Selectively picking scientific facts leads to wrong conclusions
In order to understand science and make the correct conclusion, you need to have all the pieces of information. We don’t always see that these days. What I think happens, especially with conspiracies, is that people have or use some of the pieces of information that they connect and they come to the wrong conclusion.
One example happened earlier this summer when Robert Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress. It was supposed to be about internet activity, but because he is known as an anti-vaxxer, questions went in that direction.
Congressman Chip Roy of Texas said he’d like to know more about the polio vaccine and its side effects. I thought there had to be something missing because we’ve been using polio vaccine worldwide for 70 years. Polio vaccine is one of the great public health achievements of the 20th century.
The congressman heard that the polio vaccine caused polio. But there was missing information in the discussion that followed.
Here’s the story, and I’ll use bullet points to keep this direct:
There are two kinds of polio vaccines. One is the inactivated version given by injection and the only one used in the U.S. The other is an oral vaccine, given by putting drops in a child’s mouth.
The oral vaccine works. But it has live virus, and people getting that vaccine sometimes can shed virus to people who are not vaccinated. If that happens, the unvaccinated person can become ill.
Not everybody in the U.S. has been vaccinated. If an unvaccinated person comes in contact with virus, they risk getting the disease. That happened recently in New York City. A traveler to a country where live virus is used spread polio to an unvaccinated person in New York.
The conclusion is we need as many people as possible to be vaccinated against polio.
The polio vaccine in either form works. In this country, we use only the inactivated, injectable version and have for the past 40 or so years.
The point here isn’t just to get people vaccinated, it’s to think about what politicians are saying when they make medical recommendations. We need to leave scientific explanations to scientists.
I admit, what we’re saying often is complicated and we don’t always do a good job making it understandable. We need to do better.
I hope I’ve made this message clear. If not, let me know and I’ll try again.