In light of recent outbreaks of measles and other vaccine preventable illnesses, and the refusal of anti-vaccination advocates to acknowledge the problem, I thought it was past time for this post.
Dear parents,
You are being lied to. The people who claim to be acting in the best interests of your children are putting their health and even lives at risk.
They say that measles isn’t a deadly disease.
But it is.
They say that chickenpox isn’t that big of a deal.
But it can be.
They say that the flu isn’t dangerous.
But it is.
They say that whooping cough isn’t so bad for kids to get.
But it is.
They say that vaccines aren’t that effective at preventing disease.
But 3 million children’s lives are saved every year by vaccination, and 2 million die every year from vaccine-preventable illnesses.
They say that “natural infection” is better than vaccination.
But they’re wrong.
They say that vaccines haven’t been rigorously tested for safety.
But vaccines are subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than any other medicine. For example, this study tested the safety and effectiveness of the pneumococcal vaccine in more than 37,868 children.
They will say that doctors won’t admit there are any side effects to vaccines.
But the side effects are well known, and except in very rare cases quite mild.
They say that the MMR vaccine causes autism.
It doesn’t. (The question of whether vaccines cause autism has been investigated in study after study, and they all show overwhelming evidence that they don’t.)
They say that thimerosal in vaccines causes autism.
It doesn’t, and it hasn’t been in most vaccines since 2001 anyway.
They say that the aluminum in vaccines (an adjuvant, or component of the vaccine designed to enhance the body’s immune response) is harmful to children.
But children consume more aluminum in natural breast milk than they do in vaccines, and far higher levels of aluminum are needed to cause harm.
They say that the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (and/or the “vaccine court”) proves that vaccines are harmful.
It doesn’t.
They say that the normal vaccine schedule is too difficult for a child’s immune system to cope with.
It isn’t.
They say that if other people’s children are vaccinated, there’s no need for their children to get vaccinated.
This is one of the most despicable arguments I’ve ever heard. First of all, vaccines aren’t always 100% effective, so it is possible for a vaccinated child to still become infected if exposed to a disease. Worse, there are some people who can’t receive vaccinations, because they are immune deficient, or because they are allergic to some component. Those people depend upon herd immunity to protect them. People who choose not to vaccinate their children against infectious diseases are putting not only their own children at risk, but also other people’s children.
They say that ‘natural’, ‘alternative’ remedies are better than science-based medicine.
They aren’t.
The truth is that vaccines are one of our greatest public health achievements, and one of the most important things you can do to protect your child.
I can predict exactly the sort of response I will be getting from the anti-vaccine activists. Because they can’t argue effectively against the overwhelming scientific evidence about vaccines, they will say that I work for Big Pharma. (I don’t and never have). They will say that I’m not a scientist (I am), and that I’m an “Agent 666” (I don’t know what that is, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not one).
None of these things are true, but they are the reflexive response by the anti-vaccine activists because they have no facts to back up their position. On some level, deep down, they must understand this, and are afraid of the implications, so they attack the messenger.
Why are they lying to you? Some are doing it for profit, trying to sell their alternative remedies by making you afraid of science-based medicine. I’m sure that many others within the anti-vaccine movement have genuinely good intentions, and do honestly believe that vaccines are harmful. But as a certain astrophysicist recently said “The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it”. In the case of vaccine truthers, this is not a good thing. Good intentions will not prevent microbes from infecting and harming people, and the message that vaccines are dangerous is having dire consequences. There are outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses now throughout the United States because of unvaccinated children.
In only one respect is my message the same as the anti-vaccine activists: Educate yourself. But while they mean “Read all these websites that support our position”, I suggest you should learn what the scientific community says. Learn how the immune system works. Go read about the history of disease before vaccines, and talk to older people who grew up when polio, measles, and other diseases couldn’t be prevented. Go read about how vaccines are developed, and how they work. Read about Andrew Wakefield, and how his paper that claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism has been withdrawn, and his medical license has been revoked. Read the numerous, huge studies that have explicitly examined whether autism is caused by the vaccine…and found nothing. (While you’re at it, read about the ongoing research to determine what IS the cause—or causes —of autism, which is not helped by people continuing to insist that vaccines cause it).
That may seem like a lot of work, and scientific papers can seem intimidating to read. But reading scientific articles is a skill that can be mastered. Here’s a great resource for evaluating medical information on the internet, and I wrote a guide for non-scientists on how to read and understand the scientific literature. You owe it to your children, and to yourself, to thoroughly investigate the issue. Don’t rely on what some stranger on the internet says (not even me!). Read the scientific studies that I linked to in this post for yourself, and talk to your pediatricians. Despite what the anti-vaccine community is telling you, you don’t need to be afraid of the vaccines. You should instead be afraid of what happens without them.
Edited to add: This video is an outstanding summary of many of these issues. I encourage you to watch it.
“Humans try to make sense of the world by seeing patterns. When they see a disease or condition that tends to appear around the time a child is a year or so old, as autism does, and that is also the age that kids get particular shots, they want to put those things together. Parents watch kids more carefully after they get shots. Sometimes they pick up on symptoms then. Just because two things happen at the same time doesn’t mean that one caused the other. This is why we need careful scientific studies.”
Note: For people coming via a direct link, please also feel free to participate in a follow-up discussion
here.
1/13/15: Edited to update broken hyperlinks. If you find any additional broken links, please don’t hesitate to let me know. –JR
4/19/16: Edited again to update more broken hyperlinks. If you find more, keep letting us know and we’ll keep fixing them. –CM
Violent metaphors 
Science says, blah, blah blah about vaccines. Who cares. The fact is they (the CDC or the FDA) have NEVER done a blind study or ever will. In fact they REFUSE to do a study of vac/ non-vac. Hmmm, why is that? Statist twats.
That’s like asking why there aren’t any double blind studies about whether infant car seats reduce death: it’s unethical to throw a bunch of infants in a car without a car seat just to see how many of them will die. It’s unethical to inject a bunch of kids with saline and leave them vulnerable to potentially deadly communicable diseases. No Institutional Review Board would approve such a study.
Are you really that stupid, Lex? Or are you just trolling?
