Measles Is Harmful, Contrary to Flimsy Social Media Claims of Long-Term Benefits - FactCheck.org
Measles Is Harmful, Contrary to Flimsy Social Media Claims of Long-Term Benefits - FactCheck.org
Measles is an extremely contagious vaccine-preventable disease that can lead to death or disability. It also wipes out immune memory for several years after an infection. As an outbreak in Texas continues to expand, social media posts have claimed without sufficient support that measles infections a...
Measles is an extremely contagious vaccine-preventable disease that can lead to death or disability. It also wipes out immune memory for several years after an infection. As an outbreak in Texas continues to expand, social media posts have claimed without sufficient support that measles infections are beneficial later in life against cancer and other diseases, an idea health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has echoed.
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Measles Harms the Immune System
“There is no good data to demonstrate that measles improved health,” Dr. Michael Mina, a former professor at Harvard School of Public Health who has studied measles and its effects on the immune system, told us. “We’ve shown precisely the opposite.”
I've two hypotheses for how this came about. People who contract measles don't live long enough to also come down with cancer. This lowers their representation during later years when cancer tends to form and get diagnosed. The other option is that people who actually survive measles do so because of either a naturally better immune system and overall health, or purposefully living a healthier and safer life due to the infection.
Christ, this sounds like an onion article.