Back in 2008, Dr Anthony Fauci (yes, that Dr Fauci) co-authored a paper that examined the interplay between influenza infection and secondary bacterial infection in mortality from the “Spanish flu¹” pandemic of 1918-19. He and his colleagues examined tissue samples taken during autopsies at the time of the pandemic, using their findings plus notes taken during […]
Continue readingTag: critical thinking
it’s “only” a 1% death rate
I’m seeing a bit of that phrase in my social media feeds at the moment, in relation to covid-19. In practice, this would mean that if everyone in New Zealand were to catch the virus eventually, that would be 50,000 people dead. The ‘normal’ annual all-cause mortality in this country is around 33,000. It’s been […]
Continue readingcovid myths & politics
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 & […]
Continue readingapplying the CRAAP test to Plandemic
In the last couple of days I’ve seen a lot of individuals and pages share links to a trailer for “Plandemic”. And I’ve had friends ask me what I think of it. They’ve commented that it looks and sounds pretty ‘sciencey’ but wanted another opinion. So, I had a look, and here goes. The “Plandemic” […]
Continue readingwhy do students need to learn about the nature of science?
You’re probably aware that the Achievement Standards used to assess senior school students’ learning are being reviewed. Science is one of the ‘pilot’ subjects in this process, where a ‘Subject Expert Group’ has developed 4 draft Science standards¹ (a significant step away from the current 30+, and a response to advice from several high-level advisory […]
Continue readingcontroversy? or manufactroversy?
A few days ago, New Zealand’s Minister of Education announced the wider release of a resource on climate change, which was initially trialled at a Christchurch school during 2018. According to the Minister, children will learn about “the role science plays in understanding climate change, aids understanding of both the response to it and its impacts […]
Continue readingignorance of basic science isn’t a virtue
I’d intended to write a post about science literacy (& its lack). And I still will. But first, I’m going to address the claims made by a commenter on a post that shared advice and commentary by the Samoan ombudsman. (Yes, a post related to that country’s measles epidemic.) Why? Because it demonstrates what we […]
Continue readinganti-vaxxers in a measles epidemic: so many ways to be untruthful
Having spent a bit of time in the comments threads for that story, I have to say that there are a fair number of plague enthusiasts commenting who appear to have little regard for truth, accuracy, public health or evidence-based decision-making. In Samoa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in other measles hot-spots round […]
Continue readinga close encounter of the antivaccine kind
I first wrote this post back in 2017 during a mumps outbreak in my local area. Now, of course, much of the media attention is focused on the ongoing tragedy that is the measles epidemic in Samoa, with 44 dead as of today and nearly 4,000 having contracted the illness so far. The anti-vaccine activists […]
Continue readingadvice about measles: when ignorance is definitely not a virtue
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. […]
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