User:LWCARL/sandbox

Welcome to your sandbox!

Link to Project Resource Page
Project Homepage and Resources

Practice Editing Here (Nov 23rd in-class Wiki session work)

 * This is a place to practice clicking the "edit" button and practice adding references (via the citation button).

Measles! link to who

Assignment # 3
Proposed change

Current paragraph in the Wikipedia article on measles: "A form of passive immunization could be effective up to the seventh day after exposure. Compared to no treatment, the risk of infection was reduced by 76%; however, the effectiveness is not clear in comparison to active measles vaccine."

I propose that this be changed to: "Passive immunization against measles by an intramuscular injection of antibodies could be effective up to the seventh day after exposure. Compared to no treatment, the risk of measles infection is reduced by 83%, and the risk of death by measles is reduced by 76%. However, the effectiveness of passive immunization in comparison to active measles vaccine is not clear. "

Rationale for proposed change

I added the phrase about 'intramuscular injection of antibodies' because passive immunization may be also be delivered intravenously, and thus clarification on the particular method of passive immunization may be relevant.

The current information provided is a slightly inaccurate summary of the results of the cited study. The risk of death from measles is reduced by 76%, while the risk of infection is reduced by 83%. Therefore, the proposed change brings more accuracy to the summarized evidence on passive immunity for measles.

Area of controversy

Measles vaccinations are currently a contentious issue due to the anti-vaccination movement. However, the proposed changes simply aim to provide some clarification and correction on the stated method and effectiveness of passive immunity, so I do not foresee there being any major pushback on these suggestions.

Critique of source

The supporting evidence was found from the Cochrane Database where high quality systematic reviews are available. Using a systematic review is appropriate because it is a secondary source that tends to provide higher quality evidence compared to reviews, article synopses, randomized control trials, and other primary sources. Furthermore, the review was published in 2014, which makes it rather recent. However, the evidence summarized in the systematic review was mostly comprised of studies of 'moderate' quality published before 1950. Thus, it is important to keep the sentence about how the effectiveness of passive immunization may be unclear when compared to active measles vaccine.

What to post on the Wikipedia article talk page?

 * This will also be covered on Nov 23rd in class. Your group should use the below template to share an outline of your proposed improvements (including your new wording and citations). Article talk pages are not places to share your assignment answers. The Wikipedia community will be more interested in viewing your exact article improvement suggestions including where you plan to improve the article (which section), what wording you suggest, and the exact citation (Note: all citations must meet WP:MEDRS)
 * You will not be able to paste citations directly from your sandbox to talk pages (unless you are interested in editing/learning Wiki-code in the "source editing" mode). We suggest re-adding your citations on the talk page manually (using the cite button and populating the citation by pasting in the DOI, website, or PMID). You will have to repeat this process yet again when you edit the actual article live.
 * Talk Page Template: CARL Medical Editing Initiative/Fall 2020/Talk Page Template