I Responded to a Negative Review…

I committed the cardinal sin for an author, especially an indie author, I responded to a review. The review on Invasion was a 3-star, so not horrible, but the rating wasn’t the problem for me. I don’t care if it was a 1-star or a 5-star. It was what the reviewer tried to call me out on. It wasn’t about my writing or even the plot of the book. I can deal with those. We can’t please everyone, right? No, this was about a comment one of my characters made. My main character, Cole Evans, is an epidemiologist, so he was speaking from a voice of authority in the book, so anytime he made statements addressing diseases or health-related things, I would double and triple check to make sure what he said was true. I won’t promise that everything I stated about being an epidemiologist is true (because it seems to depend on where they work) but this particular statement was fact-checked. Here’s the statement the reviewer had an issue with:

 

“there’s never been a disease that disappeared without a vaccine”

 

Here’s what she said in the review regarding that:

 

“Please do some research on vaccines. The statement you made, that “there’s never been a disease that disappeared without a vaccine”, is utterly false. In fact, every so-called vaccine preventable disease was on the decline PRIOR to the introduction of a vaccine for it. Proper nutrition, shelter, and most importantly, Hygeine (sic) were responsible for the decline in diseases today, in developed countries.”

 

First, let me point out that even including good hygiene, proper nutrition, and shelter, my statement still stands. Tell me one disease that doesn’t have a vaccine that has been stamped out? I’ll wait…

 

There are plenty that have treatments, but in order to be treated, they have to occur first, so those can’t be considered eradicated.

 

While I’m waiting, let’s discuss the rest of the review:

“Even polio is a mild enough illness that most people who’ve had it, don’t even know it! Furthermore, think about diseases like scarlet fever, for which there isn’t a vaccine, yet it has declined. The truth is out there, so stop spreading propaganda for the pharmaceutical industry! Research, don’t regurgitate.”

 

Hmmm…”polio is a mild disease…”. Technically, that is true in the majority of cases, but if you were one of the 15,000 people in the U.S. who were paralyzed every year prior to the introduction of the polio vaccine, that statement would bring very little comfort. Did you know 1 in 200 cases led to paralysis? That may not sound like many to you, but let’s put it this way. Picture a big sporting event. Let’s go big and make it the Super Bowl. Let’s say the attendance is 60,000. That sounds about right for a Super Bowl. Now, if they had a lottery to win a million dollars and 300 people in the stands would randomly be selected to win, would you buy a dollar ticket? Chances are, you would. I know I would. While my chances would be slim, 300 winners are a lot of winners! Let’s gather those lucky men, women, and children on the field at half-time. This is a special lottery and there is no minimum age so even children can win. How awesome is that?

 

Now, have them all drop to the ground, paralyzed. This is what that scene looked like in 1952.

 

 

The machines are different now, but no less terrible. It would look something like this but multiplied 200 times.

 

And that’s just for every 60,000 people who get it. I did the math, and it looks like to get those 15,000 people paralyzed every year means 3 million people caught the disease. This was in the 1950s, not the 1550s. It happened in suburban towns where mom stayed home and kept house, made home cooked meals and doctors made house-calls. How much different was hygiene and sanitation then compared to now? If anything, it was probably cleaner! (Hey, I’ve watched a lot of Leave it to Beaver–that house was super clean! I’d eat of June Cleaver’s floor without giving it a second thought!)

 

Keep in mind, this is just the U.S. Polio is still not eradicated world-wide. There are still countries where it exists and the main reason is due to conflict. That makes it very difficult to vaccinate all the children if the families are in a constant state of upheaval due to civil wars.

 

And Scarlet Fever? Really? You do realize that’s caused by a bacteria and is treated with antibiotics, right? The same bacteria that causes strep throat, which is WHY it’s treated–to prevent Scarlet Fever from developing.

 

I won’t argue that hygiene doesn’t play a role. Of course it does. It does for every disease, but it won’t cure anything, just slow the spread.

 

seen patients with post-polio syndrome and I’ve treated people with pertussis. I also know all about hand-hygiene and how to curb the spread of infection. I’m tested on it yearly as part of my job. I wash my hands and use hand-sanitizer dozens of times a day–but when I was exposed to a baby with pertussis a few years back, I was still required to get a booster dose of the vaccine. Claiming I had washed my hands would not have changed that requirement because that would not have been enough to protect me or anyone who came in contact with me if I came down with the disease. I really don’t want to give a baby this disease.

 

So, yes, dear reviewer, in regards to vaccines, I have done my research. Have you? And by research, I mean real research with peer-reviewed studies, not regurgitated autism, anti-vaccination theories.