A Danish Couple’s Maverick African Research Finds Its Moment in RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Policy
Key takeaways
- But, the scientists said, shots made from deactivated whole germs, or pieces of them, such as the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) shot, caused more deaths—especially in little girls—than getting no vaccine at all.
- The World Health Organization repeatedly and inconclusively examined these astonishing findings.
- Then came Donald Trump, Covid, and the administrative reign of anti-vaccine advocate Robert F.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Tom Williams/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story In 1996, Guinea-Bissau seemed like an ideal research post for budding pediatrician Lone Graff Stensballe. Her supervisor, a fellow Dane named Peter Aaby, had spent nearly two decades collecting data on 100,000 people living in the mud brick homes of the West African country’s capital.
Aaby and his partner, Christine Stabell Benn, believed that the years of research in the impoverished country had yielded a major discovery about vaccines—and what they described as “non-specific effects”: The measles and tuberculosis vaccines, which were derived from live, weakened viruses and bacteria, they said, boosted child survival beyond protecting against those particular pathogens.
But, the scientists said, shots made from deactivated whole germs, or pieces of them, such as the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) shot, caused more deaths—especially in little girls—than getting no vaccine at all.