virology blog
About viruses and viral disease
by Gertrud U. Rey
In 1998, a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the British journal The Lancet. In this paper, Wakefield implied that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine may cause developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The paper received wide publicity, and subsequently, MMR vaccination rates began to decline, triggering the current anti-vaccine movement and the re-emergence of previously controlled diseases.
Measles virus does not just cause a rash – it can kill, up to 100,000 people each year. And there are many related viruses circulating in other animals that are not far from being able to infect human cells.
Susana López, Martha Yocupicio, Selene Zárate, virologists from Mexico, together with graphic illustrator Eva Lobatón, have teamed up to produce Paul Has Measles, a children’s book about viruses and vaccines.
Paul Has Measles is available as a free pdf in 16 languages. It may also be purchased as a Kindle or paperback edition at Amazon:
The Spanish and English versions are also available as videos (Spanish:Â YouTube link, English: YouTube link).
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Vincent and Rich recorded this episode at Vaccines in the 21st Century, a meeting held at the University of California, Irvine, where they spoke with Stacy Schultz-Cherry, Douglas Diekema, and Andrew Noymer about vaccine facts and fiction.
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Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv
On episode #387 of the science show This Week in Virology, Nina Martin joins the TWiV team to talk about the movie Vaxxed, her bout with dengue fever, and the latest research on Zika virus.
You can find TWiV #387 at microbe.tv/twiv, or listen below.
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On episode #322 of the science show This Week in Virology, the TWiVodes answer listener email about hantaviruses, antivirals, H1N1 vaccine and narcolepsy, credibility of peer review, Bourbon virus, influenza vaccine, careers in virology, and much more.
You can find TWiV #322 at www.microbe.tv/twiv.