JFC: Anti-vaxxers get stupider...worry that vaccines can give DOGS autism

[Nevilledog]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-28/more-us-dog-owners-question-rabies-vaccines-amid-post-covid-anti-vaccine-wave

No paywall
https://archive.li/hAzSw

Vaccine skepticism has spread to our pets.

More than half of US dog owners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs, including against rabies, according to a new study published Saturday in the journal Vaccine. The study comes as anti-vaccine sentiments among humans have exploded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Canine vaccine hesitancy is pervasive,” said Matt Motta, one of the paper’s authors and a political scientist at Boston University’s School of Public Health who studies hesitancy. “Honestly, we were pretty surprised.”

This is not the first indication that insurgent anti-vaccine attitudes have impacted our furry friends. A study published in the Canadian Veterinary Journal in 2021 found overlap between the movement against mandatory childhood vaccines and vaccine-resistant pet owners. Another found a link between people skeptical of vaccinating their dogs and those who believe vaccines cause autism in children — a false rumor that’s been long-debunked.

Pets are now often considered to be a member of the family, and their health-care decisions are weighed with the same gravity. But the consequences of not vaccinating animals can be just as dire as humans. Dogs, for example, are responsible for 99% of rabies cases globally. Rabies, which is often transmitted via a bite, is almost always fatal for animals and people once clinical signs appear. A drop in rabies vaccination could constitute a serious public health threat.

*snip*



I'm so tired of stupid people.