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It's terrifying. Here on the west coast they're seeing measles epidemics in numbers they've never seen before. We're planning on having a second baby and it terrifies me that he or she could be exposed, since the MMR is not until 2! Ugh. And I have the anti-vaxers to thank for giving me this reason to be scared.
Honestly if you want to be a health hazard, go live all together on an uninhibited island and infect each other with deadly disease all you want. Those who shout about it being 'personal choice' has clearly no idea how herd immunity works, and that its there to protect the most vulnerable who can't be vaccinated due to age or illness. Urrrggg, the ignorance just makes my blood boil. They should really crack down on it and stop accepting the whole personal belief bs as an excuse to accept kids into schools. Medical reasons only, or stay in quarantine and homeschool.
The generation of parents not vaccinating their children never witnessed first hand what these diseases do, nor did they have any themselves. If they were just slightly more educated and understood life in an iron lung, maybe they would stop listening to people even less educated than they are.
Why is there a rise in these diseases that were once held at bay?
Immigration.
What is responsible for the spike in autism and peanut allergies? I wouldn't pin it on not vaccinating kids.
Immigrants, legal or illegal, are not the ones bringing vaccine preventable diseases to the US. It is legal visitors from and unvaccinated Americans who travel to countries where, thanks to Wakefield's fraud, immunization rates have dropped even lower than here.
Last edited by Jaded; 04-15-2014 at 06:07 PM..
Reason: Removed edited post
What is responsible for the spike in autism and peanut allergies? I wouldn't pin it on not vaccinating kids.
I am not convinced there is a rise in autism. 50 years ago there was no such name for people who were slow or simple or socially awkward. They were called just slow or simple or shy or retarded or other names that referred to how their disability manifested itself. Many were institutionalized back then, now they are mainstreamed.
So many things weren't discussed long ago. Illnesses, miscarriages, developmentally disabled folks or mentally ill relatives were all topics that were filed under "Family secrets".
I just saw this today. Thank heavens someone is giving Jenny McCarthy the blame she deserves for the epidemic of "non-vaccination".
I still hear her garbage arguments about autism and vaccination everywhere. This article in the Atlantic shows she is finally on the defensive.
Successful public health is more complicated than we think. It requires three things:
1. R & D to develop vaccines and preventative medicines.
2. People in legislative bodies who are willing to enact compulsory public health measures despite wingnuts whining about the loss of their freedom.
3. A citizenry that understands the benefits of vaccination and public health measures and will advocate for them. We are the people who must stand up to the Jenny McCarthy's of this world.
I've been pretty passionate about this issue, but I'm reading more and more articles about debating hot issues like this, and it seems to be the right approach is to be more conversational about it, and less argumentative about it. Which is admittedly tough for me because it really bothers me that people are taking advantage of our fairly good "herd immunity" numbers to skip out on doing their part. But, I'm going to strive to stop tossing out the numerous facts that support why one should vaccinate, and just start conversing about it more casually with more people. I've listened to a few NPR stories recently where parents of children who cannot be vaccinated due to health reasons seem to have a much better result when they simply tell their story, rather than arm themselves with all the science. because there's a core group of people who just will deny every piece of information you give them unless it supports a decision they've already made and aren't changing.
and, i just had my physical and got myself updated on DPT...something a lot of adults overlook is we need our boosters too.
I get titered for things like tetanus, since I work in a field where you are more likely to get it. It is the same test for pertussis, so I end up getting that too. I will get boosters when needed but so far I have been good.
I am not anti-vax, I am also not pro-vax. IMO it is ridiculous to be pro or anti anything with regards to medicine. Are people pro-surgery or anti-surgery? I hope not. I hope they are making medical decisions with a whole lot of information and their doctor's help. But I guess people are pro and anti psychiatry so I guess it isn't completely limited to vaccination.
I also, would hope for a whole lot more science education in general because if I hear one more person use changes in policy as an excuse to claim that "no one knows" I am going to tear my hair out. The CDC is an organization that uses research to make guidelines, research changes over time, so you should expect guidelines to change as opposed to pretending that is actually a flaw. Policy should change over time, it is a sign of good science and good policy.
Sad. I am becoming increasing intolerant of the anti-vaccine movement. I was reading the posts on one of the bigger organizations on Facebook this morning that has an astonishing 100,000 followers, where they were saying the flu vaccine doesn't protect against the stomach flu. Everyone was agreeing that "see, it doesn't work". I was completely flabbergasted at the complete and utter lack of education and understanding.
Me, too! The NPR comment board is full of anti-vaxers. Now, NPR is supposed to be for the "intellectual" crowd, yet they're as bad as everyone else, if not worse. In fact, I even said that once on their board.
Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal
The generation of parents not vaccinating their children never witnessed first hand what these diseases do, nor did they have any themselves. If they were just slightly more educated and understood life in an iron lung, maybe they would stop listening to people even less educated than they are.
You'd think so. However, that's what the excuse was back in the 70s, when I was a young nurse, too. One disease parents ARE afraid of is polio, so the iron lung wouldn't make a difference.
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