7 Times 'Modern Alternative Mama' Was So Stupid She Was Dangerous
7. Anti-Vaccine, Anti-Science
Like any conspiracy theorist with Internet access, Kate is anti-vaccine, and like any scientifically illiterate mummy blogger out to make money, Kate spreads lies and misinformation in order to keep parents scared and confused. Take Influenza for example, strains of Influenza have killed thousands of people every year and will continue to do so without the aid of medical intervention like a higher herd immunity via the annual vaccine. Kate’s answer to this is to not only skew the numbers and tell people that Influenza isn’t very serious – she also offers “natural remedies” to the flu vaccine on her blog via a guest blogger. This is an important point for later on.
SciBabe and Orac from Respectful Insolence have written refutations to some of Kate’s dangerous anti-vaccine views including her aversion to the Vitamin K shot for newborns (which is used to prevent internal bleeding), her post about how she “proves” vaccines cause Autism, her downplaying of preventable disease such as Measles, Hep A, Hep B, Rotavirus, Pneumococcal, HPV, Meningococcal, Chicken Pox and Haemophilus influenza type B, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Measles, Mumps, and Rubella and Polio.
The only preventable diseases she hasn’t downplayed are Smallpox and Tuberculosis and I suspect it’s because Smallpox has been eradicated (thanks vaccines!) and Tuberculosis is one of the lesser common diseases found in first world countries (that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get vaccinated for it – it’s less common for a reason).
Not only does she downplay the seriousness of preventable diseases, but she offers “natural” remedies (in her online store, of course) for diseases she doesn’t even feel are severe enough to warrant preventative intervention in the first place. This level of inconsistency makes sense in the context of the larger anti-vaxxer belief system. Kate and her followers have a deep belief that vaccines don’t do anything at all to protect against infectious disease, evident by this comment and the reply. Can someone please tell Kate’s reader that the UK has a lowered rate of preventable diseases because of vaccinations?
As a by-product of the anti-vaccine belief system, Kate feels that it’s selfish to ask her to assist in keeping other children safe, you know despite the fact her children are part of the community she’s refusing to protect:
“I’m not willing to put my children at risk on the tiny chance that it might someday prevent another child from getting a disease (that most likely won’t harm him or her). No, I don’t think it’s selfish to say that. In fact, I think it’s selfish for people to ask me to vaccinate when I’ve made a decision not to. That’s right — you’re being selfish to try to force your will onto me.” (Source).