Here's another example of a reporter demonstrating her belief that an utter lack of knowledge about infectious illnesses qualifies one to write about infectious illnesses.
Elizabeth Flock, on the Washington Post's blog writes:
"Scarlet fever was THE scourge of the 19th century." THE implies scarlet fever was preeminent as far a "scourges" went, yet throughout the 19th century, scarlet fever killed fewer than consumption, pneumonia and cholera. Additionally depending on the time frame examined, diseases such as diphtheria and typhoid were responsible for more deaths than scarlet fever*. Finally by 1900, and well before the advent of antibiotics, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles and whooping Cough were each killing more people than was scarlet fever.
As to the disease being nearly eradicated by antibiotics, here's what Medscape has to say:
Scarlet fever was the scourge of the 19th century, infecting thousands and bringing along with it fever, a strawberry-tinted tongue, and infected wounds. After antibiotics were invented, the disease was nearly eradicated.I've rarely seen so many errors compressed into just one sentence. Let's take a look at them in order of appearance:
"Scarlet fever was THE scourge of the 19th century." THE implies scarlet fever was preeminent as far a "scourges" went, yet throughout the 19th century, scarlet fever killed fewer than consumption, pneumonia and cholera. Additionally depending on the time frame examined, diseases such as diphtheria and typhoid were responsible for more deaths than scarlet fever*. Finally by 1900, and well before the advent of antibiotics, influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles and whooping Cough were each killing more people than was scarlet fever.
As to the disease being nearly eradicated by antibiotics, here's what Medscape has to say:
In the past century, the number of cases of scarlet fever has remained highFinally, as to antibiotics being the panacea that saved us from scarlet fever, that's absurd. Mortality from the illness was falling rapidly* in both Europe and The United States as far back as the 1850's: about one hundred years before the widespread use of antibiotics.
Shoddy journalism like this, because it glorifies the medical establishment and perpetuates their myths, enables the Machine to tighten it's grip over parents, making it more difficult for those parents to decide how to raise their children. For that reason, we must take on and expose this type of ignorance where and when ever we see it, letting the media know we find it unacceptable and alerting other parents to the falsehood supporting America's vaccine regimen.
*Modern social conditions: a statistical study of birth, marriage, divorce ... By William Bacon Bailey
P 332-333
Accessable by searching "Google books"
Yes, but no one is talking about where such was developed, since back through time biological experiments took place and were released upon unknowing populations just has is happening today.
ReplyDeleteEvery era had its' unscrupulous bio experimenters.
ReplyDeleteYou talk to much and do too little.
ReplyDelete