Anti-vaccine movement

[felis.noctua]

It doesn't make a difference to me. I'm neither pro nor anti; reading some of the replies to this thread has seriously concerned me.

I'm 22 & I'm not immunized. In my opinion, it's up to parents to decide whether or not their kids will receive vaccines & I think it's incredibly rude for people to call them stupid or selfish for choosing not to. Cultural or religious perspectives & personal preferences don't make somebody stupid. ...

I'm not sure they're stupid, but they are ignorant. They don't understand the repercussions of what's really happening, they don't understand the science. If they simply don't understand because no one's explained it to them, yes, they're ignorant. If they had it explained to them and they still don't believe it or believe some religious power is going to stand in place of that, then yes, they're stupid. Not vaccinating isn't just letting your kid ride around without a helmet, it's stealing or damaging the helmets of children around your kid. It risks the health and lives of children too young to get vaccinated, or people that cannot be vaccinated due to either being immunocompromised or being that rare minority allergic to some component of the vaccination. They survive through herd immunity and good hygiene. The fact that you never got any vaccinatable disease is a testament to that herd immunity. Imagine now if someone else hadn't vaccinated, but they did catch Rubella. Then gave it to you. You get the nice easy rash and joint pain. No problem. You don't even stay home, you're icky but not sicky. Then you pass that virus to a pregnant woman in the grocery store. Birth defects if acquired by a pregnant woman: deafness, cataracts, heart defects, mental retardation, and liver and spleen damage (at least a 20% chance of damage to the fetus if a woman is infected early in pregnancy) (1). That baby now suffers for the rest of it's life, because your mom didn't trust in the science that's trying to protect you from pain and anguish like that. If they do this knowingly, it's beyond stupid.

If your culture teaches you that medicine is bad juju, you throw away that part of your culture! Remaining in the dark ages is not a requirement of appreciating or practicing heritage! You shouldn't have to risk your child's, or anyone else's child's, life to celebrate your culture. Doesn't that make sense?

1. (you need an account to see links)

[Chanchans]

Vaccinate ! Sometimes I believe the world to have smarts.. then stuff like this happens. Then you realize yep they dumbass.

[Ghosts]

Saw that on reddit today, had to post it lol

[iAirHeartz]

I'm pretty sure that the person who originally came up with the theory that vaccinating causes autism got discredited and isn't allowed to do science-y medical stuff anymore (tho I don't know where to find a source for that).

[felis.noctua]

I'm pretty sure that the person who originally came up with the theory that vaccinating causes autism got discredited and isn't allowed to do science-y medical stuff anymore (tho I don't know where to find a source for that).

Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a garbage paper in 1998, that the publishing journal (Lancet) later formally retracted (1). He " the original research paper, had multiple undeclared conflicts of interest,[2][3] had manipulated evidence,[4] and had broken other ethical codes (2). He was banned from practicing medicine in England, in 2010 (3).

"In January, after the longest investigation in its history, the council found several instances of what it said was unprofessional conduct by Dr. Wakefield. It cited his taking blood samples for his study from children at his son’s birthday party; he paid each child �5, about $7.20 today, and joked about it later. It also noted that part of the costs of Dr. Wakefield’s research was paid by lawyers for parents seeking to sue vaccine makers for damages." (3)

Here's a fun read: A scientific paper reporting the results of presenting people with falsely balanced (think, teach the controversy) science and real science! "Results suggest that balancing conflicting views of the autism-vaccine controversy may lead readers to erroneously infer the state of expert knowledge regarding vaccine safety and negatively impact vaccine intentions."
(you need an account to see links)

(1) (you need an account to see links)

(2) (Ew, wikipedia, but it's faster than linking the three news articles). (you need an account to see links)

(3) (you need an account to see links)


For how this horrifying spectacle has affected a family with both a child too young to get vaccinated, and an immunocompromised baby with cancer, read this saddening article.

(you need an account to see links)

(Wow, that's a lot of links, but things should have citations, don't you think!)

---------- Post added at 06:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:14 PM ----------

OMG OMG I just read this comic, and since I'd just replied to this topic, I want to share it!

(you need an account to see links)

[♥ Munna ♥]

I think the whole vaccination thing honestly should be happening for children of a certain age (ones for extreme sickness and disease), but I did hear horrible things about that Guardacil (is that even how you spell it haha) and with doctors coming forward saying that had knowledge that the vaccine did in fact have adverse effects on young girls.

I don't know, I think all of the pro-vaccine arguments make much more sense for the health and safety of our children, but I am such a conspiracy/government paranoid mess and I think all of these articles and people are just lying to us for their better interest or money. I don't know why I think nothing is true on the internet anymore, take that up with my therapist lol

[MissMellon]

As my Bio professor put it "As soon as your "rights" start endangering others they cross the line. If you really want to be a human incubator fine, but I'm not getting sick for it." Vaccines have wiped away so many deadly things you can catch and by not vaccination all that is being ruined. The opt out policy is crazy, yes there are some people who react really badly to them! Which makes it even better for everyone else to get it, if no one around you is sick you have a better shot at not contracting it as well!

[bluevitriol]

Here you go
(you need an account to see links)

[Hawaii]

(you need an account to see links)

I would like to point out that by choosing not to vaccinate, other people other than yourself are at risk. They can be responsible for epidemics. If I had a baby and they got measles because they were exposed to those old enough to get the vaccine whose parents decided not to, I'd be insanely furious. It's plain selfish on the parents part. I get not vaccinating for religious reasons, but if you're one of those idiotic parents who still believe that you can get autism from these vaccinations when evidence clearly suggests that it's not true, shame on you.

& I'd like to point out that people with them can (& still do) get sick, too. People without them are not solely responsible for epidemics. The reason I'm not vaccinated is not related to religion or fear of autism. I'm just not. You don't have to like it, but it's still not your place to tell other people to do with their kids.

[baileaf]

@(you need an account to see links) Look up herd immunity.

I'm not "telling" anyone what to do. Just stating my opinion based on every single thing I have read when it comes to vaccines. Like I said, it's very selfish to put others at risk who are not able to be vaccinated for medical reasons or due to their young age.