When I was a child the only vaccine available was smallpox. Our parents live in fear of us catching all the childhood diseases that can now be prevented. I had measles, rubella, mumps, chicken pox, and whooping cough. I managed to dodge polio as my mother kept us in the house most of the Summer in quarantine. They finally came out with the polio vaccine when I was in junior high school. The measles and mumps vaccines finally came out when my two oldest children were young, but my oldest son got rubella before there was a vaccine for it. It wasn’t until my youngest child was born that they had the MMR vaccine. One of my grandchildren had severe neurological complications from chicken pox when she was six and spent a long time in the PICU; my daughter oldest son and daughter had complications from chicken pox, including pneumonia. They both had the disease before vaccines were available. I was always eager to vaccinate my children as soon as vaccines became available as I didn’t want them to suffer as I did as a child. Non-vaxxers have obviously never seen their child suffer from complications from a communicable disease that could have been prevented by a simple vaccine.
How many vaccines did your children and at what age receive ? Don’t lie now. You know how many there are now, and when they’re given? Over 40 , many before 3 when children’s brains are so delicate and before the blood brain barrier has strengthened.
Dear Violent Metaphors, I appreciate your candour and well-researched article. The problem with writing an article based in fact & science is that while you have presented the facts there are people who don’t ‘believe’ in them. As though the facts were some sort of deity or quick weight loss solution. I have tried many times to use logic, and numbers to convince these people to ‘believe’ in any social, political or other movement towards a more advanced society. Unfortunately, while they themselves propose no solutions (in your article you mention how they say that “natural infection” is better… I don’t even want to discuss what that means for the poor child who does contract one of the diseases) , they will argue vehemently against the solutions of others that are grounded in facts & figures, the sources of which can be reviewed (peer reviewed 😉 ) and will continue to argue no matter how much harm comes to others. I know this because of a)the ridiculous “debate” going on in the comments between the “evil” scientists who want to ??? what, I can’t even imagine what sort of agenda they have, and b) the non-scientists who just don’t ‘believe’ the facts. So, I propose a new campaign. Since we have all tried to convince people for the greater good that vaccines are better than no vaccines and that the goal of vaccine education is to increase vaccination rates and not to increase enlightenment or social progress, I submit that we advertise the use of vaccines like the anti-vaxers advertise against vaccines. We need to get the anti-vaxers to “feel” like not vaccinating their children is wrong and to “believe” in it. Not in the science surrounding it- that is too daunting. But for them to “believe” in vaccination the way they disbelieve now, and for them to “feel” in their gut that it’s the right thing to do.
That’s an interesting perspective. I’m curious what you think of a piece I wrote a while back, dealing with ways to persuade people who are (unlike the commenters on this particular article) on the fence about vaccination. It draws from my experience teaching negotiation:
Conspiracy theories are always going to be popular. And the unvaccinated might indeed affect the vaccinated if that unvaccinated person spreads an infection to a vaccinated person whose immune system was unable to respond to the vaccine. Besides that, those who can get vaccinated but don’t can also spread infections to those who couldn’t be vaccinated–those who had no choice. When my 3 year old daughter had NO IMMUNE system, because she had just had a bone marrow transplant (which wiped out all of her previous infant vaccines by the way), I was counting on other parents to vaccinate their children who have healthy immune systems so that the infections wouldn’t be around to put my daughter’s life at risk. I was so grateful for herd immunity, and likewise I would have been furious if my post-transplant child had contracted measles or influenza or whooping cough from a healthy child whose parents chose not to vaccinate them.
but it is, but it isn’t…., well do you think u could substantiate your replies, u know people having different perspectives and all that
Why don’t they make a vaccine for herpesvirus and hiv. Magic Johnson is few if his because he has enough money. Just a thought
You ask a valid question, here is part of the answer. The full answer would require a graduate course in immunology. There is a lot of work going on for HIV vaccine. The basic problem is that HIV isn’t a single virus, rather it is a whole family of closely related viruses, and it mutates rapidly, plus it hides in the brains of the immune system, slowly killing the it. Several vaccines have been tried in clinical trials, to no avail. I’m not aware of much research on HSV, probably because for adults, it doesn’t cause to severe a problem
This topic is hot, and it shouldn’t be. Plain and simple, vaccinate your kids. Most of these vaccinations have been in existence for a very long time and are continually being approved. If your baby has a bit of reaction to the vaccination, that’s normal it’s just a sign that vaccination is taking effect. If there’s no reaction you’ll never know if the vaccination is doing what is supposed to do and have a false sense of protection. I can tell you, there was no vaccination against mumps when I was kid or maybe it wasn’t available where I lived. In any case, I’ve got them. And it wasn’t fun. Weeks of fever, painful swelling on both sides of my neck, missed so much school, that doctor sent a note to my teacher if she wanted to keep me year behind due to absence. TG my teacher wouldn’t even look at that note. I stayed for an extra hour in school for the rest of the school year (which wasn’t far off) to make up the lessons and tests missed. But the whole thing could’ve end up much worse. Meningitis is nothing to take lightly and why not prevent it with vaccination?
That Jenny McCarty is now off the grid that her son is “cured” from autism. Since autism is not curable, he couldn’t have had it in the first place. She’s really a c***t with a capital C.
You all that want the vaccines can have mine and my family’s! I prefer not not inject my loved ones with monkey kidney cells, aborted fetal cells (AKA WI-38) dog kidney cells, viruses, the list of immoral and disgusting ingredients goes on….God has promised to protect us and give us the herbs for healing and that’s what I’m going with. And if it comes down to force, I hope you know your maker, because my door will be the last you’ll be knocking on!!!
You anti-vaccination people are a-holes. Just thinning out the herd and that ‘s OK…
I will pray for your soul, because I think you know exactly what you’re doing, and people who do evil things knowingly tend to end up spending eternity in hell if they don’t repent. God have mercy on you.
Spreading ignorance and lies is a far worse a sin these days…
Dear parents, you are being lied to in this article.
I would agree, this is a one sided, emotive argument which misses many valid reasons that people choose not to vaccinate.
There are no valid reasons to not vaccinate a healthy child, all the reasons I’ve heard for why people don’t vaccinate are one sided, emotive arguments based on pseudoscience or disproven studies.
Not all reasons are based on junk science. Some are religious decisions.
