Said another way, it’s the belief that infections don’t pose a risk to healthy people who have optimized their immune system. And if you want to prevent infections, vaccines aren’t the solution, becoming healthier through nutrition, exercise, and dietary supplements are.
This version of germ theory denialism has become quite common. It’s what drove the comorbidity fallacy during the pandemic—the belief that COVID wasn’t really what was killing people, that underlying health conditions were actually to blame. It also drove the rumor that if you just eat right and exercise enough, there’s no reason to get vaccinated, because your immune system will be sufficiently “boosted.” More recently, it can be seen in the rumor that vaccines didn’t really cause the decline in vaccine-preventable illnesses like measles and polio during the 20th century, rather, better nutrition and sanitation were the true drivers.
RFK Jr.’s view on germs
In his recent book The Real Anthony Fauci, RFK Jr. promotes this inaccurate view of germs. He laments that “germ theory” has dominated over the long-debunked 19th-century “miasma theory,” which he defines as “preventing disease by fortifying the immune system through nutrition and by reducing exposures to environmental toxins and stresses.” This appears to be a novel definition of miasma theory, as historical records define it as the belief that diseases like cholera were transmitted through “bad air” emanating from corpses or corrupting matter.
According to this new definition of miasma theory, germs only pose a threat if the immune system has already been damaged by poor diet and environmental toxins. He summarizes with a false dichotomy about measles:
“When a starving African child succumbs to measles, the miasmist attributes the death to malnutrition; germ theory proponents (a.k.a. virologists) blame the virus. The miasmist approach to public health is to boost individual immune response.”
This overly simplistic, false view explains RFK Jr.’s approach to public health. He seems to believe that germs like measles are not actually a threat for a healthy person, and can be overcome by nutritional and environmental interventions that “boost” the immune system. This likely explains why for the current measles outbreak, he has been far more enthusiastic about advocating for cod liver oil than vaccination.
This, of course, is abysmally misguided, as any pediatrician or historian can tell you.
A kernel of truth wrapped in a lie
This version of germ theory denialism is particularly sneaky, because it contains a kernel of truth. It’s true that a person’s general health (which is impacted by diet, exercise, age, etc.) can influence how well they will fight off infections. In the case of the starving African child, both inadequate nutrition and the measles infection need to be addressed; we don’t have to choose.
The critical falsehood that makes this view so dangerous is the belief that if you become healthy enough and optimize your nutrition, infectious diseases are no longer a threat. This is simply not true. A healthy 19-year-old can still die from meningitis, even if they’re the star athlete. A fit, healthy 70-year-old can still die from the flu, even if their diet and exercise are perfect. A healthy 6-year-old child can still die from measles, even if they were perfectly fed and didn’t have any underlying conditions.
“Boosting the individual immune response” through nutrition is not anywhere near a sufficient public health response to a measles outbreak. Getting enough cardio and greens is not going to stop bird flu.
Bottom line
A balanced diet, exercise, and sanitation are all incredibly important for keeping us healthy, but they are not a magic cure for infectious disease. Infections have historically been the top killer of humans, and if we forget that and abandon the tools we’ve created to keep them at bay, they will be sure to remind us again.