Just how many vaccine deniers are there in Silicon Valley? http://goo.gl/4VphOz

The denizens of Silicon Valley, like humans everywhere, occasionally exhibit some dissonance between what they say and what they do. They say their industry's a meritocracy, then mostly fund their friends. They say they love innovation, then copy each other's lame apps. But are these data-driven futurists just as susceptible to faddish, fraudulent, anti-vaccine science?

I highly doubt it. They want to live forever, not roll back to 1960. But recently, there have been a couple unsettling revelations. A new Wired investigation points to shockingly low vaccination rates at day care facilities affiliated with major technology healthcare companies in the Bay Area. At one Google daycare center in Silicon Valley, only 49 percent of the children are completely vaccinated.

Are data-driven futurists just as susceptible to faddish, fraudulent science?

The number sounds chilling, but Google's explanation is highly plausible. Wired's report used data from the California Department of Public Health, which tracks vaccination rates at preschools and day cares. The magazine looked at 12 day care facilities affiliated with 20 major technology and healthcare corporations. Half of those 12 day cares have "below-average vaccination rates," according to the department's data.

I reached out to the Department of Public Health about how often they update their vaccination data, and will update the post if I hear back. But Google told both The Verge and Wired that 49 percent merely reflects the use of old data. That would explain why a nearby child care facility for Google employees paints a different picture, with an overall vaccination rate of 77 percent. (Google adds that that 90 percent had the MMR vaccine, compared to 68 percent at the other daycare.)

"In 2013-2014, these 2 child care facilities had immunization rates of 98% and 81% and the reported numbers for the current year are lower simply because many parents have not yet provided updated immunization records. We've asked them all to do this, so we can update the figures."

The other example leaves less room for debate. Valleywag recently noted that NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson supported the since debunked study that started this terrible trend as recently as 2011. (For reference: the study, by British surgeon Andrew Wakefield, came out in 1998 and Jenny McCarthy's book attempting to link autism to vaccination came out in 2007.)

"Many parents have not yet provided updated immunization records."

Nelson and his wife, Elizabeth Horn, stood by Wakefield even after he was stripped of his medical license for misrepresenting or falsifying data for all 12 patients in his study. The couple has a daughter with autism. In 2011, Nelson told the San Francisco Business Times that Wakefield was in the same league as Galileo and Copernicus.

"My experience in Silicon Valley has been when this many establishment players line up against you, you are on to something big."

Neither of these instances point to an existing or growing anti-vaccination sentiment in Silicon Valley. I imagine Google will stick to encouraging additional healthcare precautions, not the other way around.