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Deonandan

@deonandan

Dec 4

Thanks to the Treasury Board of Canada for inviting me to serve as a panelist yesterday, which was broadcast to thousands of government communicators across the country. Here are 12 of my comments, which I will attempt to weave into a paper at a later date:

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1. Disinformation is asymmetrical warfare, akin to terrorism. Ethical institutions do not use it, but must contend with the unethical institutions that do.

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2. Disinformation merchants have mastered "plain language" and other methods of appealing to the masses, while we still struggle to talk to people in ways that energize them.

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Read 13 tweets

Deonandan

@deonandan

Nov 21

The overwhelming weight of scientific evidence says that vaccines do NOT cause autism. The link has been studied many many times. Here is just a taste of the mountains of peer-reviewed evidence:

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Madsen et al., 2002, NEJM
- > 537K Danish children
-Compared autism rates in MMR-vaccinated vs unvaccinated
-Result: No increased risk of autism among vaccinated children
-“provides strong evidence against” the hypothesis that MMR causes autism

[2/9]nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

Hviid et al., 2019,
-657K children
-Tested: overall risk, “susceptible” subgroups, and temporal clustering after MMR.
-Result: No increased risk for autism, no triggering in supposedly susceptible children, no clustering after vaccination

[3/9]acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M1…

Read 9 tweets

Deonandan

@deonandan

Jun 2

Let's talk about raw milk.

Raw milk can harbor dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, Brucella, and parasites like Cryptosporidium

Pasteurization removes almost all of that risk.

Thread [1/7]en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_milk

Infections from raw milk can lead to

-Diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting

But also:

-Guillain-Barré syndrome, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can cause paralysis, kidney failure, stroke, or even death

[2/7]cdc.gov/food-safety/fo…

From 1998-2018, USA saw over 200 outbreaks linked to raw milk, resulting in more than 2,600 illnesses and 228 hospitalizations (48% among children)

[3/7]health.ny.gov/diseases/commu…

Read 7 tweets

Deonandan

@deonandan

May 23

A common clapback from measles minimizers is that, "Measles was no big deal when I was a kid. Everyone had it. So why are you so panicky now?"

Let's break it down with some national Canadian data...

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Measles vaccination became widely available in 1963. The superior MMR vaccine was only introduced in Canada i 1975.

Before 1963, Canadians saw 300k-400K cases per year. Back then, pretty much EVERYONE was guaranteed to be infected by age 15, hence the blasé attitude.

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But hidden in those stats are these numbers:

-10–15% of cases per year required hospitalization (i.e. 40 THOUSAND cases), for pneumonia, encephalitis, or severe dehydration

-With a mortality rate of 0.1%, there were 300–500 deaths per year, mostly in children under 5.

[3/6]

Read 6 tweets

Deonandan

@deonandan

May 23

Why we should care about the measles outbreaks:

-In wealthy countries, 0.1%-0.2% of measles cases result in death
-In poorer countries or populations, up to 10% of cases will die
-15-30% of measles cases will require hospitalization

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But it ain't just about death or hospitalization.

-5-10% of cases will result in hearing loss
-0.1% will have permanent neurological damage (higher among <12 month olds)
-up to 40% will have increased risk of other infections for months or years ("immune memory loss")

[2/8]

MMR vaccine is highly efficacious against measles symptomatic infection:

-1 dose: 93% effective
-2 doses: 97% effective

Before MMR, the live attenuated vaccine conferred 93-95% protection. (Those of us born before 1970-ish)

[3/8]

Read 8 tweets

Deonandan

@deonandan

Apr 9

Not a day goes by when I don't worry about the mounting dementia epidemic. Biological and demographic factors have put us on a path toward high burden of this disease in Canada.

Thread [1/4] alzheimer.ca/en/research/re…

The number of single (and mostly childless) Canadians is also mounting. This translates to a growing number of elderly who will not have built-in family caregivers (which are never guaranteed, even in the tightest of families)

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The amount of caregivers needed will explode. But if we can delay onset of the disease, then the need for investment in caregiving diminishes substantially.

[3/4]

Read 4 tweets

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