copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: The cyclical activity of the Sun as well as other variations in solar and earth activity, and NOT anthropogenic CO2 emissions, are responsible for climate change (Social media user, 2023-09-18)
Evidence (2023-06-23): Overwhelming scientific consensus finds human activity primarily responsible for climate change. [...] The amount of solar energy received by the earth goes up and down in cycles, but overall there is no net change since the 1950s. There has, however, been a big increase in global temperatures that is too large to attribute to the sun. For this reason, NASA and other scientists say the sun is not responsible for global warming. [28] The sun has had only a minor effect on the Northern Hemisphere climate over the past 1,000 years, and global warming from human-produced greenhouse gases has been the primary cause of climate change since 1900. [26] A study found that solar activity could not have contributed to more than 10% of the observed global warming over the 20th century. [27] [...] A study published in Energy & Environment wrote, "variations in solar activity and not the burning of fossil fuels are the direct cause of the observed multiyear variations in climatic responses." [69] In a study by Willie Soon, PhD, Physicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, a strong correlation between solar radiation and temperatures in the Arctic over the past 130 years was identified. [70]
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-07): The measles vaccine is made with a live but weakened form of the measles virus, which is incapable of causing infection in healthy people. And although the vaccine can sometimes cause a mild symptomatic infection in immunocompromised individuals, such cases create no risk of a measles outbreak in the rest of the community.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-12): The pacific island nation of Samoa has been making headlines over the past month due to a significant measles outbreak. At last count, 4,995 measles cases had been recorded, and 72 people, mostly young children, had died. [...] The first laboratory-confirmed measles cases were reported in September, and an outbreak was declared in October. In the face of rising measles cases and deaths, the Samoan government declared a state of emergency on November 15, setting the scene for a campaign of mandatory vaccination. [...] High vaccine coverage (in 2018, 94.6% of five-year-old Australian children were fully vaccinated) means a measles outbreak of this magnitude would not occur in Australia at present. However, Samoa’s experience is a reminder there’s no room for complacency around vaccine preventable diseases.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-13): Samoa measles outbreak claims 70 lives, majority are children under five Seventy people have now died from Samoa’s measles outbreak, UN humanitarians confirmed on Tuesday, as the organization released emergency funding to help the authorities step up efforts to eradicate the preventable disease. [...] "By the end of November 2019, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and American Samoa have all reported measles outbreaks," he said. "Prior to the ongoing outbreaks, measles vaccine coverage varied in Pacific island countries and areas, ranging from 31 per cent in Samoa to 99 per cent in the Cook Islands and Nauru."
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-11-29): Measles: Samoa declares emergency as cases continue to spike worldwide [...] Samoa is fighting a "huge outbreak" of measles, the World Health Organization has said, a year after a vaccine scare resulted in a collapse of immunisation rates. So far 42 people have died from measles, almost all young children, and 3149 cases have been reported on the six islands that make up the Pacific nation, inhabited by about 200 000 people. Every day about 200 people with suspected cases arrive at hospital, said Ian Norton of WHO’s emergency medical unit, speaking to reporters from Geneva. The main hospital in the capital, Apia, which normally has four beds in its intensive care ward, currently has 14 children on ventilators, he said.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-11-19): Samoa's measles crisis has claimed 15 lives but how did the outbreak start? [...] Last year, two Samoan nurses incorrectly mixed and administered a routine mumps, measles and rubella (MMR) vaccination, leading to two infant deaths. [...] American Samoa, which lies to the southeast of Samoa, has also announced a public health emergency over a measles outbreak.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-07): Editorial: Measles outbreak in Samoa shows what can happen when vaccine opponents prevail [...] Given the circumstances and the fact that measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans, an outbreak in Samoa was all but inevitable. An estimated 2% of the population has been infected, killing 63 people as of Friday afternoon , most of them babies or small children, and forcing the government to shut down for two days last week to focus on getting vaccines to as many people as possible. More people are likely to die before the outbreak is over, and some will suffer from complications from the illness for the rest of their lives. [...] The Samoan government is making the right moves to address this outbreak and to ensure it doesn’t happen again. In November, it called a state of emergency and made vaccines mandatory, an extreme but in this case necessary measure. But, horrifyingly, even as health officials launched a massive vaccination campaign, anti-vaccination activists have continued spreading misinformation on social media, including the government’s own Facebook page. For the sake of Samoa’s children, we hope that reason prevails.