So just junk, then. Got it.
Which mean, ‘No science at all’ vs. ‘junk science’. Much better.
What religion says it is against vaccines? And where does it. Say this? Proof?? I think this is a copout plain and simple………
junk science? oh you must mean the stuff that allows you to live a comfortable modern westernized life, right? cause you know if it wasn’t for religion we would all be drawing on cave walls with rocks right now and still figuring out the wheel. religious reasons = junk reasons.
No main stream religion in against vaccines.
Why would a ‘god’ who ‘created’ the scientists that created vaccines to save ‘his’ people be against vaccines that is illogical.
I cannot speak for other religions, but according to Roman Catholicism, the way some vaccines are cultured is against the religion. Some (specifically MMR and Vacirella – Chicken Pox) are cultured using aborted tissue, which is essentially supporting the abortion industry through use of vaccines made this way in the US. Other countries offer vaccines cultured alternatively, as some other vaccines are here, however, they are difficult and cumbersome to acquire for the average Joe. If you have any question about whether this is legit, there are documents from the Vatican from JPII and Benedict that have addressed this issue and specifies which vaccines are in question, encouraging that big pharma be contacted to use alternative methods in lieu of aborted fetal cell lines.
Your comment can cause some unnecessary fears. The vaccinations aren’t created using aborted HUMAN tissue… they use chicken egg material! The Vatican got it wrong. 🙂 Surprise, surprise.
For the sheeple who question religion. Put the ps4 down and read a bible tho shall not kill that covers aborted fetus parts thou shall not touch unclean animals oops there’s another reason pig and monkey parts etc. It also states if you keep Gods law and love him he shall heal you. Shall I go on??? If these billion dollar money making shots or aka assaults on small children stopped these diseases would as well. Do some research and who wrote this article? No balls to identify ones self? Typical garbage
And religion is going to protect your child over scientifically proven vaccination? Please get your head out of the sand
And religion is going to protect your child over scientifically proven vaccination? Please get your head out of the sand
@Nadia…surprise, surprise is right. Look it up, some are cultured on chicken eggs, others are cultured on aborted tissue. Please educate yourself on the topic prior to making blanket statements. A whistlblower several years ago actually confirmed this: http://www.silverdoctors.com/23-big-pharma-vaccines-are-produced-using-cells-from-aborted-human-babies/ (not a religious or anti-vaccine site)
It’s not that the religion has a stance against vaccines. Some of the vaccines were developed in ways that involved human embryos and fetuses. Some people with some religious beliefs take issue with that. And some involve cows and other animals, and some people with certain beliefs take issue with those types of things.
What religion is against vaccination? And what kind of deity would want to harm children?
You don’t know if your child is healthy enough to receive vaccinations at birth. You won’t know that until much later. So it’s a crap shoot.
Unless your child has a birth issue you know at birth that your child is healthy enough. Even it you want to wait till the 1st check up within a week to get a vaccine I get that but you don’t have to forgo them all together out of fear.
Yep, and when that ‘crap shoot’ claims the life of your HEALTHY 6 year old child, then what??!! That’s exactly what happened to a family in our town. Oh but wait, they only negatively affect a very small percentage of children. That percentage turns into 100% when it affects your child….
“Oh but wait, they only negatively affect a very small percentage of children. That percentage turns into 100% when it affects your child….”
That same logic would support not wearing seatbelts, using a car seat, getting your wisdom teeth removed, or even removing a precancerous mole. All of those things could “affect a very small percentage” of people, and that percentage turns into 100% for someone, somewhere. But prospectively, it’s still a good idea to get vaccinated, use a seatbelt, use a car seat, and have your moles checked out once in a while.
If your child has an immune deficiency to the extent that immunization is dangerous, you sure want to find that out sooner then later and get appropriate management, so no NOT a reason NOT to vaccinate.
yeah right do some real scientific research not the pseudoscientific studies of drug companies.
Because you have the facilities to performs double bind test on 40,000 people. Anything less is pseudo science.
Well, there really are a plethora of reasons to simply allow our body to do what it has evolved to do with regards to pathogens. I find it interesting that individuals who likely support the notion of natural selection fail to incorporate consideration of said process when discussing vaccinations. At any rate, there are also political reasons that should motivate one to avoid vaccination. If one reads Bertrand Russell’s, “The Impact of Science on Society”, then one knows damn well that people who control vaccines have the ability, and probably motivation, to use them as vehicles for sterilization and making the population more docile, among other things mentioned by Russell. Really, if you want to be vaccinated, go do it. If you think that your whining is going to convince me to, then you’re mistaken.
U
And some missed valid reasons would be?
At birth there is no way to know what that newborn may be allergic to. Also, the MTHFR gene mutation has been indicated in patients being more likely to have an adverse reaction when the cytokines response to the vaccinations occur. As of now, babies are not screened for these.
First, if you are concerned, request a screening. Second, you can screen both of the parents, which will help indicate if it’s worth screening the child. If your child is screened and falls into the very rare category of being homozygous, it might be worth doing more research. This is such a small percent of the population, and it is so easy to request the screening, that it’s a non-issue for 100% of the people reading this. Everyone else, vaccinate.
Name one, other than being allergic to a component in the vaccine.
And people who choose not to vaccinate for good reasons (such as an allergy to a component in the vaccine) have their children put at risk by people who choose not to vaccinate for foolish reasons.
Tell me please.. I’ve never had the flu in my 20 years of existence and I’ve never had the flu shot. Never. I will never get the flu shot, and I will live the rest of my life flu free. Sad to see so many brainwashed adults.. Wake up.
Wow… You can guarantee you will be flu free for life? Are you a wizard? Can you also predict the mega lotto numbers?
Ridiculous comment.
How do you know you have not had the flu? Most are never tested, you just feel sick, have fevers/chills and miss a few days of work. And yes, most never die of this, but 1,000’s a year do. On average, you get actual influenza around every 4 years, and the flue vaccine is around 80% effective. So prevents on case every 5 years. But, 1,000’s do die of the flu. It is 80% effective in young healthy people, with the elderly, young and immune compromised baring the brunt of illness. I have personally seen dozens die of the common “flu” some vaccinated (still not 100% effective) most not. Still, if those around them had been vaccinated, 80% of those deaths could have been prevented!
