Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Apr 29;129(6):2169-2171.
doi: 10.1172/JCI129121.

The physician-scientist: defending vaccines and combating antiscience

The physician-scientist: defending vaccines and combating antiscience

Peter Hotez. J Clin Invest. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: PH holds patents on vaccines for several poverty-related neglected diseases and neglected tropical diseases, including hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, and Chagas disease (5,527,937; 5,753,787; 7,303,752 B2; 12/492,734; 61/077,256; PCT-20100701/0.20.5.18; PCT-61448231). None of these patents have generated revenue. PH is the author of the book Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The three major drivers of the antivax movement.
Since the early 2000s, the antivax movement has grown into its own “media empire” with a political arm. The response from the scientific community and federal government agencies committed to public health has been modest or tepid. Figure illustrated by Rachel Davidowitz.

References

    1. Olive JK, Hotez PJ, Damania A, Nolan MS. The state of the antivaccine movement in the United States: a focused examination of nonmedical exemptions in states and counties. PLoS Med. 2018;15(6):e1002578. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002578. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hotez PJ. Texas and its measles epidemics. PLoS Med. 2016;13(10):e1002153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002153. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Measles cases in 2019. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web Site. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html Updated April 11, 2019. Accessed April 19, 2019.
    1. Hill HA, Elam-Evans LD, Yankey D, Singleton JA, Kang Y. Vaccination coverage among children aged 19-35 months — United States, 2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2018;67(40):1123–1128. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6740a4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Downs C. 45,000 Texan students requested conscientious exemptions from vaccinations in 2018. San Antonio Express-News. March 16, 2019. https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/76-000-Texan-student... Accessed April 12, 2019.

MeSH terms

Substances