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-03): The government of Samoa will shut down for two days this week while officials try to curb a deadly measles outbreak that has sickened 3,728 and killed 53—48 of whom were children ages 0 to 4 years old. The Pacific island nation of around 200,000 first declared an outbreak of measles on October 16. The highly contagious viral infection spread rapidly, and officials declared a state of emergency by mid-November. The outbreak has continued to flare, however. On Sunday, the government reported that there had been 198 new measles cases in the last 24 hours alone. [...] But officials have their work cut out for them. The World Health Organization and UNICEF estimated that Samoa’s measles vaccination rate for infants was just 31% in 2018. That’s down from about 60% to 70% in earlier years and a high of 90% in 2013.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2024-07-26): The 2019 Samoa measles outbreak began in September 2019.[5] As of 6 January 2020, there were over 5,700 cases of measles and 83 deaths, out of a Samoan population of 200,874.[4][6] Over three per cent of the population were infected.[7] The cause of the outbreak was attributed to decreased vaccination rates, from 74% in 2017 to 31–34% in 2018, even though nearby islands had rates near 99%. [...] - ^ Agence France-Presse (28 November 2019). "Samoa measles outbreak: WHO blames anti-vaccine scare as death toll hits 39". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. [...] - ^ "Samoa measles vaccination hits target but new cases still rising". Al Jazeera English. 7 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-11-29): Opinion: With the death toll rising in Samoa's measles epidemic, vaccinologist Dr Helen Petousis-Harris explores why Samoa's immunity is so low and how bad the epidemic could get. Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this; for many it is too late. [...] The general answer is simple. Samoa has long term low immunisation coverage—some of the lowest vaccination rates in the world. This low immunisation coverage has left Samoa extremely vulnerable to measles—a lit match to dry tinder and gasoline. With the global resurgence of measles, the risk of an importation to this vulnerable community was almost inevitable.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-09): Sixty-three children in Samoa have died from measles. After a mass vaccination campaign, authorities are hopeful the spread of the highly contagious virus has been contained, but remain on edge. How did it come to this? [...] Fa'auuga is one of 70 people who have been killed by measles in Samoa since October, and all but seven were aged under 15. Nearly 4,700 other Samoans have been infected. Samoa's measles epidemic grew slowly, then swelled suddenly.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-02): How a wrong injection helped cause Samoa's measles epidemic The number of people killed in Samoa's measles outbreak has reached 53, with almost 4,000 cases reported in total. [...] In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2024-07-02): Appearing in Shot in the Arm, a 2023 documentary about vaccine opposition, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was asked about the deadly measles outbreak that occurred in Samoa in 2019 and claimed the lives of 83 people, mostly children. Kennedy, a leading anti-vaxxer who had visited the Pacific island nation a few months before the outbreak, replied, "I’m aware there was a measles outbreak…I had nothing to do with people not vaccinating in Samoa. I never told anybody not to vaccinate. I didn’t go there with any reason to do with that." [...] After the measles outbreak struck in November 2019 and the Samoan government implemented an emergency compulsory anti-measles vaccination program to contain the spread, Winterstein and Tamasese opposed the effort with misinformation and harsh rhetoric. Winterstein compared the operation to Nazi Germany. Tamasese called it a "killing spree." He declared the vaccination operation "the greatest crime against our people" and suggested the vaccine itself was the cause of the outbreak. Tamasese advocated against the use of conventional medicine and antibiotics and urged people to rely on papaya leaf extract and vitamins instead of the vaccine and antibiotics. During this outbreak, Kennedy’s group wrote to Prime Minister Tuilaepa, and he encouraged Samoa officials to examine the measles vaccine to "determine, scientifically, if the outbreak was caused by inadequate vaccine coverage or alternatively, by a defective vaccine." So Kennedy, like Tamasese, was suggesting the vaccine itself might be responsible for the thousands of cases and scores of deaths.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-11-26): Kennedy’s charity shared a Nov. 19 letter he wrote to Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, in which Kennedy encouraged officials to examine the MMR vaccine. "To safeguard public health during the current infection and in the future, it is critical that the Samoan Health Ministry determine, scientifically, if the outbreak was caused by inadequate vaccine coverage or alternatively, by a defective vaccine," he wrote. [...] The World Health Organization estimated that in 2018, only 31 percent of infants in Samoa received the measles vaccine, a drop from 60 to 70 percent in previous years. The WHO attributed the extremely low rate in part to a public health scandal: Last year, two infants in Samoa died within hours of receiving the MMR vaccine. The country temporarily halted its vaccine program, but the vaccine did not cause the deaths. Two nurses improperly mixed the vaccines with a liquid muscle relaxant instead of water. The pair were sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter. [...] Several countries, including Australia and New Zealand, which is contending with its own measles outbreak, have sent nurses and vaccines to Samoa. By mid-November, the United Nations Children’s Fund delivered 110,500 doses of measles vaccine.