Yes, not a substitute for 1. handwashing and covering your mouth (ie universal precautions) or 2. staying HOME when sick… but we know that alone is not sufficient. The flu shot has been extensively tested, and while not 100% effective, could save thousands of lives, each year, in North America alone! And for the “I never get sick” crowd, maybe you’re being truthful… but when I ask most patients, they say, well yeah, two years ago I missed a few days from work, felt like death, bad “cold”. Well, good chance that was the flu. And no one remembers giving it to some one else but you are infectious before severe symptoms, and if you work with the elderly, or kids, or you have kids, who are anything but living in a bubble, and attend school, there is a good chance that you will infect some one else. We all likely have. Which is why on average, everyone gets the flu every few years. For most, of the 300,000,000 Americans or 30,000,000 Canadians, that’s no big deal, but for a few thousand a year, this equals death. 80% of which is preventable by those around them being vaccinated. The other 20% we need to work on by improving the vaccine, but also staying home when sick, and washing hands diligently!
IDK, but something seems to have compromised your brain function.
I’ve never had cancer in my 28 years of existence (golleeeeeee, I’m so old!), but I don’t deny its existence on that basis alone.
You could still be a carrier and spreading it around…thanks a lot
Are you clairvoyant or something? There is no way in the world you could know that you will never have the flu. I have never had a flu shot either but I have the flu 4 times in my life. You are only 20. Wait until you are older (and hopefully wiser) before you start making claims that you have no way of knowing that they are true. Were you home schooled? Have you been to college? And if you have been exposed to a great number of people, then you are lucky to have such a wonderfully strong immune system. Sad to see so many brainwashed children.
I never had flu once until I was 39 years old. Just because you have not had the flu shot or the flu does not mean you will never get it. Since becoming a mom, I’ve had flu twice, unvaxxed. Three years in a row vaxxed for flu, no flu at all for any of us. Woot.
Haha for sure these fear mongering pharma fails are just scared close minded sheeple. Those flu shots are so safe and effective? Watch that piers Morgan video dude got sick after the shot and the guy that gave it to him? Does not vaccinate his own kids lmao stfu with these garbage articles. You want to stick your kids with poison? Fine don’t worry about mine.if your hero vaccine shots work why worry about someone else’s kid. Typical liberal BS so tolerant ….unless one doesn’t agree with your assinine ideas.
hmmmm20 long years…………..I went 45 years flu free, had first experience with flu at age 45, thought I was going to die!! Since then get a flu shot (I am
62 now). NEVER….EVER…want to have the flu again!!!!!!!! So that is now how I use the word NEVER in the same sentence with the word flu!!!!
Please post to everyone every year. Also, since your ability to predict the future is so perfect, send me the winning lottery numbers.
Hes also talking about issues like measles and chickenpox. Don’t be a moron! You’re lucky to have a strong immune system. Not everyone has that privilege.
I agree with this comment. Its the norm for society to get vaccinations. People need to get more educated and look around, not just believe everything their told
Several healthy people in our state (MI) died this year from influenza! None had received a vaccine. 20’s and 40’s. That should be scary enough as they weren’t in the category of immuno-compromised. These were previously very healthy individuals. It’s your life (and death).
how would your vaccinated child be put at risk by my unvaccinated child. if vaccines work don’t worry aout it and shut up
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Herd+Immunity
It’s not our vaccinated children that we’re worried about. Obviously. It’s the people with immune system disorders, people who are undergoing chemo, or allergic to a vaccine component we are worried about…when the percentages of vaccinated people are high enough, then those people who LEGITIMATELY cannot be vaccinated are mostly protected too through herd immunity.
I never knew I wasn’t immune to rubella until I got pregnant. I’ve been vaccinated 5 times in my 34 year life and my body just doesn’t produce antibodies to the vaccine. When I was pregnant with both my children I was terrified of contracting Rubella and loosing my children or having them born with severe defects. Especially with my son who is only 11 months old. On top of that he is still not old enough to be vaccinated so until he’s a year old we have to pray that “herd immunity” will protect him.
He fucktard. My daughter is sick. She has a compromised immune system. When you send your little ball of joy out into the world, you are potentially exposing my daughter to disease. Disease that she cannot fight, because she cannot get vaccinated. It doesn’t work at all on her because of her treatment. THAT is why your unvaccinated kid is an unnecessary threat. You can still get sick even when vaccinated, it just helps if everyone is. And gives everyone else a little more protection.
You do realize that some children (well more infants) are too young to get certain vaccinations right? So those who are too young to be vaccinated can be put at risk.
Because some children are too young to yet receive the vaccine!!!!!!!!!!!! Many INFANTS have died from Whooping Cough because they have contracted in from an older un-vaccinated child! And some people who are immuno-compramised and cannot receive a vaccine…. like a child with leukemia who might die, not from there cancer but from catching a disease from a child who wasn’t vaccinated! You need to do some research that comes from science rather than a priest!!!!! Uneducated fool!!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrr
Are you stupid?
No, I mean, seriously?
Vaccines aren’t always 100% effective.
And some people are immunodeficient, or show adverse reactions to the vaccine or components in the vaccine.
So, when you and your children aren’t immunized, they put others at risk.
If you are going to argue against something, don’t be “anonymous”
A name has zero to do with the facts in an argument. If you had even an elementary grasp of logic you wouldn’t have made your comment.
This is not a true debate or a matter of opinion! There is no need for sides. The facts are the facts. Immunizations are incredibly important. Number one reason: They could save your life or the lives of your children.
One great reason is so that you can put other children at risk.
What valid reasons do you have for not vaccinating a child? Selfishness? Being miserly? Religious reasons? Because you read a b.s. review online? Because you think children are healthier that way? Moral justifications? The blindingly unlikely chance of negative reaction that happens to a percent of a percent of the population?
The only ‘valid’ reason for a child to not be vaccinated is if they are immunodeficient, because beyond that the parent is letting the health and welfare of their child come second.
There are so few “valid” reasons not to protect your kids. I had polio before vaccination, i was lucky. Just keep it a parent responsibility and not any more of my taxes compensating for the lousy parenting of today.
http://howdovaccinescauseautism.com
Great article. Must read!!!!!
