Swine Flu Conspiracy Theories

[indigo girl]

this commentary from the epidemologists at effect measure sums up what i've been thinking every time i read some of the posts here linking to some very startling sources. these are not the type of links that i would ever have expected health care professionals to post for the rest of us to read. it's almost as if the members of a secret club of insiders are saying to us that only they have access to the truth, and the rest of us "sheeple" have been fools for not knowing how things really are. frankly, it drives me nuts to read this kind of drivel.

the snip in red is from a newspaper article about conspiracy theorists with the reveres commenatary following in black. the bolding, and underlining is mine.

[snip]

“i'm boosting my immune system,” people keep saying to me, beatifically.

the phrase is like a new “hail, mary, mother of god” - it's said as if the mere knowledge of the words, and the things the utterance of those words suggests about the speaker, provided special protection.

i know that there are some who believe that "get vaccinated against flu" is also magical thinking. i'm not going to say that magical thinking doesn't exist in modern medicine. it does. but with vaccination we can dispel the magic with some anti-magic: evidence.

read the rest at: http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2009/11/swine_flu_conspiracy_theories.php

the editors of effect measure are senior public health scientists and practitioners. paul revere was a member of the first local board of health in the united states (boston, 1799). the editors sign their posts "revere" to recognize the public service of a professional forerunner better known for other things.