Robert DeNiro has a child with Autism he is absolutely positively convinced was caused by vaccines, he's shushed a lot in public, but it's a rock solid belief of his. I have no idea what to say except, the science says it's not true, so I either believe one man's (more than that but still) personal experience and unimaginable pain at the unfairness of life, or I believe demonstrable scientifically tested fact. I go with the later, but still wish Bobby well.

There's too many stupid people in power; idiocracy is becoming real

Nowadays, its spread to other things like blaming them for heart problems, GI tract issues, etc. People who were infected with covid, some multiple times, are blaming vaccines for various health issues they're developing and refuse to accept that maybe the full-blown infection that nearly got them hospitalized could have just as well been the cause. Or just something that would have happened as they aged regardless.

This is not limited to Americans. This site is dumb. Idiots everywhere are susceptible to misinformation.

The rumor started with a few celebrities with their new age theories (from the same era that brought you "rock and roll comes from the devil", "Anne Frank didn't write her diaries", and "Elvis is alive but Paul McCartney is dead") and then it just kind of picked up because America isn't very pro-disability and gets alienated easily. Fortunately it has finally just about died down, but once in a while someone will bring it up.

He may not be joking. My family and people I interact with don’t think vaccinations cause autism. I’m happy to have never experienced or known of anyone getting measles, polio or other ailments most everyone my age have been protected from thanks to vaccines.

Sadly some here believe the lies spread by those who for some bizarre reason are against vaccines. There’s a measles outbreak right now in Texas and New Mexico that’s affecting around 99 people so far. Last year across the US there were 285 cases. Before the fairly recent anti-vaccination crowd formed measles were officially eradicated in 2000.

Now our country’s health leader, RFK (aka worm brain), is one of the assholes against vaccinations. Sad time for sure but we’re not all like this.

Just wait until OP learns about us taking horse paste during covid

It's a difficult problem to sum up because there are so many reasons this is happening, and I don't think it's all malicious.

At the core there is a general disrespect for any authority in American culture and it's easy to believe stories that a government-mandated medical intervention is somehow not as safe as they say.

It doesn't help that there have been government programs in the past that were harmful and the knowledge was only made public after it was too late. Very few people believe the government has the people's best interest in mind.

Individuals are only capable of understanding a very limited amount at one time, and rely on their tribe to inform them of almost everything else. These days there's a tsunami of information that is impossible to process completely. So it's just human nature to trust a small selection of sources and does usually offer a survival advantage.

So it's not hard to see how smart people can fall for misinformation especially when they are inclined to doubt authority.

You have to explain to them how vaccines work. I'm waiting for them to turn on antibiotics next. Soon we'll be shaking rattles and swallowing toads to cure diseases.

I think most of this is genuine belief. There was a doctor named Wakefield who fraudulently published this autism claim in academic journals. Those papers were retracted, but the damage was done.

I think it sticks around as a conspiracy, because otherwise there's not a whole lot else that can explain the causes or origins of autism.

Yes, there are genuine idiots in this country that are against vaccination.

There are also a plethora of foreign idiots and trolls spreading misinformation about everything including stances on vaccination. Judging by the quotation you shared it’s impossible to tell if that is an actual person’s thought, though, because it is not written in English.

It’s all too real even today, however that might not be the cause of current measles outbreaks.

Measles was eradicated from the US years ago, thanks to high vaccination rates. However that means most people have never seen measles so there is a fringe belief that it’s not harmful or the vaccination is more harmful, and vaccination rates have been declining to the point we could get a larger epidemic.

We do have localized measles outbreaks many years but they’ve usually been attributed to a new infection from overseas and a very local community insufficiently vaccinated. Sometimes the population is from places where they’re not vaccinated, sometimes it’s a vulnerable population. While yes, it can also be from fringe anti-vax groups, I really think the bigger fear is whether those fringe groups open a path to much wider outbreaks or epidemics.

Even if it does(it doesn't), I would rather have autism than measles or pertussis, etc.

I work with several people who believe this.

Hey, at least give discredit where it's due, the brits are the ones who started it.

Yes, people truly believe this. It seems obviously bonkers to you and I, because we have at least average critical thinking skills. The people who believe these things have way below average critical thinking skills. And there A LOT of these people. Just look at your normal bell curve chart.

gulps

Yeah this is a true thing. This person that knows me asked me if vaccines caused my autism.

Your friend’s mom is a fucking idiot that would believe literally anything that the “right” person would say.

Absolutely a gullible little tool that’s behaving just as they want.