Misinformation: It’s a Minefield.

What is it with some people and  their desire to spread misinformation, based purely on their own suppositions, but lacking in any real facts? And why do many of them, who have no specific qualifications,  present themselves as “knowledgeable”, especially on anything to do with health and medicine? Sure, they have their opinions  (everyone has those) but opinions aren’t necessarily facts,  so when people start spreading the wrong information about things they have no real knowledge about, it’s a problem.

The latest Instagrammer to throw her hat into the ring is Chloe Lattanzi, famous for…well. for being the offspring of famous parents (Olivia Newton-John and Matt Lattanzi).  Apparently, Chloe is also an actor and singer, but I’m yet to see her name in the credits of anything I’ve ever watched or to hear anything she has recorded, but that’s not to say she doesn’t do these things. Her father’s an actor and her mother’s a singer so I guess it stands to reason she would have had a go at both. Many offspring of famous parents have a shot at breaking into their parents’ fields, and some of them even manage to pull it off. Perhaps Chloe did as well.

But anyway, Chloe has made some media waves recently with an Instagram post revealing some anti-leanings on vaccines, masks and lockdowns.  Okay,  she is entitled to her views but why can’t she, and those of her ilk, keep those based-on-misinformation opinions to themselves?  If they choose not to believe the science, fine, but please, don’t try to justify it with outpourings which have absolutely no basis in fact!

Chloe believes that “real medicine” comes from the earth, predominantly from herbs and plants and, while she is not wrong there (many plants have wonderful medicinal qualities and can be very successful in treating a number of health issues) there are some instances that require medical intervention and one of those instances is controlling some very nasty diseases via vaccination..

But Chloe believes vaccines are toxic, claiming they contain mercury and pesticides, but in the next breath claims she is not an anti-vaxxer.  Really? But she so sounds like one! But let’s looks at that mercury claim…

From the 1930s through to 2000, the mercury-based preservative, Thiomersal (also known as Thimerosal) was used in vaccines in very small amounts (well below toxic levels) to prevent bacterial and fungal contamination, particularly in multi-dose vials where withdrawing repeated doses from the same vial was more likely to result in contamination.  However, none of the vaccines on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) currently supplied in Australia contain it.  Multi-dose vaccine vials are no longer in use anyway, for routine immunisation, and Thiomersal was removed in 2000, prompted by the possibility of harm stemming from ethyl mercury, which is a metabolite of Thiomersal.

But Thiomersal was only ever used in very small amounts. Keep that in mind. If you are reading this, then it did not kill you.

Aluminium is another element getting a lousy run over it’s use in vaccines but here’s the thing; aluminium is the most abundant element on the planet, after oxygen and silicon, and is the most abundant metal present in the earth’s crust.  It is also present naturally in air, in water,  most plant life and in soil. It’s use in vaccines is as an adjuvant, which is a component that boosts the immune response to the vaccine. However, you should also note (and this is the biggie) that vaccines containing adjuvants are tested extensively in clinical trials before being licensed.

So, does Chloe know all this? Well, she does run a medical marijuana farm in the US, but I’m not sure that qualifies her to make such scathing remarks about vaccinations. Nor about masks and lockdowns come to think of it.  Chloe is certainly free to think these things if she wishes and to even believe them (because I don’t think she has done the right research) but  she should leave it there, because without the right kind of medical know-how to post knowledgeably, she would be better off not posting at all.

Sounds like a plan.