Thread by @drfixus

WHO cites vaccine hesitancy as a top 10 threat to global health. It’s not the “hesitant”, though. THEY ask questions and consider the answers. It’s the rabidly anti-vax who are the threat. They make salacious claims that aren’t supported by credible research.
#Vaccines
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Anti-vaxxers parrot what they hear in their eco chamber. They suggest every malady is caused by #vaccines.
They claim >50% of kids suffer from “chronic dz”. You’d have to consider obesity a chronic dz in order to make that claim. Vaccines do not cause obesity.

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Anti-vaxxers claim pediatricians, who are the lowest pd of any specialty, give #vaccines to line their pockets. Anyone saying so has never worked as a pediatrician. We have devoted our lives to serving children. We have sacrificed greatly to do so. Do not wipe your boots on us

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Anti-vaxxers claim #vaccines cause “injury” and cite propaganda sites and memes as “evidence” of their “research”. Vaccines are VERY safe. Not 💯, but 99.9999% safe. Chance of significant adverse event is <1/1,000,000 doses. They are unwilling to put that risk in perspective

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Anti-vaxxers would have you believe they are privy to some great wealth of information. They’re not. They’d have you believe they are in huge numbers. They’re not. They’re just well-funded and organized. Well, we’re organized, too. We’re standing up for kids and for #science.

6/ Anti-vaxxers claim they’ve “done their research”. What they’ve done is “search”. It’s not the same.
WE, the scientists, have done the research. We’ve read it all, analyzed it all, actually performed the studies, authored the papers that have passed peer-review.

7/ We, the scientists, don’t tend to communicate through stories of families devastated by preventable disease. They’re unverifiable. They’re private. We share true RESEARCH from credible sources like major medical centers, @CDCgov @US_FDA and organizations like @AmerAcadPeds

8/ We, the scientists, don’t exploit stories of children who died from one cause by pretending they died of another. We don’t bend the truth. We don’t outright lie. We don’t attempt to mislead parents. No, that’s the realm of the deniers and #anti-vaxxers.
#vaccines

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Anti-vaxxers spin great tales, don’t they? Vague claims of injury, scary stories of children “fading away” before their eyes. Who wouldn’t be terrified? Yet, when you ask questions, the threads quickly unravel. Parents need to blame something. #vaccines are the scapegoat.

10/Please stop taking medical advice from random ppl on social media. Don’t even take advice from me, except this:
Talk to your child’s doctor. If you think they’re being dismissive, find another one. But LISTEN to the answers. We love your kids, too. Let’s protect them together