Thread by @han_francis

A brief summary of science literacy in the US, with extensive citation credits to @ENirenberg , @ShawnOtto , and @neiltyson : Why its so important, why the US still has issues with this, and what you can do. #medtwitter #Immunology #VaccinesWork #tweetiatrician #pediatria

The explosion of misinformation, disinformation, and anti-medical establishment sentiment goes way back, even back to the invention of the concept of vaccination. One source reports this maybe goes back to at least the time of US President John Adams smithsonianmag.com/history/age-ol…

If you ever wanted to make a scientist upset, tell him/ her that science has political power. Why? Because if you were a child, poor, and could get a scholarship to school, your science experiment was on a level playing field with the rich expat child who conducted an experiment.

By extension, you could demonstrate, by scientific experiment, that a politician is objectively wrong. This is why certain politicians fight so hard against science literacy. One of many, many examples is the fight to hide the harms of tobacco in America in the 21st century.

Problem? Scientists in general have a harder time communicating science than the seasoned pundit, politician, or well oiled TV advertisement machine (although this is happily improving). As a result, citizens who perhaps didn't like science that much or had a *meh* experience...

in science class, believe the most charismatic/ gripping message they hear on TV. A failure of science literacy is directly profitable to certain people such as the antivax community, who use it to sell products/ services. Because of amygdalas, this is very hard to fight well.

Ever since there were humans, there were other humans who were opposed to authority, science, or the scientific method. There have always been those who valued politics over science or religious principles over science.

I have never heard of a PhD biochemist trying to bust down the doors of a church. I have on the other hand, heard of multiple examples of antivax protests outside hospitals, or threats against physicians/ public health professionals.

The scientific method really only preaches one thing - a dedication to good data, dedication to observable evidence, and make inferences about how the world works based upon that. That's it. Nothing intrinsically scary about it.

This is the most timeless invention of all of humanity. It is literally responsible for our entire modern world from cars, to spaceships, to bridges, to this computer that I am using to type this thread.

The antivax community in the days of Edward Jenner transmitted messages by horseback and mail; they could not organize in the way they do today. I will be quick to admit the mistakes of science such as the Cutter incident and serious environmental disasters.

However, healthcare laws are in place today precisely **because** of these past tragedies, and our community abides by them to protect the consumer as best as we know how.

One of the biggest ingredients that was missing, that allowed a disinformation explosion, was worldwide connectivity: the Internet. Mixing poor science literacy with actors like the "Disinformation Dozen" would create a disinformation explosion.

Lack of science literacy is by itself a health disparity, and when this is mixed with an anti-science political leadership+misinformation, just like Voldemort being reborn, an international pandemic of misinformation would be created right when it hurt the most-during a pandemic.

Action plan:
1. Promoting positive scientific information and how to improve your personal science literacy really works. bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11… (this one comments specifically on vaccines)

2. Share stories of healthcare workers being normal people. I do not have enough hard disk space in my brain to write up an international conspiracy. Even excellent research labs sometimes get their grant funding applications rejected. I exercise and I live in an apartment.

3. Formal vaccination consent is available at your pediatrician's office. If you need a detailed discussion of all available clinical trials on a vax, please go for it. Just prepare your pediatrician ahead of time because this type of discussion cannot be in a 10 min visit.

4. There are very few medically appropriate reasons to refuse vaccination. One of these reasons is a severe immunocompromise that is a contraindication to receiving live vaccines. I vax to protect me and this community.

5. You too can be a vaccine activist if you are inspired, but your primary audience is those who are hesitant or on the fence. The most deeply entrenched of the antivax community probably won't be listening.

6. The burden of proof is on an antivax person to prove his/ her point. Claims about vaccinations require evidence.

7. It is more productive to spread strong information that is science-backed than to directly attack antivaxxers.

8. Understand the credentials of the speaker. I am a pediatrician first and a cardiologist second, so this is what makes me qualified to discuss vaccines. I would never dare to pontificate on military airplane maintenance for example. I try to be humble about my lane.

9. Understand the grifting behind the antivax community. Tenpenny for example sells 600$ courses on how to be antivax, so if she gets just 500 students per class, her pay exceeds the pay of any American first year physician resident by miles (and the pay of every overseas doc).

10. I have yet to find any anti-V person who has an accurate understanding of the virology, infectious disease, pediatrics, or biochem of the diseases they discuss or vaccinations they rally against. Board certified pedis on the other hand are ready to explain all this to you.

11. The bottom line is that vaccination is about your personal safety and the safety of your community. Parents and pediatricians genuinely want the same thing - for the child to be free of vaccine preventable disease as much as possible.