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2020-11-10): In 2019, the global increase in cases was driven by large outbreaks in several countries. Huge outbreaks occurred in DRC and Madagascar during 2018–2019 as a consequence of accumulations of large numbers of measles-susceptible children, which resulted from longstanding extremely low MCV1 coverage, no introduction of MCV2 into the immunization program, and suboptimal SIA implementation. Samoa’s outbreak resulted from a steady decline in MCV1 and MCV2 coverage during 2014–2018, exacerbated by a decline in vaccine confidence after two infant deaths occurred from an error in measles-mumps-rubella vaccine administration (9). Ukraine’s outbreak was the result of low vaccine confidence among health care professionals, low demand from the public, and challenges with vaccine supply, storage, and handling.**** Brazil’s outbreak was caused by previously unidentified immunity gaps, revealed by sustained transmission following multiple measles virus importations from the outbreak in neighboring Venezuela.†††† [...] - World Health Organization. SAGE meeting. Meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization. Geneva, Switzerland; World Health Organization; 2020. https://www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2020/october/SAGE_eYB_Oct2020final.pdf?ua=1 - Isaacs D. Lessons from the tragic measles outbreak in Samoa. J Paediatr Child Health 2020;56:175. CrossRef PubMed - O’Brien K. Report from the director of IVB: building back better for immunization in a COVID-19 world. Meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization, October 5–7, 2020, Geneva, Switzerland. https://www.who.int/immunization/sage/meetings/2020/october/SAGE_Slidedeck_Oct2020-Web.pdf?ua=1
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-02): How a wrong injection helped cause Samoa's measles epidemic - Published The number of people killed in Samoa's measles outbreak has reached 53, with almost 4,000 cases reported in total. [...] In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-11-18): The Samoan government closed schools indefinitely Monday as it attempts to quell a measles epidemic that has killed at least six people and hospitalized dozens more. Health officials said the Pacific island nation's low immunization rate is the cause of the outbreak. [...] Samoan officials launched a coordinated effort to fight the spread of measles through a mass vaccination campaign. People under 20 and women between the ages of 20 to 25 have been given priority after being deemed to be vulnerable to the disease. [...] "In response to a request from the people of Samoa, New Zealand is providing 3,000 measles, mumps and rubella vaccines and 12 nurses to assist in containing a serious and growing measles outbreak," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Friday. On Monday, an additional 18 nurses were deployed.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-04): Since 2017, a global resurgence of measles cases has been affecting all regions of the world. In global immunization surveys, coverage for the second dose of measles-containing vaccine (MCV2) was 69%, with significant variability between regions. In the Asia Pacific region, outbreaks and clusters of measles cases are being reported from countries where measles has been eliminated, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, as well as higher incidence in endemic countries such as Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. To date, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and American Samoa have reported measles cases. The outbreaks in Samoa and Tonga are caused by the D8 strain (genotype) of measles virus. Measles vaccine coverage varies in Pacific island countries and areas, ranging from 31% in Samoa to 99% in the Cook Islands, Nauru and Niue.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2024-05-02): After an effective measles vaccine was introduced in 1963, the incidence of measles decreased significantly. Nevertheless, measles remains a common disease in certain regions and continues to account for nearly 50% of the 1.6 million deaths caused each year by vaccine-preventable childhood diseases. The incidence of measles in the United States and worldwide is increasing, with outbreaks being reported particularly in populations with low vaccination rates. [9] [...] Since 2008, France has been experiencing an outbreak of measles, which has not yet begun to slacken. [26] Over the same period, outbreaks have also been occurring in the 46 countries of the WHO African Region. [27] Worldwide, most reported cases of measles occur in Africa. [28] In 2019, the Samoan Ministry of Health declared a measles outbreak, the first Pacific island country to take action with the global resurgence of measles. [29] Vaccine hesitancy and low vaccination rates in Samoa stemmed from an erroneous mixed vaccine administration resulting in the deaths of two children in 2018. [30]
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-18): In one sense it is an easy question to answer. Samoa’s vaccination rate was too low to protect its people when measles arrived, probably brought by a traveller from New Zealand, which has suffered its own measles outbreak over the last year. [...] The rate plummeted sharply after a scandal that rocked Samoa in July 2018, when two Samoan nurses administered MMR vaccines to babies who subsequently died. The problem was not with the vaccine, an investigation determined, but rather its administration, after it emerged that one of the nurses mixed the MMR vaccine powder with expired muscle relaxant anaesthetic instead of water. [...] "These outbreaks just don’t happen by themselves in places like Samoa," says Hagan. "They’re really isolated and they haven’t had any cases in years and years … the fact that this measles outbreak is whipping around the world on airplanes, which is really a global failure to protect children against this horrible disease."
