Natural herd immunity debt misinfo inexplicably published in liberal media in November 2024.

The CDC warns that a respiratory illness preceding a case of walking pneumonia can increase the risk of severity. But Huffpost wants people to blame mask mandates from 3+ years ago.

It’s November 2024, right? So why is Huffpost circulating the idea of herd immunity and immunity debt, garbage theories that were thoroughly debunked ages ago? This article actually promotes the idea of “mask mandates” as the reason for an early surge of Mycoplasma Pneumoniae in fall 2024. Not even just mask wearing - but mask mandates and social distancing. They’re saying this in an article published on November 18, 2024.

Many people continue to take precautions against respiratory infections at some level, many of us use respirator masks, and much to the dismay of some businessees, many are still avoiding risky activities. But when was the last mask mandate where a majority of people were masked in public? Probably 2021 if you’re in the U.S.

The Huffpost article makes a claim that prior mask mandates early in the pandemic are something the CDC is actually asserting to explain upticked Mycoplasma Pneumoniae outbreaks. The CDC has always been a mess, and has put out some stupid fool nonsense crap over the years. However, the CDC page on Mycoplasma Pneumoniae that’s linked in the article actually doesn’t say any such thing - no references to immunity debt, immunity gaps, or natural herd immunity. There’s sadly not even a mention of masks, which probably could prevent some infections since this disease can spread via aerosol and droplets as well. 

An interesting aspect of this is that the CDC page linked to points out that having recently had another respiratory illness could mean people are at increased risk for serious infection from Mycoplasma Pneumoniae. Meaning if you catch covid, or flu, and then you get Mycoplasma Pneumoniae, you’re at higher risk of having a more severe case. 

CDC.gov - Mycoplasma Pneumoniae Infections Have Been Increasing - October 18, 2024 Some people are more likely to get infected than others. For example, people recovering from respiratory illness and those with a weakened immune system are at increased risk for serious infection.

So why is there a Huffpost article blaming mask mandates that haven’t existed in 3 years or more? And why trot it out to evoke the ridiculous debunked right-wing dangerously wrong theory of immunity debt?

Huffpost - Walking Pneumonia Cases Are Surging Right Now. The Reasons Why May Surprise You. Here's what to know about the illness, including what's possibly contributing to the spread. By Julia Ries Nov 18, 2024  The CDC suspects the increased prevalence is a direct result of the immunity gap that occurred after the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, protective measures such as face masks and social distancing slowed the spread of many infectious diseases, including walking pneumonia. But “once masking mandates were dropped and we went back to pre-pandemic practices, we started seeing a surge of respiratory pathogens that were almost nonexistent in the first part of the pandemic,” Ballan said. 

The article is actually not quoting the CDC at all, they’re quoting some doctor — Dr. Wassim M. Ballan, the division chief of infectious diseases at Phoenix Children’s hospital, and attributing his personal talking points as being the conspiracy theory of the CDC to explain Mycoplasma Pneumoniae. As far as I can see there is NO connection this doctor has with the CDC at all. But they link to the CDC when they claim “according to the CDC” but if you follow that link, no such claim is there in November 2024, on a page updated October 18, 2024, a full month before this Huffpost article.

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The medical misinformation placed, either deliberately by PR prompting, or out of journalistic ineptitude, is only likely to get worse as infectious diseases are further mismanaged by public health leadership rotting from the head, and as elites in power panic and try to hold their world together with the cheeks of their asses, and so are incentivized to try to suppress concerns of people who look for answers — using misdirection and censorship by noise.

“Currently according to some estimates, more than 50% of what we think is news is actually instigated by the public relations industry. PR professionals measure their success in terms of how well they can insert their clients’ messages into the continuous flow of news and information while their own activities remain out of view.”  - Toxic Sludge is Good for You 2002

A lot of authors, influencers, and even journalists out there depend on the fact that most people never click through those links to verify that they actually back up their claims - and many seem to do fraudulent appeal to authority on purpose. (Or maybe “accidentally on purpose” right?)

Phys.org - November 19, 2024 Editors' notes Social media users probably won't read beyond this headline, researchers say by Ashley WennersHerron, Pennsylvania State University In an analysis of more than 35 million public posts containing links that were shared extensively on the social media platform between 2017 and 2020, the researchers found that around 75% of the shares were made without the posters clicking the link first. Of these, political content from both ends of the spectrum was shared without clicking more often than politically neutral content. The findings, which the researchers said suggest that social media users tend to merely read headlines and blurbs rather than fully engage with core content, were published today (Nov. 19) in Nature Human Behavior.

Fraudulent Appeal to Authority. The tactic of citing sources that don’t actually back up a claim. (Upside down smiley emoji.) They hope you won’t even look and won’t examine their silly document dump.

It’s buyer beware when it comes to consuming health information in the news. Tread carefully, seek out multiple sources. And as they say on the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast, “learn to always read the footnotes”. At least verify that sources cited actually claim what they supposedly claim, and maybe also learn to discern what a good science source looks like.

Be prepared.

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