My SON HAS Autism and NEVR HAD A LIVE VACCINE! He had a heart transplant when he was 4 months old and because of his weak immune system he cant have live vaccines. So I guess your theory is wrong.
1 case does not prove a theory right or wrong.he sounds like a tough little boy 🙂 What a trooper!
And I bet you love him just the same. I could never live with myself had I chose not to vaccinate and my child die bc of my ignorance but I know if he were autistic I would still love him just the same had he not been. (And I am also a firm believer that vaccines do not cause this)
You clearly didn’t read the link. You’re missing out. That article is a MUST READ.
My nephew has severe autism (is 18 and has never spoken, has difficulty expressing emotions which leads to being very physical, etc.). He had just started making grunting type noises again a few years ago, and had no signs of autism at all until shortly after receiving the MMR vax. Until then, he was a regular walking, baby-talking child. Could be coincidence, however, at that time, the vaccine was still relatively new (insufficient testing, perhaps? After all, it’s still big business, and time is $$$), and the way that the vaccine is cultured, which contains human DNA strands, could come into play.
We elect to vaccinate our children with the exception of the vaccines that are cultured in this way. Polio? Yes. MMR? No. Other countries have alternatively cultured MMR shots, some administered individually instead of as a multiple disease covering injection, so why can’t we get that here? Might we give those vaccines to our children when they are available here? Absolutely. We have done ample research on both sides to make an informed decision. I have heard far too many times that those who elect not to vaccinate are scared by Jenny McCarthy, media hype, don’t do research, etc. While I don’t fully understand why some who do not have religious opposition to immune deficiency elect to not vaccinate, that is their decision for what is best for their family. And our decision was made well before any so-called “Jenny McCarthy effect” was in place.
For those who are not aware, there are approximately 20-25 vaccinations that are to be administered to a child by age 2. The give or take depends on which big pharma company woo’d the doctors office that year. My children have each received different volumes of doses administered for protection from the same disease. Why? “Oh, we switched the supplier.” It’s still business, and could come down to something as trivial as who brought the nicest fruit basket. Was there something “wrong” with the original vaccine? Is there a solid reason why the switch was made? I was told no, they just decided to switch.
Something else to consider: Each time we refuse one of the vaccines, we have to sign a sheet stating that we understand the risk associated with not vaccinating, freeing the physician of liability. Why, then, are the same forms not required for the vaccines we do administer? Shouldn’t the same be true for both sides? If there is a side effect or a disease is contracted anyway from receiving the vaccine (after all, vaccines contain small doses of the disease, so it’s not illogical that the recipient would “catch” something), it’s definitely “not the vaccine;” if there is a disease that crops up after not receiving the vaccine, it’s considered negligence.
Helpful
LOVE IT!
A new study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that autism is caused by defects in development of the frontal and temporal lobes. This therefore indicates that autism begins during pregnancy. http://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2014-03-26-cortical-layer-disruption-and-autism.aspx
Shut the fuck up and stop ruining my country with your cherry-picked pseudo-scientific horse shit
A sound and well reasoned argument against the article here.
Are you referring to the NEJM article cited above? Or this post? Or the video, have you watched the video link? Please do. And reply to that.
I hope, as you are so much against main stream medicine, that when you are sick, you please, please wake your chiropractor up at 4 am to ‘fix’ you as it seems, no matter how much you hate science, you are okay with these hated doctors and nurses having to do CPR on you, insert breathing tubes, take out your ruptured appendix, treat your pneumonia you were predisposed to from lack of flu vaccine (secondary infection) or drain that dental abscess that was painful and making you septic from lack of fluoride and root canals.
If you are against mainstream medicine, please, stick to your guns. Do the rest of us a favor, and don’t bring in your flu riddles body to infect our elderly and young patients while asking for ICU care for weeks if not months until you can breath again. Please find a way for your chiropractor, faith healer or naturopath to be woken up, not dragging the intensivist out of bed at 2 am to take care of your ignorant lungs.
And I am not being insensitive. It is one thing to struggle to do the right thing (ie quit smoking) but to choose not to vaccinate, and attack the ethics of the doctors and nurses who work tirelessly to save you? If you are so fundamentally opposed to main stream medicine, please do not phone 911. Save the system the resources to spend on some one who has not consciously chosen to jeopardize themselves and others. Please, show your chiropractor that being anti-vaccine is NOT an 8 to 4 job, that if they want to be an ALTERNATIVE to evidence based medicine, this means THEY need to be available to crack your neck at 3 am, rather than saying “outside of office hours, please go to ER to be taken care of by a REAL doctor”!
FYI All chiropractors are not anti-vaccine or against “mainstream” medicine as you call it. Do not lump a whole profession into this ridiculousness. A few bad apples promoting crazy beliefs that are not part of the education of a chiropractor does not speak for the whole profession. They are the loudest so they are always heard.
Thank you! Exactly how I feel.
Obviously not all chiropractors feel this way. Its the people that claim natural medicine and body adjustments are all they need and feel medical science is just out to harm and make money, I have a FIL like this. Its OK to have a healthy balance between natural and medical health but if you chose to constantly disrespect all that medical science does and has done for us, then please give your natural practioner a call at 2am when you are dying and see if they can make a salve for you.
Wow at least you are not bitter
Lol. The hypotheses in your ‘peer-reviewed’ research sure included a lot of phrases like, “may have” and “might be”. Apparently your peers have the same amount of scientific education as you, which appears to be little to none.
Um, your very first “peer reviewed article” is published in a journal called “medical hypotheses,” and basically consists of “I have an idea,” which doesn’t have any facts to back it up … or actual research. BTW, conjugates have been used long before 1988.
Dear Jeff, cherry picking the literature does not an argument make. Find one article anywhere in the world that concludes that vaccines have greater risks than benefits. You won’t be able to. It doesn’t exist. Vaccines have far greater benefits than risks.
I wouldn’t say vaccines cause autism…I would say that’s way too lenient. Vaccines cause autoimmune diseases, allergies, paralysis, cancer, ADT, kidney problems, asthma, and on and on up to and including death. Now that is the truth. You spout corporate rubbish and expect people to believe this BS? Show me one long-term (independent) study that has been done to show the interaction of multiple vaccines. Just one, and then I’ll shut up and say you’re right. But you can’t and you won’t, so what do you really know?
