I have numerous friends who were apprehensive about vaccinating their children because of a theory that they caused autism. It was all based in a theory hatched by Dr. Andrew Wakefield's study centering on a mere 12 children with mental regressions . Dr. Wakefield claimed that the MMR vaccine caused an "autism-like disorder" . Naturally , because people really wanted to believe the link , scores of concerned parents stopped vaccinating their kids .
And they were told a dangerous LIE.
As it turns out , Dr. Wakefield was a con man with a degree. His "research" was paid for by hungry ambulance-chasers hoping to sue the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine . In addition , he tried to discredit a rival's vaccine because he wanted to sell his own . He was even cited for performing invasive medical procedures on wee kids who did not need them , for using somebody's babies as the proverbial guinea pigs. Thusly , The Lancet has done something rare - publicly retracting a research paper .
The bad doctor's paper did not have harmless results , however . Hordes of justifiably terrified parents stopped getting the shots for their kids , and not just the MMR vaccine , but ALL preventative injections. Rates of severe measles amongst children have skyrocketed in many industrialized nations . And children have DIED as a result. But no change in the rate of autism. Americans jumped on the theory claiming it was the preservative used in the vaccine and had it removed with no change whatsoever. Millions were spent disproving Dr. Wakefield's theory , and then the preservative theory , so anti-vaccine groups keep hatching new ones and telling people not to vaccinate their kids. And it is killing children .
Here are the FACTS . NO vaccine has EVER been definitively linked to autism. Autism has been diagnosed more often in recent decades because people recognize its symptoms . Even more types of the condition have been invented - so many in fact that I could have such a diagnosis . For the flu vaccine 1 in 100 00 people have a severe side effect , which pales in comparison to the fact that 1 in 20 who get the flu get severely ill . For the common DaTP vaccine , the risk of a serious reaction is one in a million . Diptheria, tetanus , and pertussis can all kill your kid. Less than 1 in one million people have an allergic reaction to the MMR vaccine. Children with severely compromised immune systems can have severe reactions to the Smallpox vaccine , and even those instances are rare. Smallpox WILL kill any child with an immune-suppressing condition .
We need to stop wasting increasingly scarce research dollars trying to disprove hairbrained theories posed by quacks and find out the ways to treat the conditions and help our youngest citizens live fuller lives. These theories were hatched over 200 years ago by religious zealots and is repeated today with the same disastrous results. When the Swedes stopped vaccinating for pertussis , over 60% of children contracted the terrifying condition. Some parents think they are doing the right thing by not getting the routine things done for their kids , but they are not. Vaccines are the reason why kids don't die as often as they did in days of yore , and to deprive your child of a distinct advantage on the word of a discredited quack is irrational . Children do get sick and do suffer , and it is horrifying when it happens. We want someone to blame , but sometimes there just isn't . Don't let the war over vaccines claim your child as a casualty.
Hug your kids.
The only comment that would be correct here is to say i agree 100%
ReplyDeleteVery well written and even a BETTER explanation! Thank you
ReplyDeleteI stand on the opposite side of this issue b/c no research has ever effectively proved that vaccines create immunity. They measure the effectiveness of the vaccine by the antibody titer, but this is still not a sign of immunity. Here in the US there was an outbreak of measels that occurred ONLY among the VACCINATED. The Amish, who do no vaccinate, never got sick during the outbreak. Vaccines do not guarantee immunity but there is a large body of evidence that says that they do cause other health problems which is well documented. There was recently a women showcased for the dystonia she developed as a result of a flu shot. This was not disputed. There are numerous other problems with vaccines that I could easily write a book on. I can send you a number of links on this topic.
ReplyDeleteJust throwing this out there:
ReplyDeleteThere has NEVER been a study to find what all of the vaccines do to the body combined. Like if your state (in the US) requires 26 or 33 or 18 different vaccines be given your child before they are allowed to go to school what effect does that have on a tiny body? Vaccines are a relatively new science. Don't come back at me with the small pox thing. Edward Jenner used pus from 1 persons cow pox to inject into a kid as a vaccine for small pox = Natural material. How do we know that vaccines don't cause other problems? Especially since there is no possible way to have a control group.
Just throwing that out there.
plus, (yeah I thought I was done too) aside from what is being said about children dying from what have you, has anyone done a lil census on how much healthier children who don't get vaccinated are? just askin
The vaccine contoversies originated in the idea that if the Higher Power wanted someone to get sick and die , it was the will of G-d and nobody should dare try and stop this . Vaccines have indeed eradicated smallpox as well as minimized dangerous conditions in industrialized parts of the world .
ReplyDeleteI live in an area where several ethnic groups opt not to vaccinate their children for various reasons and such children do indeed get sick and die from diseases that were considered a thing of the past. If you have ever seen a 3 year old with Polio , you wouldn't wish it on anyone.
But alas , this post deals with the dangerous theory that was disproven dozens of times over posed by a doctor who had selfish reasons for it. In the UK , the centre of the controversy , vaccination rates dropped sharply . In 1998 , when the fraudulent report was published , there were a mere 56 cases of measles , in 2008 there were 1348 cases and kids died . A large outbreak recently in the US began in unvaccinated children . Haemophilius influeza B was considered eradicated until unvaccinated kids in Minnesota and Canada contracted it.
Nothing is foolproof - nothing works 100% of the time , whether it be a vaccine , medication , or surgery. The majority of life-extending science is very new . AZT was invented 40 years ago and has greatly extended the lives of those suffering from HIV and other retroviridae .
There are folks who believe that allowing their kids to acquire childhood diseases is a good thing and there are indeed isolated groups of people who don't vaccinate and have very healthy kids. There have been communes (for lack of a better word) centred around macrobiotic vegan lifestyles with awesomely healthy kids indeed , as with some religious groups that are very isolated from our more common urban world. Such children are also generally not schooled outside of the home . Home-schooled kids aren't required to be vaccinated , so if you feel like going that route , I admire your conviction.
Various researchers have indeed spent vast sums attempting to prove that unvaccinated children are healthier , and have not. Whenever there is a drop in vaccination rates , there is a concordant rise in disease.
As for whether or not vaccines are natural , you may be shocked to know that they generally are. The pertussis vaccine uses antigens to cause the body to produce its own immunity. The MMR vaccine uses 3 live viruses , as do the Chicken Pox vaccine , the intranasal Flu vaccine , polio vaccine , and yellow fever vaccine ,tuberculosis vaccine among others. These all run on the same principle as the smallpox vaccine .
Whether or not someone vaccinates their kids is up to them , and like everything involving our kids , one should weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. I just don't want people risking their kids' lives based on a paper written by a self-serving con man.