John Oliver on Vaccines

Of course, how could we not share another great John Oliver video that covers an ID topic even if it's NSFW. One of the more insightful sections starts around 6:00, where he admits he understands why people are afraid of vaccines, since they are "getting injected by a needle filled with science juice." He also describes antibiotics as "poison used to murder things living in you." Now wouldn't antimicrobial stewardship be easier if patients and physicians thought of antibiotics as poisons and not just magical pills that have few side effects? What if we treated antibiotics like cancer chemotherapies?

Watch this video! It will change your life and the future of the world!

The overselling of science can be pretty hilarious when described by John Oliver, yet it infects not just the media but also scientific journals and professional conferences. One of the aims of this blog has always been to question the latest fad sweeping infection prevention nation; see Dan's recent post on ADI for CDI or my talk on public reporting of HAIs. In addition to highlighting the bit at the end of the video that notes the 70% increase in authority that descends upon those wearing a white coat, I've pulled out these quotes for you to ponder:

"Just because a study is industry funded or its sample size was small or it was done on mice doesn't mean it's automatically flawed, but it is something the media reporting on it should probably tell you about." - John Oliver

"I think the way to live your life is to find the study that sounds best to you and you go with that" - Al Roker

Ask your doctor

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