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Overturning Zika: The Pandemic That Never Was Paperback – May 11, 2022
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“Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth." C.S. Lewis
To Caesar’s "I came, I saw, I conquered", Zika might add, "I disappeared, – but nobody noticed," ... until now.
Overturning Zika investigates (now-overshadowed) pandemic Zika-microcephaly: from improbable but terrifying arrival -- to immediate disappearance. Overturning Zika illuminates facts ignored at the time: for instance, in 2015 Brazil clinical Zika-testing didn’t exist; none were performed on “mild dengue” patients reclassified as novel “Zika”; nor during or after the microcephaly-birth pregnancies. These unfortunate moms were diagnosed through later telephone questionnaires.
Zika-microcephaly, the world's largest medical news story in 2016, brought shock, fear, and panic throughout the tropics – coincident with Brazilian assertions' casting the eternally harmless Zika-virus as the ultimate danger to pregnancy: potentially rendering hundreds of millions of women in pregnancy but one mosquito-bite away from irrevocable damage to the cherished life within. The WHO acknowledged and aggrandized this worldwide threat, uniquely amongst all the many mosquito-borne illnesses, as a "public health emergency of international concern".
Public health officials immediately took center stage, issuing travel advisories and recommending indefinite abstinence from pregnancy for certain populations. The relief of a vaccine was promised but never delivered. The WHO predicted four million cases of Zika in the Americas and numbers worldwide that would add one million cases of microcephaly per year.
It's a complete blessing that none of this occurred: not in 2016, nor any year subsequently. As soon as stricter measurements for both Zika and microcephaly came into existence, neither was found to show medical significance or mutual association. Zika and microcephaly have long existed independently of each other: the one harmless, the other tragic but rare – and they will continue to do so.
Why has the “good news” of both Zika’s and microcephaly’s disappearance been buried? Overturning Zika is no conspiracy-tale, but elucidates secondary interests and forces that keep narratives (however flimsily constructed) active, when serving political or institutional goals.
“Overturning Zika shows, with great clarity, the scientific negligence used for economic and political ends and perhaps to create careers for researchers not interested in scientific truth as much as fame and recognition through "discoveries". " -- Robin Kaczmarczyk
“Although the Zika panic was confined largely to Brazil, many, if not most of the signs were there for spiraling panic.
- Identification of a novel virus without legitimate scientific proof of its novelty? “Check”
- Sound-bite promotion of a narrative without legitimate and independent verification? “Check”
- Use of the public square as a means of promotion of a specific hypothesis? “Check”
- The use of the panic to enhance the careers of specific scientists? “Check”
-- Wilton Alston
“With Overturning Zika, physician Randy Bock lights a fuse under a powder keg of questions that threaten to blow up the entire official narrative of the Zika pandemic, from the unknown number of Zika cases to their unsubstantiated role in microcephaly, while exposing the politicized and sloppy science that provoked unnecessary fear and suffering in millions of expectant mothers in tropical regions worldwide.” Steve Templeton, Ph.D.,
Prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA's chief editors were given a shorter version, early 2020 -- without disputing the facts presented here; nonetheless, they demurred, not wanting to undercut the public health establishment’s credibility, pending COVID. Read here what they wish you can’t, while you can.
- Print length283 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateMay 11, 2022
- Dimensions6 x 0.64 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101957975016
- ISBN-13978-1957975016
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- Publisher : Drivestraight Inc. (May 11, 2022)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 283 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1957975016
- ISBN-13 : 978-1957975016
- Item Weight : 13.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.64 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,512,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,548 in Public Health Administration
- #8,869 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
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Pandemic in Perspective
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022This is one of the best discussions of the entire story of the Zika deception in print. Dr. Bock has done an outstanding job in arguing his point that the government, the WHO, and the world media purposefully deceived the mass of the public concerning the risk of the Zika virus on braIn development. He uses a great number of scientific studies, grafts and charts to clearly demonstrate that the link to microcephaly and Zika was manufactured by individuals for nefarious purposes. I wrote a condense analysis of the Zika episode in my newsletter, not knowing or being aware of Dr. Bock's book. Since meeting with Dr. Bock and comparing notes it is plain that we agreed on virtually everything. This is important as we concluded the same thing independently and for the same reasons. His book goes into far greater detail in a very clear and expertly presented way. For those interested in another example of how the governments and media of the world manufacture a false reality this book is an excellent example.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2022Delightfully written inquiry into a threat that seems to have disappeared. A question into the role of our press into assessing threats to the modern world.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2023The author builds a strong case against the notion that Zika causes microcephaly. It's a cautionary tale against jumping to rushed conclusions. A useful read for anyone involved in public health or with an interest in pandemics.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2022In October 2016, the United States Congress allocated $1.1 billion in supplemental funding to fight Zika, to be allocated among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and public health and social services emergency funds. Since the start of 2017 through 2020, there have been a total of 7 cases of Zika infections in the US as reported by the CDC, all from Florida and Texas. There have been a total of 942 cases reported from other US territories in that same period and no reported cases since 2019. Of the reported cases, testing is inconclusive because Zika and dengue virus antibodies cross-react so there is no distinction between these two diseases. That translates to more than $1.1 million/case if all cases were, in fact, Zika.
In comparison, also reported by the CDC, there were 1,752,735 new cancer cases reported in 2019 and 599,589 people died of cancer. The total budget for the National Cancer Institute (excluding AIDS research) was approximately $6.2 billion or a little more than $3500/case. The very real diagnosis of cancer also compares with the estimated diagnosis of Zika, indistinguishable from dengue. Further, the correlation between Zika and microcephaly is also inconclusive.