Really? Fascinating. Let me run down my list here:
Vaccinated as a child – yup
Have an autoimmune disease – nope
Have Allergies – nope
Am paralyzed – nope
Have cancer – nope
Have ADT – nope
Have kidney problems – nope
Have Asthma – nope
Am dead – =checks pulse= nope.
You’re full of it, bub.
Never vaccinated. Same as you. So, this article is a bunch of blah blah blah, maybes and could happens.. Get real people, the biggest enemy out there is the doctors office.
Woah there, killer. I am a medical doctor, family medicine trained (i.e. The kind that recommends and gives out lots of vaccines). And you are more than welcome to not ever visit my office or the offices of any of my colleagues (which I do not recommend, because preventive health care is REALLY IMPORTANT). It is a free country and that is your choice. But please remember that at some point in your life, you may have a significant health problem and need/want our help (pneumonia or cancer or some other illness). So unless you plan to commit to your anti-medical viewpoint by never actually using the healthcare system, living and dying in a cave far away from society, and never seeing a medical doctor for an illness of any kind (yeah, I didn’t think so)… Please TRY to he respectful of people who are working HARD to help you and have dedicated their lives to doing so. Doctors and the medical community in general do their very best to filter through the available research and give their honest recommendations in YOUR best interest. If you think you can do better, I invite you to go to medical school and actually learn about all this yourself. There is a national shortage of doctors, particularly in primary care, so please won’t you try helping out instead of throwing more confusion, distrust, and chaos into the mix?!?
You honestly think that because you, ONE person, are un-vaccinated and didn’t contract a disease to date that’s proof that vaccines don’t work/ we don’t need them??? The reason you haven’t contracted any of the diseases we vaccinate against is thanks to all the responsible, intelligent people out there who are vaccinated and thus greatly reduce the incidents of such diseases. I advise that you take your ignorant opinions else where! No one wants to hear your bull #$#^&*!!
That’s not really a fair statement. Vaccines have changed over the years. Children are subjected to 3-4 times the vaccines than even 12-15 years ago.
Please watch the video link on the original article. It ends up citing a long term study with over 14,000,000 children.
Why dont you look up some statistics which represent the number of lives that vaccines have saved in the last 100 years..
The World Health Organization estimates that vaccines save 2.5 million lives per year. http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/events/immunization_week/2012/further_information/en/
“Real Researcher:” Study the post World War I flu epidemic, read about polio victims in iron lungs, dig up my aunt who died in 1927 of diphtheria, look at pictures of George Washington’s pock-marked face, build a oxygen tent for your six year old, You are an arrogant asshole who uses herd immunity to protect his kids from diseases that should have been eradicated by now. Spout all of the causative factors involved with immunizations …. none of them match what a lack of immunity can cause … to your kids, other kids, babies, people with depressed immune systems. If nothing else … compute the percentages involved with vaccinated children and those who are not vaccinated. You are a great example of the need to license people who want to be parents.
Thank you for stating the the risks of vaccines. I’m disturbed by the strong comments of persons who do not wish to be identified. It seems if you have rational and well considered points you would want to acknowledge them. I grew up in the days when almost everyone had all the illnesses that we commonly vaccinate against now. I don’t recall single death from any disease other than polio. According to what I have read it was declining before the vaccine became widely avaliable. I have no problem with those parents who choose to vaccinate but hope they respect the right of those who do not.
So… because you personally don’t recall a single death (besides polio), that means there was no threat from these diseases? That’s like saying… “I don’t personally know anybody who has died in a car crash, so this whole wear a seatbelt business is bunk.”
It isn’t about respecting the choices of parents who choose not to vaccinate. It’s about convincing them that they are putting their children and others at risk with their wrong-headed opinions.
Did you even read the article or watch the video? There’s no point in commenting on something if you blatantly ignore the information that’s put in front of you. If you accuse vaccines of causing all these problems then link the studies that proved it. “But you can’t and you won’t, so what do you really know?” I’m not trying to say that I know vaccines aren’t the cause of any of these diseases because I’m not a doctor, nor have I done any studies. However I’m not so closed-minded that I sit on the internet arguing with people about pointless junk with no proof and accuse them of having no proof as well. Simple fact: All of the diseases that you mentioned existed well before vaccines were even thought of. There have been cases of cancer dated back to Egypt, during the time of the pharaohs. If you can somehow prove that vaccines do more harm than good then sure, stop vaccinating. There’s no point in doing something that harms you more than it helps you? But until you can actually prove that, stop basing life and death decisions that affect your children on random jargon that you think “oh this sounds intelligent, I better listen to this”. By the way, this is the first time I’ve ever commented on anything to do with vaccines. I’ve usually just sat back and just thought of the idiotic decisions people are making but this is getting out of hand. I live in Canada and an outbreak of measles is now in my city because of anti-vaccine advocates from the US. No this isn’t me saying its because of the United States, this is me stating that the outbreak crossed into another country. That’s a gigantic problem! Please people, stop being ignorant and vaccinate your children.
Oh and anyone that comments that it’s just because large pharmaceutical companies want our money…All vaccines in Canada are free. Our health care covers them. If you had universal healthcare in the states that argument would never happen. They do need to get paid though. Would you go into work and be okay with someone telling you, “What you’re doing is helping people so you get no money.” No I didn’t think you would. Medicine costs money, even in Canada.
And have those papers you’ve linked to been replicated? Confirmed by subsequent science? Supported by other research?
The scientific community does many thousands of studies each year. Some are great, some are terrible, but there are enough that a motivated crank can find outliers to support just about any position. There are, for example, PhDs out there claiming that the Earth is 6,000 years old and that humans and dinosaurs lived together at the same time, that the speed of light changes over time, that continental drift is a lie, etc.
I don’t see any analysis of the papers on your site, just a laundry list of cherry-picked citations designed to create a false impression. The truth is that there is a strong scientific consensus that vaccines are effective and much, much safer than the diseases they prevent.
You can see that consensus, which is formed by analyzing the field of all the relevant research rather than cherry-picking individual articles, here. The short version: “This report is the most comprehensive examination of the immunization schedule to date. The IOM committee uncovered no evidence of major safety concerns associated with adherence to the childhood immunization schedule.”
