美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Brady Bunch' Episode Fuels Campaigns Against Vaccines — And Marcia's Miffed

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

There are now nearly 700 cases of measles¹ across the country. The crisis stems in large part from activists² opposed to vaccines⁴. And one of the items they are using to show that measles isn't as scary as experts say is an old "Brady Bunch" episode. As Gwynne Hogan from member station WNYC reports, at least one member of the "Brady Bunch" isn't happy about that.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

ROBERT REED: (As Mike) Are you sure it's the measles?

GWYNNE HOGAN, BYLINE⁵: "The Brady Bunch" episode "Is There A Doctor In The House?" came out in 1969.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

FLORENCE HENDERSON: (As Carol) Well, he's certainly got all the symptoms - a slight temperature, a lot of dots and a great, big smile.

REED: (As Mike) A great, big smile.

HENDERSON: (As Carol) No school for a few days.

HOGAN: All six Brady kids come down with the measles, stay home from school and play board games together.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

BARRY WILLIAMS: (As Greg) Boy, this is the life, isn't it?

MAUREEN MCCORMICK: (As Marcia) (Laughter) Yeah. If you have to get sick, sure can't beat the measles.

CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT⁶: (As Peter) That's right.

EVE PLUMB⁷: (As Jan) No medicine.

WILLIAMS: (As Greg) Inside or out - like shots, I mean.

PLUMB: (As Jan) Don't even mention shots. Yuck.

HOGAN: People who are critical of vaccines bring up the episode often, like Dr. Toni Bark, who testifies against vaccines in courts and public hearings across the country.

TONI BARK: You stayed home. Like "The Brady Bunch" show, you stayed home. You didn't go to the doctor.

HOGAN: The year that episode came out, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 25,000 measles cases and 41 deaths. Still, the vast majority of people who got sick with measles fully⁸ recovered. Elena Conis is an associate professor at University of California Berkeley, where she specializes in medical history.

ELENA CONIS: In 1969, we had less control over infectious diseases. Smallpox⁹ was still a reality. There were far more cases of polio. In that context, it made sense to think of measles as a lesser¹⁰ threat.

HOGAN: And include it in a sitcom¹¹ - she says public health officials began to try to change the public consensus¹² that measles was not such a big deal once there was an effective vaccine³.

CONIS: They were saying, well, hold on. There's this rate of complications. There's this number of hospitalizations. There's this number of deaths. Like, we really need to shift our thinking about the threat that measles poses.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

HOGAN: That's evident in this 1964 PSA sponsored by the vaccine manufacturer Merck.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Many parents think of measles as just a common nuisance which makes their children feel miserable¹³ and keeps them out of school for a while. But physicians today know that measles is more than a nuisance.

HOGAN: The messaging worked. The number of measles cases and deaths decreased over the next two decades as the government dedicated¹⁴ funds for childhood immunization. By 1984, there was just one death related to measles - historically low at the time, a far cry from the around 500 deaths each year attributed to measles before the vaccine was introduced. So what do former cast members think about their show being used as evidence measles is not such a big deal? Actress Maureen McCormick played Marcia as a teen.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE BRADY BUNCH")

PLUMB: (As Jan) Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

HOGAN: She says she found out a few months ago that an anti-vaccination¹⁵ Facebook group was circulating memes of her with the measles from that episode. She was furious.

MCCORMICK: I think it's really wrong when people use people's images today to promote whatever they want to promote. You know, as a mother, my daughter was vaccinated¹⁶.

HOGAN: And she says she got the measles as a kid before the vaccine was introduced. It was nothing like "The Brady Bunch" episode. She got really sick. Lloyd J. Schwartz is the son of Sherwood Schwartz, "Brady Bunch" creator who passed away in 2011.

LLOYD J SCHWARTZ: Dad would be sorry because he believed in vaccination, had all of his kids vaccinated.

HOGAN: Everyone who caught the measles in "The Brady Bunch" was fine by the next episode. And most people who catch measles in 2019 will be fine too once they recover. But that's not always the case. The virus can cause pneumonia¹⁷ - in severe cases, brain swelling¹⁸ and deafness.

For NPR News, I'm Gwynne Hogan in New York.

1 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

4 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

7 plumb   

adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深

参考例句：

• No one could plumb the mystery.没人能看破这秘密。
• It was unprofitable to plumb that sort of thing.这种事弄个水落石出没有什么好处。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

10 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

11 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

12 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

13 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

14 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

15 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

16 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

17 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

18 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。