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2023-04-27): Measles outbreak in American Samoa declared public health emergency [...] American Samoa has issued a public health emergency after an outbreak of measles has spread across the U.S. territory. [...] In American Samoa, there were 12 measles cases and no deaths reported. However, in the nation of Samoa, there were more than 5,700 cases and 83 deaths reported, most occurring in children under 5 years old.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-05): Children in Samoa are latest victims of 2019 outbreaks [...] "The unacceptable number of children killed last year by a wholly preventable disease is proof that measles anywhere is a threat to children everywhere," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF’s Executive Director. "When children go unvaccinated in significant numbers, entire communities are at risk. We see that even today in remote places like in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where measles has killed more than 4,500 children under the age of five so far this year; or in Samoa, where a rapidly spreading measles outbreak has left many children ill and unable to go to school." [...] The latest region to be affected is Asia Pacific, where measles is being reported even in places where the disease had been eliminated such as Australia, Japan and New Zealand. In Samoa, the Government has declared a state of emergency, and all schools are temporarily closed. According to data released by the Government on December 3, measles had already claimed 55 lives, mostly young children. More than 3,880 cases have been reported among a relatively small population, and new cases are being reported daily. According to estimates from UNICEF and WHO, vaccination coverage in Samoa plummeted from 58 per cent in 2017 to just 31 per cent in 2018, largely due to misinformation and mistrust among parents.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-05): A measles epidemic in Samoa has killed 39 people, with the World Health Organization (WHO) blaming an anti-vaccine messaging campaign for leaving the Pacific island nation vulnerable to the spread of the virus. The UN health agency warned that a steep decline in vaccination rates in Samoa had paved the way for a "huge outbreak", with almost 3,000 in a country of just 200,000 people. The death toll has been rising steadily since the country declared a national measles epidemic in mid-October. The Samoan government released an update on Wednesday that confirmed the death toll had risen to 39, with 35 of those deaths children under the age of four.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-08): THE TRAGEDY now unfolding in the Pacific island state of Samoa is a case study of how wrongheaded information about vaccines can lead to injury and death. Samoa’s population of about 195,000 is less than Arlington County’s, but it has suffered a major outbreak of measles that has led to 68 deaths, most of them children. It could and should have been prevented, and must be taken as a lesson for the rest of the world. The Samoa outbreak can be traced back to July 2018, when two year-old children were given what was supposed to be the MMR vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Both infants died. Later it was determined that two nurses had improperly prepared the inoculations by mixing in a lethal dose of muscle relaxant; one of the nurses tried to cover up the error. That nurse was charged with manslaughter and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 5½ years in prison in August; the second nurse was charged with manslaughter and received a five-year prison sentence.
Claim: Measles vaccine caused Samoa measles outbreak (Anonymous, 2019-12-07)
Evidence (2019-12-14): Measles outbreak in Samoa kills 72, most of them children The Samoa measles outbreak has not slowed down, prompting the government to extend a state of emergency on Saturday to December 29. Over 5,100 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak, with 74 recorded in a recent 24-hour period alone, according to Samoa's government. [...] The measles vaccine is now mandatory in Samoa. Overwhelmed health providers have been working furiously to vaccinate the population. As of Friday, 93 percent of Samoans had been vaccinated, according to the Samoan government.