April 27, 2013
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Denial, Vaccines, and Dingleberries
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/baby-dies-whooping-cough-orange-co/nXXqP/
The biggest problem (aside from dead, or dying children) that I have with the whole “anti-vaccine” crowd is their unique ability to ignore fact.
Most are motivated by love.
I get that.
But the family of THIS baby decided that despite the MOUNDS of evidence debunking the whole “vaccines cause autism” theory,(which was spun by a UK doctor who developed a new vaccine to sell, and wanted to discredit the old one…and btw…he’s been stripped on his credentials to practice medicine in the UK.) they decided not to inoculate their child…who had died of pertussis.
My home is located between to different churchyards. Both date back a bit…and if you go there, you will see a large number of TINY stones, some with initials carved on them…no date. Each stone marks a dead baby or child. Each family has a number of them…five…six…and from what I’ve read, they did not do that sort of thing for miscarriages…just babies who had survived childbirth.
So a hundred years ago, SOMETHING killed a lot of small children.
Something that no longer exists. These days, the medical death of a small child is a shocking rarity…not a sad reality of life. We no longer have to have 8 kids…so one or two will get to grow up.
I wish I could take a live and let live attitude to all this…but that’s just it. I can’t. This isn’t a matter or politics…this is a matter of life and death. I’m not comfortable with the “anti-vac” groups leaving their kids unprotected. I am even LESS comfortable with the idea that by breaking the chain of inoculation, they are turning their children into walking petri dishes—that can spawn strains of childhood disease that we have no shots against. I don’t want my child, or her children dying because someone else refused to consider anything but their opinion.
In 2011, Andrew Wakefield, leading proponent of one of the main controversies regarding a purported link between autism and vaccines was found to have falsified research data and was stripped of his medical license.[33]
Get that? FALSIFIED research.
There are a number of reasons for the increase in autism, from chemicals contaminants in food, air, water and soil, to artificial sweeteners. I don’t suggest I have an answer to that. I’ve read posts by the parents who are opposed to vaccines…and inevitably, they either quote something that is UTTER bullshit, or outright LIE to try to support their position. (One suggested that FDR contracted polio as a result of the vaccine…which didn’t come out until after he DIED. FDR had suffered from the aftereffect of polio for decades…but why deal with pesky facts?)
So…I’m the first to enjoy a debate over conspiracy theories…but not where kids lives are concerned.
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Comments (18)
I believe an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…I remember getting my smallpox vaccine and the nasty scab!
Shame so many want to blame anything but their gene pool. My Nephew has Aspegers and even though we didn’t recognize it until he was 5, she says now she sees how he was different from birth. She laughs at the myth. In her husbands’ family is autism and she knows part is genetics and part she thinks is evolution. She thinks mans environment is making these higher level thinkers by evolution. I don’t know about that theory.
My daughter died at 2months, but she did have her shots, just as my 2 sons subsequently did, and they are tall and strong and now in their teens. I do believe childhood vaccinnes have helped save many.
What about the yearly flu shot? I have mixed feelings about that one. I’ve heard it said that it works, others say they’ve gotten ill after taking it. It’s changed from being a bit of the virus itself to being synthetic (or so I heard. honestly I didn’t research it). With the flu virus seemingly changing, having several strains, and becoming resistant itself, I wonder about the potency and effectiveness of the flu shot anymore.
@Crystalinne - Hi Chrys…and welcome. First, I am sorry about your daughter. Second…I view flu shots differently than childhood vaccines. I have my skepticism…but a few years back, I got the flu…and for three days I was so sick, that it reminded me that once, it killed people. It still does…I am on the fence about flu shots. save where people already have compromised immune systems…
I am generally opposed to antibiotics, though not in all cases. Vaccines, though, are another matter. They are more helpful than not, and should be seriously regarded.
I’d rather have an autistic child than a dead one.
@chronic_masticator - I hear you.
I work with special needs kids…and the whole “They shouldn’t have happened” thing offends me. These kids are not broken, or damaged. They are different…and many are scary smart…so thanks for the reply!
The anti-vaccine crowd annoys me. It doesn’t matter how many times the person that wrote the paper retracts his statement, people want to continue to believe vaccines cause autism. I think it is mostly because it is easier to have something tangible to blame than it is to accept the fact that we do not understand the cause of autism or the autism spectrum. The anti-vaccine crowd is so prevalent now that I am considering getting booster shots myself. It is something that I never thought I would have to do.
I remember reading that paper in my virology course thinking that no one would believe it because it was so poorly written. My professor said that I credit people with too much intelligence.
@chronic_masticator - me, too.
my kid has had all her vaccinations, thank goodness
i don’t understand how a parent, or anyone, can believe all that crap. i have an uncle who is what we call nuts? he’s one of them. and i just want to reach across the dinner table and slap him after he says crap like, i’m against hpv vaccines because they cause promiscuity.
face palm
My boys and grandkids all have had all of their vaccinations and my great grandson is up to date on his.
I do not believe the vaccines cause autism or anything connected to it. I also think Drs are using the label as a dumping ground for kids.When my kids were little the popular label was hyperactive. Then they were ADD, ADHD, and then on to whatever fit.Label a child and treat him like he has what he is labeled with and he will become that label that is expected of him.
My dad contracted polio and lived with a slight limp for the rest of his life. Just like in the case of FDR the polio vaccine had not yet been developed in time for my father. Today polio is all but wiped out. I received all of my vaccinations when I was a kid and I grew up healthy. There’s an issue you didn’t mention. Had I not gotten my vaccinations imagine all the lollipops I would have missed out on!
@bonmots - Oh he must be a BLAST at family dinners!
I am not a huge fan of HPV vaccine because it only protects against 2-3 of the viruses while there are a DOZEN you can contract I worry that it gives girls a false sense of security. And when it first was developed, I was baffled by the science. You give only HALF the population a vaccine…and the other half doesn’t have to worry? It was enabling generations of young men to become CARRIERS…and no one blinked. Now at least they have one for guys too…since they ALSO figured out it isn’t harmless to men as previously believed…
@Erika_Steele - Hey Lady…I’m with you on that! I t amazes me that Wakefield hasn’t been arrested for his duplicity in faking the research….I wonder if parents will ever hold that bastard accountable. I do know that they are supposedly having a struggle in the UK…people are avoiding the vaccines, and children are becoming ill and dying…so sad.
Are we close to the herd immunity breaking down because of the non-vaccinators?
Are you saying you actually believe in “herd immunity”?
I don’t. Twice I have contracted MRSA after surgery, because Staph infection is now rampant. No “herd immunity there.”
@galadrial - It’s an established concept. It sounds like it may mean something a bit different from what you’re thinking of. After a bit of Googling, which I should have done but was too lazy, it looks like the answer is yes—for some diseases and in some places, the threshold is reached owing to this anti-vaccine nonsense. That’s really sad, the creeping anti-intellectualism would be bad enough as such without it getting to the point where it affects the overall public health.
@n_e_i_l - And established concept…where the most vulnerable, usually the elderly, and the very young die first. I don’t think much of the logic.