Why You Shouldn't Listen to JB Handley
He is right that more measles outbreaks are in our future though...
Joining other anti-vaccine influencers, JB Handley is pushing misinformation about measles and the MMR vaccine now that we have begun to see more and more cases of measles this year.
Not unexpectedly, these folks are also panicking because an unvaccinated healthy child has died with measles - the first death since… last year.
With this death, it will become harder for them to convince parents that measles is mild and that they don’t need to vaccinate and protect their children.
Of course, that won’t stop them from trying…
Why You Shouldn't Listen to JB Handley
Just consider the latest so-called “facts” about measles from JB Handley.
Among Handley’s “facts” are that:
measles vaccine effectiveness wanes over time
the risk of death from measles is greatly exaggerated
we don’t have herd immunity anywhere
vaccination rates for children in the US have never been higher
we don’t even vaccinate for most communicable diseases, so those outbreaks never make the news
Not surprisingly, none of these “facts” are even remotely true!
JB Handley on Waning Immunity from the MMR Vaccine
Let’s start with the idea of waning immunity. The MMR vaccine provides life-long immunity against measles.
“We found no evidence of waning VE in endemic settings.”
The effect of time since measles vaccination and age at first dose on measles vaccine effectiveness – A systematic review
There is no good evidence for much waning immunity after measles vaccination.
“When looking at the UKHSA measles dashboard, there is no trend of increasing cases the further someone is in time from vaccination which goes against the waning of immunity as being a main driver for increasing measles cases.”
expert reaction to modelling study looking at whether protection against measles from the MMR vaccine decreases over time
Which is likely why we continue to see most cases in those who are unvaccinated.
There is certainly no evidence that “20-45% of adults over the age of 24 no longer have vaccine-derived measles immunity” as Handley states after misinterpreting a study on projected antibody levels.
The study, Persistence of measles antibodies after 2 doses of measles vaccine in a postelimination environment, while it did show a small decline in antibody levels in those who were vaccinated, also mentioned the anamnestic response, which Handley left out.
“Over the years, antibodies induced by vaccination decrease and may become undetectable . This decline in antibodies does not necessarily indicate susceptibility to the virus, as an anamnestic immune response may still occur upon revaccination.”
The decline of measles antibody titers in previously vaccinated adults: a cross-sectional analysis
And no, you don’t need to be vaccinated again to trigger the anamnestic response. The same thing happens if you are exposed to wild measles and is what keeps you from getting sick.
“In our study, none of the children with low titers had positive or even indeterminate IgM responses to MMR2, in contrast to the majority of those with negative titers, suggesting that those with low titers may generate an anamnestic response to wild-type virus, consistent with previous studies.”
Persistence of measles antibodies after 2 doses of measles vaccine in a postelimination environment
The anamnestic or memory response is likely the reason that we see so few fully vaccinated people get measles, even when we know they might have a low measles antibody titer!
“Antiviral antibody responses were remarkably stable, with half-lives ranging from an estimated 50 years for varicella-zoster virus to more than 200 years for other viruses such as measles and mumps… B-cell memory was long-lived, but there was no significant correlation between peripheral memory B-cell numbers and antibody levels for five of the eight antigens tested.”
Duration of humoral immunity to common viral and vaccine antigens
Why don’t anti-vaccine influencers talk about memory B-cells or the anamnestic response?
JB Handley On the Exaggeration of Measles Deaths
Like other anti-vaccine influencers, JB Handley believes that the risk of death from measles is being exaggerated.
Why?
He found data showing 16,659 measles cases in the state of Washington in 1959 and just one death.
Is that true?
Considering that there were 359 deaths in the United States in 1959, I’m a bit skeptical that there was just one in Washington…
It does seem to be what the reports show, but even if there was only one death in 1959, why doesn’t Handley mention the three deaths in 1961, among 9,271 cases of measles?
Or the 8 deaths in 1957, among 17,764 cases?
Or the 12 deaths in 1953, among 12,373 cases?
It’s because lying with statistics is a common tactic among anti-vaccine influencers.
JB Handley on Herd Immunity
Next, JB Handley demonstrates that he doesn’t understand how herd immunity works.
“The lack of protection that so many adults have to so many diseases destroys the very notion that we have “herd immunity” anywhere, and yet the fear-mongering persists.”
JB Handley on Measles is a con job
He claims that because adults do not have herd immunity vaccination rate thresholds for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, pneumococcal disease, and flu, then we should be seeing “crippling epidemics” of these diseases.
