A Quick Polio Fact Check
The Real Truth About Vaccines
What happens when anti-vaccine influencers talk about polio?
You can be sure they will need a fact check!
A Quick Polio Fact Check
A fact check nearly every time they open their mouths…
In this interview with Alex Clark, the 'cuteservative' host of a cult apothecary wellness podcast takes turns with Peter McCullough pushing misinformation and propaganda about polio, including that:
Peter McCullough:
the polio vaccine was only 60 to 70% effective in the field trials- Not true. Salk’s polio vaccine, in the 1954 Poliomyelitis Vaccine Field Trial, was found to be 80-90% effective against paralytic polio!Alex Clark:
polio was on its way out when we introduced the vaccine.- Not true. Although polio cases did peak in 1952, this simply represents the cyclical natural of polio, with larger epidemics every 3–5 years. If polio had been on its way out, cases would not have been higher in 1954 than they were in 1953.
In addition to thinking that polio was on its way out when we introduced the polio vaccine, Alex Clark would rather not vaccinate the children she doesn’t yet have, so that she doesn’t risk their having autism and “flinging poop” at people for fifty years… Peter McCullough:
polio hasn’t been in the western hemisphere, not natural polio for a couple decades now. It’s actually been more than a couple of decades.- In fact, the last imported case of wild polio in the United States was in 1993 and the last endemic case of wild polio was in 1979 among an unvaccinated group of Amish. That’s a lot more than just a couple of decades…Peter McCullough:
the polio vaccine failed to protect people during an outbreak in 1979 in Sarajevo.- Not true. In fact, Bosnia and Herzegovina saw its last reported case of polio in 1974 and celebrated reaching its polio-free status in 2002. And all polio outbreaks around the world in 1979 were in unvaccinated groups of people.Peter McCullough:
Mitch McConnell imagined having polio as a child.- Another ridiculous claim by Peter McCullough, which he makes because he believes there were no outbreaks in Alabama at the time that Senator Mitch McConnell was sick. This is despite the fact that Mitch McConnell received treatment for his residual muscle issues at Warm Springs, which was established by President FDR as polio rehabilitation center. Oh, and then there is the simple fact that there were thought to be a normal number of cases of polio in the summer of 1944 in Alabama when Mitch McConnell got sick… A normal number of cases that ended up being the worst year for paralytic polio in the United States since 1916.
Mitch McConnell’s father was away fighting in WWII when he got polio. His mother cared for him alone, taking him to the Warm Springs polio rehab center for two years for physical therapy. And yes, there are many documented cases of polio in Alabama when Mitch McConnell got sick. Peter McCullough:
polio was grossly overdiagnosed.- Not true, especially for cases of paralytic polio.
It is very easy to see that the first polio vaccine, which we began using in early 1955, had a great effect on the incidence of polio. An effect that would have been greatly blunted if polio was being overdiagnosed, as the polio vaccine would not have worked for other things causing paralysis. Peter McCullough:
polio was never an epidemic.- Polio was most certainly an epidemic, as cases spread across the United States in the first half of the 1900s. This is unlike an outbreak, which would have been limited to just a few cities or regions of the country. At the peak of the polio epidemic, in 1952, there were almost 60,000 cases of polio, just over 21,000 cases of paralytic polio, and 3,100 deaths. And they were almost all kids.Peter McCullough: the number of kids paralyzed or died with polio is far smaller than the number of kids with profound autism today. - This is a fallacious argument (false equivalence) and simply fits with Peter McCullough’s world view that vaccines are associated with autism. It has nothing to do with autism, vaccines, or polio.
Peter McCullough:
we don’t have a polio risk.- Most of us don’t have a risk because we are vaccinated and protected and most people around us are vaccinated and protected, but because polio isn’t yet eradicated, there is still a risk both from wild polio and vaccine associated polio if you skip or delay getting your polio vaccines, especially as herd immunity levels of protection drop (no more free-riding).
Did Peter McCullough and Alex Clark get anything right about polio?
He did say that it is a safe vaccine.
He gets that right!
Of course, he misses that polio vaccines are necessary too! They helped eliminate polio in the United States and have us on our way to eradicating polio.
At least they will if everyone gets vaccinated and protected and stops listening to these kinds of anti-vaccine influencers.
McCullough lost his board certifications for egregious misinformation. Unfortunately, the Texas Medical Board is unaware of that. https://exposed.substack.com/p/texas-medical-board-has-erroneous?r=zrmcb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Isn’t it interesting that Trump said himself, that he thinks: “some vaccines should be given, no matter what, The polio vaccine is perfect.”
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Hc1IwpdZcQw
So, basically, MEGA increasingly out of sync with DJT!