I literally laughed out loud when I opened just the first link on your “list of peer reviewed literature”. The MH journal has a long standing history of publishing hypotheses (not research) that vary from passable to outlandis. My personal favorites have been “masturbation as a cure for nasal congestion” and “high heels cause schizophrenia”. Try perusing PNAS or Nature. You won’t find a single “vaccines cause autism” article in a respected medical journal, and there is a reason for that.
I have some blankets to sell you.
Dear bloggers, if you don’t have anything coherent to say, don’t say anything at all.
Great article Jeff. I think parents need to hear both sides.
Great read, completely agree… It’s like people would rather follow this trend then actually look out for the we’ll being of there children! Disgusting!
don’t slander people who don’t vaccinate, obviously you have never researched what its like to not vaccinate, be open minded to other possibilities instead of being a one-minded fool that is brainwashed by what media has brought into the world about vaccines. Do your research before making adding a comment like this please.
I have done a lot of research on both sides & lived in countries where they don’t have the same kind of access to vaccines that we do. I’ve watched people die or be permanently crippled by preventable diseases. Not vaccinating comes from a mix of misguided good intentions & ignorance, as to how the body processes vaccines, as to how vaccines are meant to work (within the community), & as to the process by which vaccines are developed. At the end of the day, the choice not to vaccinate is selfish, putting everyone, but particularly infants & MEDICALLY exempt (ie immunodeficient or genuinely allergic) people at risk.
You’ve lived in countries with sub-par water and cleanliness practices. You must compare civilized with civilized…it has NOTHING to do with vaccinations. The death rates and disease rates are not related to vaccines, they are related to living conditions.
Yes, handwashing and clean water trump everything!
But vaccines still are prevention that beats treatment of disease. Safer than antibiotics (higher rates of allergy) when you get a pneumonia (bacterial) from respiratory insufficiency related to viral influenza! As well, Canada had good access to clean water, and soap, half a century ago, when thousands more died each year from now vaccine preventable illness.
Find a senior, as them about how serious this was. Good chance they lost a friend, or sibling, to a vaccine preventable illness.
Just because third world countries, many with life expectancy in the 40’s and infant mortality 10 x that of Canada, have it worse, and we still have soap and clean water, does not mean we should say “good enough”. Vaccines are important to prevent serious illness, that although most of us survive unscathed, thousands a year would otherwise die of these illnesses, regardless of how good the water is as most are not spread by water… and exponentially more suffer long term complications, neurological or otherwise, from these still dangerous infections.
Have you noticed how the outbreaks of preventable diseases occur in areas with a strong anti-vaccination movement?
You are an idiot and you not only putting your kids at risk, you’re putting other people’s kids at risk and therefore other people coming to contact with those kids at risk. You’re a public nuisance. You should not have kids because you’re too stupid to effectively care for them.
Not sure who you are talking to and neither do I care……however it is EVIDENT from your comments that the IDIOT would be YOU! Children who are NOT vaccinated do NOT put ANYONE at risk! Now, I know that’s what the pharmaceutical companies (who are making billions and billions of dollars a year off of their vaccines) want you to believe and from the sounds of it; you have fallen for their lies hook, line, and sinker! However the TRUTH of the matter is contrary to your BELIEFS. You see, it’s the vaccinated one; who actually put others at risk! They are the ones, who are walking around with those viruses inside of them!
Did you know that people who have cancer or other autoimmune diseases are not allowed to be around children; who have been vaccinated recently? Why is that? It’s because they are CARRIERS and they would put a person with a weak immune system at risk of contracting whatever virus the child had received a vaccination for!!! Ironically, they are NOT told that they cannot be exposed to children, who have not received vaccines. Hmmmmmmmm………so please explain, how the hello can you justifiably claim that a child; who is not vaccinated, puts others at risk? That’s like adding 2 + 2 and coming up 999,999,999,999. I don’t care how you slice or dice it………it will NEVER add up!
Regardless, where is your FAITH in those man-made vaccines, you hold so high? Common sense would tell you……..IF you really believed those vaccines worked, then you should have NO fear of your children being exposed to ANYTHING. Therefore, it shouldn’t matter if your children are exposed to someone who has not been vaccinated or someone who has the FULL BLOWN virus……..for that matter. Your child should be protected, RIGHT???? Isn’t that why you choose to inject them with all those vaccines? When I was growing up, we received 5-7, I think now it’s around 30 something by the time they’re 18. Isn’t it to protect them IN CASE they come in contact with the virus (NOT people who aren’t vaccinated)? Therefore, if you choose to put ALL your faith in them, why are you even concerned about whether other’s do or not? But most importantly, just because others think differently from you, does NOT mean that you’re right and they are wrong. They may be basing their choices knowing all the facts, when you basing yours on some of them! However, it definitely does NOT mean they should NOT have children! I guess, ignorance is BLISS, huh?
As for me and my house, we put our faith in GOD. We believe that no matter what we do or don’t do; it’s God who is in control……we’re not going until He’s ready and when He’s ready, there is NO vaccine we can take or NOTHING we can do to stop it. Does that make me an “unfit” mother too? I pray you do not really believe that, as I also have had a State Supreme Court, who ruled otherwise. But FYI, you can take your child to the doctor and get all the vaccines your heart desires, leave there and get hit by an 18 wheeler………..and I promise, those vaccines are NOT going to save your child! If God decides to take your child………guess what……….He’s going to……..one way or the other!
Now, don’t get me wrong. Out of ignorance and believing everything I had been told, I did the same with my 3 children; until my 5 year old was diagnosed with Stage IV of the rarest ovarian cancer that exist in WOMEN and had not been diagnosed in prepubescent children. Not only could they NOT explain why our daughter had something that did NOT exist in other children, but neither could John Hopkins, UNC, St. Judes, Harvard, or MUSC. All they could tell me was that at age 5, something had triggered her ovaries into thinking it was time for her to go thru puberty. That’s what made me take a 2nd look, not only at vaccines (which she had had prior to starting school 10 before) but also the hormones they inject into our cows and chickens to make them mass produce. Please note, they did say her cancer had been growing 6-9 months and 8 1/2 months a month earlier (which coincidentally was a month and half after receiving her school vaccines) I had taking her to the doctor with breast buds and a discharge. At that time, her pediatrician told me about the hormones in our cows and chickens.
