How (not) to read a study
The Children’s Health Defense blog reminds me of those cheap supermarket checkout aisle rags that you ogle at in disbelief. Of course, some people buy them, and even buy into the trillionth story of a batboy discovered on the moon.
Every morning, when the newsletter bombards my inbox, I can’t shake the feeling that a vaccine will have miraculously mutated a human child into a bat. Unfortunately for Americans, the organization’s founder is now in charge of running the nation’s health apparatus, which he is dismantling at breakneck speed.
Let’s look at yesterday’s main “story” to better understand why I can’t shake the batboy imagery.
Scary stuff, no? Since the writer shared the study in question—not always common practice at CHD—I decided to read it to see how the headline and subhead holds up.
Here’s what the study actually found: mRNA vaccines don’t just provide temporary protection, they also “educate” the immune system in a way that could have long-lasting benefits.
Do the researchers warn that these vaccines lead to the horrendous conditions listed in the subhead?
No. In fact, there’s no mention of cancer or autoimmune disorders at all. The observed immune activation is framed as a beneficial adaptation, not a pathological one. They highlight immune adaptation, not harm.
On top of this, the study focuses on epigenetic, not genetic, modifications, which are reversible and don’t alter DNA sequences.
Yet the CHD blog persists:
The researchers said their findings may account for “post vaccination inflammatory diseases which occur in a small number of vaccinated individuals.”
Pretty slick. It might help if they included the entire sentence, however.
The dynamic aspects we observed for epigenetic reprogramming of classical innate immune cells may have implications for the improvement of vaccine responses and designs, the overall immune response towards non-related infections and even our understanding of post vaccination inflammatory diseases which occur in a small number of vaccinated individuals.
Decontextualizing data is CHD’s bread and butter. It’s what allows the organization to spread anti-vax messaging while sounding sciencey.
In this case, they’re taking the study’s finding that SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines provide an enhanced responsiveness to pathogens, resembling “trained innate immunity,” where immune cells remain primed for months after vaccination, leading to stronger cytokine responses.
Cytokines had a moment early in Covid, as the virus can trigger a “cytokine storm” in pulmonary tissues, causing an uncontrolled release of these proteins. As “alarm signals” that help the body fight infection, however, cytokines are essential. That said, you want them under biological control.
This study notes that macrophages (white blood cells that stimulate other immune system cells) respond more aggressively when exposed to not just COVID-19 spike protein, but also unrelated threats, suggesting the vaccine didn’t just teach the immune system to recognize COVID—it made macrophages generally more alert.
This effect requires two doses, as a single shot doesn’t create such trained immunity. A third booster restores this immunity after it fades. In this study, the cytokine response shows how the vaccine successfully trains immune cells to defend against infection better.
Here’s the key: The study found no harmful side effects from the release of these cytokines, just a more vigilant immune system.
There’s also no evidence of overreaction. The sentence which CHD butchers isn’t saying anything new. The researchers are merely reminding us that vaccines are never bulletproof, and that in rare instances there are dangers.
Presenting the study holistically doesn’t comport with CHD’s anti-vax messaging, however. Instead, the author finds a single instance of the researchers being transparent about possible side effects to create an entire piece of content around it, likely assuming the organization’s audience won’t actually read or understand the study.
Which is probably the only thing the blog post gets right.
