Tag: autoimmune diseases
The Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities elects antivaxer Yehuda Shoenfeld to its ranks
Yehuda Shoenfeld is an Israeli scientist who has promoted the idea that adjuvants in vaccines cause ASIA, Autoimmunity/Autoinflammation Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants, a vaguely defined catch-all diagnosis that encompasses vague symptomatology and unproven links to certain autoantibodies, all caused by adjuvants in vaccines, especially aluminum. Last week, Shoenfeld was elected to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, an embarrassment to the...
Death by Gardasil? Not so fast there…
There is a type of "vaccine injury" story promoted by the antivaccine movement that is particularly pernicious, a narrative I call "death by Gardasil." The stories, which use tenuous connections between vaccination against HPV to prevent cervical cancer and the unexpected death of a teen or young adult, are always tragic, and you can't help but feel incredible empathy for the parents....
No, Purell Does Not Breed Super-Anything
Recently, I was sitting in a meeting and reached for the dispenser of Purell hand sanitizer sitting on the conference room table. A colleague of mine gave a small, rueful shake of her head to the person on her other side. Apparently I had erred. I asked what was the matter, and got a brief answer to the effect of “because superbugs.”...
Worms, Germs, and Dirt: What Can They Teach Us About Allergies and Autoimmune Diseases?
Can infection by bacteria, viruses, and parasites cure us of autoimmune diseases, allergies, and other immune system dysfunctions? There is some preliminary evidence, but the jury is still out on a very complex case.