A GOP legislator attacks Twitter a senior scientist on vaccines, accusing him of personal enrichment, of "witchcraft"

Deanna Paul, The Washington Post

published

12:38 PDT, Wednesday, May 8, 2019

A Texas state legislator on Tuesday launched a defamatory attack on a vaccine scientist, accusing the doctor of "witchcraft".

It all started with a report released Monday by Texas State Department Health Services, according to which the state had recorded a 14% increase in the number of parents who evaded immunization of their children . These new statistics alarmed Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

"We have more than 64,000 unvaccinated children in the state of Texas, which does not count for more than 300,000 home-schooled children," Hotez said in an interview with the Washington Post. .

Hotez took his concerns about the report on Twitter. And then he received an unexpected and bubbling personal attack from the Republican state legislator, Rep. Jonathan Stickland.

"You are bought and paid for by the greatest special interest in politics," wrote Stickland. "Do a favor to our state and take care of your business.Parental rights are more important to us than your enriching" science. "

In a response on Twitter, Hotez, pediatrician and vaccine scientist, told Stickland that he was not getting money from the vaccine industry; Instead, his work focuses on "vaccines for neglected diseases for the world's poorest people".

Stickland, who told the Washington Post that he was "not anti-vaccination," tweeted his response to Hotez.

"Advocate your case against witchcraft with consumers," said the Republican, who represents a suburban area of ​​Fort Worth on Tuesday. "Stop using the heavy hand of the government to make your business profitable through mandates and immunity."

(Hotez is not part of a for-profit company, either as Dean of Baylor College of Medicine or as President of Texas Children's Hospital, a non-profit organization. )

Although Stickland supports "parental rights", he does not discourage vaccination, he told The Post on Wednesday. In fact, he said, "parents should take this responsibility seriously."

"It comes down to whether the government should impose what is right for us," Strickland said. "I am with the individual."

As The Post has previously reported, parents in 17 states may choose not to vaccinate their children for personal or philosophical objections. All states have laws on medical exemptions, as some people with health problems can not be vaccinated and almost all states grant religious exemptions.

The anti-vaccination movement has moved from a marginal group to a dominant force at the national level, creating political action committees in several states, including Texas, putting pressure on the legislatures of the United States. States to disarm immunization infrastructures.

From January 1st to April 26th, 704 cases of measles were reported, the highest number of cases since 1994. Epidemics in very unified communities accounted for 88% of all cases. Of 44 cases imported directly from other countries, 34 were US residents traveling abroad; most were not vaccinated.

In the United States, more than 760 cases of measles have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019, the highest number of cases since 1994, according to the CDC. Fifteen of these cases came from Texas, Hotez said.

Hotez called the fast-spreading disease a "dangerous situation" for "cities like Austin and Plano".

"You have schools that are not safe for children because a lot of kids are not vaccinated," Hotez said.