Meryl’s least favourite posters

Meryl gets confused about the “vaccine for earaches”

Meryl, not for the first time, gets a little confused about viruses, biology, physiology and…well, everything really!

A vaccine for earaches?! say wha?! Oh Meryl!

The Pneumococcal vaccine is actually to prevent hundred of children every year from getting pnuemonia, meningitis and septicaemia (infection in your bloodstream which leads to multi-organ failure).

“In Australia in 2002 there were 2271 proven cases and 175 deaths from pneumococcal disease[9] . Of these, 761 occurred in children under five years of age, 9 of whom died. There are more cases of pneumococcal disease but often it is difficult to confirm the diagnosis. It is estimated that the pneumococcus is responsible for causing about 70 cases of meningitis annually in Australia and about 700 cases of septicaemia in children under 5 years.”
http://www.meningitis.com.au/about_meningitis/pneumococcal_meningitis.phtml

In 2004 there were 701 cases of Invasive Pneumoccocal in children under 5
The vaccine was introduced in 2005
In 2006 there were 196 cases of Invasive pneumoccocal in children under 5
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-cdi3001b.htm
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cda-cdi3201c.htm

all for a bloody earache eh?!

Meryl’s massive overestimation

In July 1998 Meryl and the Australian Vaccination Network predicted that the Australian Measles Control Campaign, then about to kick off nationally, would result in more than 330,000 adverse reactions to vaccination and 3 deaths. In fact the actual result was only 14 adverse reactions and no deaths.

Any self-respecting medical expert who made a gross error, such as overestimating the number of side effects from vaccinating 1.7 million children by 24,000 times, would hang his or her head in shame and make the world a better place by quitting the profession. Fortunately our Meryl has no shame – being proven wrong again and again does not even slow her down. Oh, Meryl!

Meryl says “one at a time now”

In the magazine she publishes (Informed Voice, Winter 2006, page 48), Meryl wrote:

It is a fact that we will only ever contract one disease at a time

I guess that will come as suprising news to anyone who has ever contracted pneumonia as a complication of flu, or any of the usual complications that go with AIDS (caused by HIV), to name just two examples. Oh Meryl!