Alison Campbell • Aug 11, 2020 •
This year’s election campaign in New Zealand has attracted a number of “fringe” parties, at least some of whose supporters seem to have a fairly tenuous hold on reality and a highly flexible approach to the truth. I mean, how else could one describe some of those affiliated with the NZPP/Advance coalition, whose members & supporters regularly share myths about … Read More
Alison Campbell • Dec 02, 2019 •
“Anti-vaxers are a pro-death movement,” those comments from Dr Helen Petousis-Harris speaking about six more Measles related deaths in Samoa over the past twenty-four hours. “Anti-vaxers are a pro-death movement,” those comments from Dr Helen Petousis-Harris speaking about six more Measles related deaths in Samoa over the past twenty-four hours. The fight to vaccinate continues with the Nation’s health … Read More
Alison Campbell • Nov 28, 2019 •
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have a greater reach than others. On a global level … Read More
Alison Campbell • Nov 26, 2019 •
Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a benign childhood disease”. Clearly, it is not. (And never … Read More
Alison Campbell • Jun 04, 2019 •
Measles infection has a couple of longer-term sequelae. One, SSPE, is thankfully rare (although for infants with measles the odds of subsequently developing SSPE are considerably higher than for other age groups). The other, “immune amnesia”, is strongly associated with having had measles, though this doesn’t stop those opposed to vaccination claiming otherwise. In 2015, Mina et al. published … Read More
Alison Campbell • Apr 30, 2019 •
We’re continuing to hear of new measles cases in New Zealand, most recently in this Stuff story about 4 new cases in Auckland (with the possibility that up to 1600 people may have been exposed). One of those ill with the disease is a 10-month-old child, too young to have received her first dose of the MMR vaccine. Completely predictably, … Read More
Alison Campbell • Apr 26, 2019 •
In January last year, I wrote about the US fad for “raw” water: water supposedly as nature intended it, free of any of the treatments used in municipal water supplies. Those promoting the stuff claim it’s ever so much better for you; given the prices they charge, it’s certainly good for their bank balances I’ve just come across a … Read More
Alison Campbell • Jan 16, 2019 •
Every so often there’s a new story claiming that a study has overturned our understanding of human evolution. (Or something along those lines.) I’ve just come across another one**, & thought I’d write this post as a warning to year 13 biology students. As Carl Sagan once said, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence – something that’s lacking in this particular … Read More
Guest Author • Sep 22, 2014 •
Earlier this month, I went to see Cirque du Soleil’s Totem show, currently doing a month’s run in Auckland on its way around the world. It was, as ever, an amazing show, but one act really disappointed me. Not due to a lack of skill or amazement, but purely because of the way it depicted scientists. In this particular act, … Read More
Guest Author • May 29, 2014 •
By Toby Hendy, Ryan Ridden-Harper and Josh Mangos from the University of Canterbury What comes to mind when you think about science? Are you a scientist? If not, could you be? We can all be awestruck when we consider how the things in our life actually work and the technology behind them. What kind of person does it take to … Read More