to be vaccinated. Other potential ideological factors are beliefs about environmental laissez-faire and divine providence insofar as they encourage people to let the pandemic unfold without human interference.
In three cross-sectional samples (total N = 8214), collected at successive moments during the Belgian vaccination campaign, the present research examines the distal role of these psychological and ideological factors on vaccination intentions via motivational processes.
- Study 1 gauges the relation between trust in medical institutions and preference for SCAM on intentions to get vaccinated via motivations.
- Study 2 examines the role of beliefs in the desirability of letting nature take its course (‘environmental laissez-faire beliefs’) on vaccination intention via motivations.
- Study 3 tests whether people’s adherence to environmental laissez-faire and beliefs about divine providence are linked to their motivations for vaccination via trust in the medical institutions and SCAM.
The results show that adherence to SCAM has a deleterious effect on vaccination intentions, whereas trust in medical institutions has a positive effect. Both ideological factors pertaining to external control are only moderately related, with environmental laissez-faire beliefs having stronger effects on SCAM, medical trust and vaccination motivations.
The evidence of an association between SCAM and willingness to get vaccinated is undeniable. On this blog, we have discussed it repeatedly, e.g.:
- Use of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and its association with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status
- Intelligence, Religiosity, SCAM, Vaccination Hesitancy – are there links?
- Andrew Wakefield, Donald Trump, SCAM, and the anti-vaccination cult
- Measles are back – not least thanks to so-called alternative medicine (SCAM), I fear
- Reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of childhood vaccination
- Endorsement of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and vaccine hesitancy among physicians
- Are people who oppose COVID-19 vaccinations intellectually challenged?
- So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and vaccine hesitancy among physicians: findings from Germany, Finland, Portugal, and France
- Interest in so-called alternative medicine is linked to vaccination coverage
- Misinformation and conspiratorial thinking are at the heart of so-called alternative medicine(SCAM)
- Vaccination rates of Canadian healthcare professionals: those of chiropractors and naturopaths are at the lowest
- Echo chambers of vaccine hesitancy and so-called alternative medicine (SCAM)
- Preference of so-called alternative medicine predicts negative attitudes to vaccination
- What are the reasons for opposing COVID vaccinations?
- Anti-vax arguments used by proponents of SCAM are stupid, or wrong, or both
But what exactly is the nature of this association?
- Does SCAM-use predispose to vaccination hesitancy?
- Does Vaccination hesitancy predispose to SCAM use?
- Is both true?
After reading all this research that has emerged on the subject, I get the impression that we are mostly dealing here with a cross-correlation where a certain mind-set of being
- prone to conspiracy theories,
- anti-establishment,
- anti-science,
- irrational,
- of low intelligence,
- unable of critical thinking,
- etc., etc,
determines both the SCAM-use and the vaccination hesitancy.
In many parts of the world, vaccination rates have been declining in recent years.
Why?
This study aimed to determine the rates and reasons for parental hesitancy or refusal of vaccination for their children in Türkiye. A total of 1100 participants selected from 26 regions of Türkiye were involved in this cross-sectional study conducted between July 2020 and April 2021. Using a questionnaire, the researchers collected data on:
- the sociodemographic characteristics of parents,
- the status of vaccine hesitancy or refusal for their children,
- the reasons for the hesitancy or refusal.
Using Excel and SPSS version 22.0, they analysed the data with chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and binomial logistic regression.
Only 9.4% of the participants were male and 29.5% were aged 33-37 years. Just over 11% said they were worried about childhood vaccination, mainly because of the chemicals used in manufacturing the vaccines. The level of concern was greater among those who:
- got information about vaccines from the internet, family members, friends, TV, radio, and newspapers,
- used so-called alternative medicine (SCAM).
The authors concluded that parents in Türkiye have several reasons for hesitating or refusing to vaccinate their children, key among which are concerns about the chemical composition of the vaccines and their ability to trigger negative health conditions such as autism. This study used a large sample size across Türkiye, although there were differences by region, the findings would be useful in designing interventions to counter vaccine hesitancy or refusal in the country.
The fact that SCAM users are more likely to be against vaccinations has been reported often and on this blog we have discussed such findings regularly, e.g.:
- Intelligence, Religiosity, SCAM, Vaccination Hesitancy – are there links?
- Andrew Wakefield, Donald Trump, SCAM, and the anti-vaccination cult
- Endorsement of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and vaccine hesitancy among physicians
- So-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and vaccine hesitancy among physicians: findings from Germany, Finland, Portugal, and France
- Interest in so-called alternative medicine is linked to vaccination coverage
- Misinformation and conspiratorial thinking are at the heart of so-called alternative medicine(SCAM)
The questinon I ask myself is, what is the cause and what the effect? Does vaccination hesitancy cause people to use SCAM, or does SCAM use cause vaccination hesitancy? I think that most likely both is true. In addition the two are linked via a common trait, namely that of falling for conspiracy theories. We know that someone believeing in one such theory is likely to believe in other such notions as well. In my view, both vaccination heaitancy and SCAM can qualify to be called a conspiracy theory.