The subtitle of the book by Dr. Randall Bock explains the result of the potential for an incompletely characterized virus that was richly funded. Major news outlets such as the New York Times raised the concern about Zika and its effects and they continue to do so. The director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, fueled the concern. These two forces supported the funding outlined above. In addition, in Brazil where the majority of potential Zika cases were reported, researchers were supported with grants from the World Health Organization (WHO), outside governments, and non-governmental organizations. Of note, all participants received material benefit from the funding (NIAID in funding, clinical researchers in Brazil through grants, and the New York Times through advertising). US-funded research continues, both in Brazil and in the United States.
Dr. Bock suggests,
Our knowledge of viruses and their effects on human populations must be based on scientific fact, not media sensationalism. If there really was a Zika-caused microcephaly epidemic in Brazil in 2016, let the science show it. The current general consensus on the matter lacks adequate scientific backing.
He further states that people “were forced to make life-altering decisions [such as contraception and abortion] based on claims that had not been verified in almost all aspects.”
The facts in Overturning Zika show that there truly was no pandemic. Dr. Bock also concludes that
Science has two underlying definitions, both a set of certain knowledge and facts – as well as the process by which those are determined, and thereafter presumably continually questioned. Questioning science is science.
Was Zika a pandemic? Not by definition. It was endemic to specific areas for a short period of time, if the distinction from dengue is real. Overturning Zika is a book that had to be written. It is also a book that has to be read if we are to understand the effects that public policy and media coverage have on scientific inquiry. This is an important work and Zika is an important example for policy makers at both global and local levels.
Roy Wallen, Directional Healthcare Advisors
- Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024Extremely well written well documented and comprehensive. Outlining the dangers of social media warnings, allegedly well meaning, that end up depicting dangers that don’t stand the test of scientific inquiry. Money, fame, academic positions all weave into this story that would be delightful reading if it weren’t true: proving the point that truth is stranger than fiction, you can’t make this stuff up. Thank you Dr Bock for giving us a document that can inform us about future epidemics in light of social media. Beware the premature obvious conclusion it may end up biting you in the posterior.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2023Author does a great job dismantling the whole narrative of the so called Zika pandemic and the link with Microcephaly. Does no one else ask difficult questions based on data anymore? Thankfully we have people like Dr Bock that do.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022After two years of living through pandemic protocols, misinformation and hysteria, Dr. Bock provides a fascinating and very readable perspective on another pandemic. When Zika was regularly in the news, the fear of getting pregnant and suffering the tragedy of a microcephalic baby reverberated through childbearing women and caused a dramatic drop in birth rates in affected areas. This very wise, easy to understand book explains facts, truths and lessons to learn from extreme medical circumstances.
5.0 out of 5 starsAfter two years of living through pandemic protocols, misinformation and hysteria, Dr. Bock provides a fascinating and very readable perspective on another pandemic. When Zika was regularly in the news, the fear of getting pregnant and suffering the tragedy of a microcephalic baby reverberated through childbearing women and caused a dramatic drop in birth rates in affected areas. This very wise, easy to understand book explains facts, truths and lessons to learn from extreme medical circumstances.Pandemic in Perspective
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2022Fascinating book with new perspectives on a story we all heard a lot about a few years ago - Zika. This is a deep dive into what we were told - how most of it never came to be and how and why that story just faded away - a compelling worthwhile read
Top reviews from other countries
- Y. CunningtonReviewed in Canada on August 5, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Overturning Zika, The Pandemic that Never Was
Do you remember the Zika Pandemic? “It was a mistake, it never happened; sorry for any inconvenience”. “Sorry that 100,000 Brazilian babies were not born because public health advised women not to get pregnant.” “Sorry about the billion dollars we got from Congress; we’ll pay it back”.
Do you think we are going to get such an apology? Or do you think we are more likely to get: “The next outbreak is not a matter of if, but when.”
Randall Bock has extensively studied this issue and in his recent book, Overturning Zika, The Pandemic that Never Was, he investigates and documents the facts, among them:
• In 2015 a Brazilian husband-and-wife team of virologists concluded that a Zika virus pandemic was sweeping the country, (even though at the time, no reliable testing for Zika virus was available in Brazil).
• At about the same time, based upon a handful of personal observations, a regional Brazilian neuropediatrician became concerned that there might be a pandemic of microcephaly.
• And in a grand sweep worthy of Robert Gallo, a regional general practitioner and epidemiologist, declared that the microcephaly pandemic was caused by the Zika virus pandemic (even though Zika had never been known to cause human illness).
How could this happen? Is it the fault of the clinicians making observations and having ideas? No, the starting point for scientific inquiry is observation and hypothesis. But one could criticize them for announcing their concerns to the world by a press conference, rather than submitting them to scientific scrutiny.
Of greater concern, what are we to make of the fact that within four months of the news conference, the World Health Organization declared, ex-cathedra, a Zika-microcephaly pandemic? What does that say about the priorities of our world scientific leadership?
And even when it became clear there never was a Zika pandemic, nor a microcephaly pandemic, nor a relationship between the two, public health officials and research grant recipients can’t bring themselves to say, “It was all a misunderstanding. What we get instead is “the next outbreak is not a matter of if, but when”?
Want to understand the issues? Think it might have some relationship to other events you have observed? Read the book and decide for yourself. -John Cunnington MD