I guess this guy doesn’t read the news…
And has likely never read a book about epidemiology. You see, herd immunity isn’t a one size fits all thing. There are separate levels of herd immunity for each disease. And some vaccines have indirect effects, so for example, unvaccinated adults might be protected because more kids are vaccinated and protected and are not getting sick and spreading the disease.
JB Handley on Soaring Vaccination Rates for Children
And why does JB Handley believe that vaccination rates for children in the US have never been higher?
He cites data from the CDC, but unfortunately, they are from 2009…
What do you think he would find if he used data from this decade?
From the last few years?
JB Handley On Outbreaks That Never Make the News
Lastly, JB Handley shows a pic, again using very old data, with a “selected reportable communicable disease summary” in Oregon.
He has circled measles and mumps data.
I guess his implication is that “we” are only talking about measles and mumps because they are vaccine-preventable, but don’t talk about any of these other diseases.
The thing is, all of those diseases do often get media attention!
Consider these stories:
Oregon's First Case of Bubonic Plague in Nearly 10 Years May Have Been Transmitted by a Cat
Oregon woman dies from disease transmitted through rodent droppings (Hantavirus)
North Carolina Cyclospora Outbreak linked to 3 unnamed Restaurants
CDC issues Rocky Mountain spotted fever warning after 3 die from disease in California
Brucellosis identified in Wyoming county that adjoins Montana
Babesiosis, another disease spread by ticks, is on the rise
Rare outbreak that infected Ventura County farmworkers confirmed in soil, water tests (leptospirosis)
What Is Parrot Fever, The Disease That Has Killed Five People In Europe? (Psittacosis)
Why do vaccine preventable diseases like measles and mumps get even more attention?
For one thing, we shouldn’t be having so many cases! There is nothing routine about the rise in cases we have been seeing. We are breaking records every few years!
And also, the media attention alerts folks that they may have been exposed, may need to watch for symptoms, and are a good reminder to get vaccinated and protected.
If they would just do a better job of educating everyone about the dangers of listening to anti-vaccine influencers, then maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess…
One last thing. JB Handley is right (even a broken clock…) to predict that there will be more outbreaks in the future, he is very wrong about why though.
“And, guess what? This population cohort with natural-dervied measles immunity is getting older, dying, and their share of the population is on a rapid decline. They are the ones—these people with natural measles immunity— keeping measles in check, and as they die off, guess what’s going to happen? Measles cases will skyrocket. Why? Because of accelerated loss of measles-derived immunity from all the adults who never had measles. Further proof that when you mess with Mother Nature, bad things happen.”
JB Handley on Measles is a con job
He believes that as older people die, we will lose all the natural immunity that they had offered, and more people will get measles. Now, if that were remotely true, why didn’t all the folks with natural immunity prevent epidemics of measles in the pre-vaccine era!
Of course, he is wrong.
We will continue to see more cases, outbreaks, and deaths until folks start getting vaccinated and protected again.
References
Hughes SL, Bolotin S, Khan S, Li Y, Johnson C, Friedman L, Tricco AC, Hahné SJM, Heffernan JM, Dabbagh A, Durrheim DN, Orenstein WA, Moss WJ, Jit M, Crowcroft NS. The effect of time since measles vaccination and age at first dose on measles vaccine effectiveness - A systematic review. Vaccine. 2020 Jan 16;38(3):460-469. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.10.090. Epub 2019 Nov 12. PMID: 31732326; PMCID: PMC6970218.
expert reaction to modelling study looking at whether protection against measles from the MMR vaccine decreases over time. https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-modelling-study-looking-at-whether-protection-against-measles-from-the-mmr-vaccine-decreases-over-time/
Castiñeiras ACP, Sales AC, Picone CM, Diogo CL, Rossi ÁD, Galliez RM, Ferreira ODC Jr, Castiñeiras TMPP, Lopes MH, Sartori AMC. The decline of measles antibody titers in previously vaccinated adults: a cross-sectional analysis. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2024 Jan 5;66:e4. doi: 10.1590/S1678-9946202466004. PMID: 38198377; PMCID: PMC10768653.
Annual Report of Communicable Diseases and Deaths State of Washington 1920-1982. https://doh.wa.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/Documents/5100//420-004-CDAnnualReport1920-1982.pdf
Who is Handley? He is an economist with a bachelor's degree. He does not have any training or credentials in medicine or infectious diseases. Without training in Critical Appraisal of the Medical Literature he is incapable of interpreting the data.
Disgusting. Literally, sickening. Why?!