Thread by @gorskon

Oh, this will be fun. An Antivaxer thinks I've never heard of #VAERS.Apparently she's blissfully unaware that I've only been writing about #VAERS for around 14 years or so. Time to educate her. 1/

https://twitter.com/TVRauth/status/1123576310981378049

Since I just wrote a thread about #VAERS less than two weeks ago, I'll include it here for @TVRauth's edification. Be sure to read all 7 Tweets! 2/

https://twitter.com/gorskon/status/1119646949446246400

A couple of points are worth repeating. First, I bet that @TVRauth doesn't realize that ANYTHING that happens after vaccination can be reported to #VAERS. 12 years ago one pro-vaccine activist reported that a vaccine turned him into the Incredible Hulk. VAERS accepted it. 3/

Indeed, if this activist had insisted on leaving his report of vaccine-induced Hulkness in the database when questioned, it would still be there, warning antivaxers that the flu vaccine might turn you into the Hulk. 4/

This is, of course, why antivaxers like @TVRauth love to point to #VAERS. So do attorneys trying to sue for "vaccine injury." (Yes, I wrote this 11 years ago.) 5/ respectfulinsolence.com/2008/01/18/how…

Now here's a question for @TVRauth. Can she name the active surveillance systems in place to monitor vaccine safety in a far more rigorous manner? (If she clicked on the link to my Twitter thread above, she should be able to, but I bet that she didn't bother.) 6/

Because I'm a benevolent science advocate, I'll provide the answer for @TVRauth. There's the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). Also the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project (CISA) and @US_FDA's Post-licensure Rapid Immunization Safety Monitoring System (PRISM). 7/

What antivaxers like @TVRauth don't understand is that #VAERS was never meant to be the be-all and end-all of vaccine safety surveillance. It functions more like a "canary in the coalmine," to identify concerns that need to be followed up on using more rigorous methods. 8/

Because #VAERS is so easily manipulated by antivaxers, who've mounted campaigns to have parents report their children's autism, antivaxers love o dumpster dive it to produce crappy studies with bogus inflated risks of vaccine-related harms. 9/

Indeed, I've been writing about such "dumpster diving" for 13+ years now. Here's an oldie by Mark and David Geier. 10/ respectfulinsolence.com/2006/03/06/the…

Here's a more recent example of dumpster diving by Stephanie Seneff. 11/ respectfulinsolence.com/2012/11/20/dum…

I could go on, because I've written about several of these "dumpster diving" studies over the years, but non-antivaxers will get the idea. I do thank @TVRauth for amusing the hell out of me with her assumption that I don't know what the #VAERS database is. 😂 12/12