When science teacher Diana Allen set out to teach climate change, a subject she'd never learned in school, she fell into a rabbit's hole of misinformation: Many resources presented online as educational material were actually junk. "It is a pretty scary topic to take on," said Allen, a teacher at...
US Measles Cases Hit Highest Mark in 25 Years
NEW YORK — Measles in the U.S. has climbed to its highest level in 25 years, closing in on 700 cases this year in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines. "This is alarming," said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University vaccine expert. Not only...
Vaccine Wars: Social Media Battle Outbreak of Bogus Claims
SAN FRANCISCO — Like health officials facing outbreaks of disease, internet companies are trying to contain vaccine-related misinformation they have long helped spread. So far, their efforts at quarantine are falling short. Searches of Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram turn up all sorts of bogus warnings about vaccines, including the soundly...
Big Data Shows Measles Vaccine Doesn’t Cause Autism
By Jan Hoffman At a time when measles outbreaks are mounting among clusters of unvaccinated children, notably in Washington state, New York and Texas, a new large study published this week found no association between the measles vaccine and autism — a reason often given by parents for rejecting inoculation. The...