Now, having grown up with a mother in the medical field, I believed wholeheartedly in conventional medicine. However, after researching it for myself……I learned things which would sweat your shadow into the wall. BTW, my research was NOT done on Google, but through the same medical sites her oncologist used, as he did NOT want me to believe EVERYTHING on the internet. Therefore, he allowed me access to REAL medical sites. That’s when we decided that vaccines were no longer an option for our family. Our children were 13, 11, and 5 at the time. We got a lot of push back from people and physicians; and we still do to this day. Especially from ignorant people like YOU!
Ironically, 3 ½ years after her original diagnosis and during her 3rd battle of cancer; as a last attempt to save her; they sent her to have a stem cell transplant (which had never been done before for her type of cancer) to try and kill the microscopic cells that kept causing it to grow back. Prior to her transplant, her oncologist knowing our stance against vaccines; insisted that she, as well as the rest of our family have the flu vaccine. We compellingly opted out. Oh yeah, did I mention that EVERY child who had had a transplants (during her 3 battles) and received the vaccines, died NOT from the transplant but from complication caused by the FLU! These were children who had at least 75% chance of survival. At our daughter’s original diagnosis, she had less than 25% chance of survival. Each relapse cut that in ½ to the point at transplant she had less than 6% chance. Well, our daughter will turn 21 in August……….sure glad we did NOT listen to uninformed people!!! I’m pretty sure if we had, that our daughter would have met the same fate. Just didn’t make any sense to inject the flu into our daughter then take her and wipe out her immune system. Nope, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that one out…………just a cross-carolina backwoods country girl!
Now, I also have 2 grandchildren (one will be 7 in July and the other turned 3 in October). They have NEVER had a vaccine and ironically……..THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN SICK!!! Can you say that? They go to the doctor once a year for a well-check. How many visits do you make to the doctor’s office a year for a sick visit? So you IDIOT……..to think that children who are NOT vaccinated put other kids at risk just shows how UNINFORMED (at the very least) you really are! It’s children like YOURS, who REALLY put others at risk! So, by your own standards, what does that say about your ability or lack thereof to be an “effective” parent? Or whether or not you should have children at all? Not much, huh?
Finally, not knowing how computer literate you are and since I can only judge your knowledge of vaccines by comments you made; let me explain a little something about vaccines (using elementary computer technology). Vaccines REPROGRAM your immune system. So, you take your baby’s perfect body that God gave them and from day one, you’re reprogramming it. What man do you think knows better than God? God made our bodies PERFECT. HE (not some man) made everything to work in sync with everything else. And you WILLING make the choice to inject viruses into your babies’ PERFECT bodies and that’s your prerogative; but do NOT blame others for the choices you make! smh! Besides, don’t you think if God thought we needed them, that like wings He would have given them to us from the get go?
It should be noted, our daughter’s transplant wiped out all vaccines she had previously received. She has been tested several times and has NO antigens in her for ANY of them. For the past 12 years, doctor after doctor have insisted that she be re-vaccinated for ALL of them. Again, we have refused. However, the “reprogramming” the vaccinations had done along with the chemos, etc, now has her body attacking her endocrine system (thyroid, pancreas, etc). I pray that NONE of you IDIOTS have to endure the things we have been through, but if you do…….remember search it out yourself and never make a decision without having ALL the facts! It should be duly noted, that EVERYTHING I have said is based on EXPERIENCE and NOT some junk science or anyone else’s opinion!
PS: For the one who questioned what religion is against vaccines……..well, there are several religions that are against any form of man-made drugs. However, I’m a Christian (follower of Christ who is the ANOINTED WORD OF GOD), not a “religionut” (follower of man-made religion’s interpretation of God’s Word)! Please be forewarned, your man-made vaccines are not going to save you any more than your man-made religions are! Just a little food for thought…
Sherri, you need you find yourself a life. How long did it take you to write that essay?
Really? Well, I have a VERY BLESSED life……..just can’t stand IDIOTS!
especially those who think they know better than anyone else or who think they are God and can tell others whether or NOT they deserve to parents!
I talked to God. He tells me that he sent the vaccines to us to protect our children. He thinks you are an asshole.
Why am I an a$$hole? Just because I don’t agree with your indoctrinated beliefs? WOW the shallow minded sheeple here! smh
Amy said it best hours ago but you all still go on and on. Everything you are saying has been said, over and over. No one likes rude comments and name calling… it makes you come across as ignorant. If you have nothing new to add, don’t. That’s my two cents.
Here’s what I know. When I was a kid, you were not allowed to go to school unless you were vaccinated. I wasn’t even allowed to go to college without proving it. Except chicken pox vax as that didn’t come out until about the time I was 18 or 19. Nah, when we were kids, parents sent us around to sit with kids with the pox as the risk of getting them as an adult came with many more complications. You know what nobody had? Polio. Whooping cough. Measles… or autism.
If you visit several of the nation’s largest autism awareness, research, support sites, you will find they do not strongly (if at all) link any vaccines to the rise of autism. They talk about increased diagnosis as the disease becomes more understood. The mention the broadened spectrum and how that allows more children to fall under the diagnosis. They talk about many things.
But. If the antivaxxers want to continue believing something that was propelled into motion by one playboy model who spouted on a bunch of revoked research that has been proven FALSIFIED (never mind that same woman is now pimping e-cigarettes), I suppose that is there business. But there are fewer and fewer viable sources backing their arguments with each passing day.
Also, before you fall victim to the scare tactic ingredient lists, do your research about what those words actually mean and what the quantities in the vax really are. Because I’m certain you will be surprised to find you are ingesting/absorbing far more of those “scary” ingredients daily than you believe.
Bravo to this blog’s author and to the above comment. Unfortunately, it seems some people’s need to be “right” (that “right” being ) based on the trendy articles and misinformation of the day supercede their need to maintain a healthy living environment for us all.
Tell me, anti-vaxxers, why are your selections of “scientific proof” more valid than the well-proven evidence presented all over the news? You say Big Pharma is doing it for profit. Why does it not cross your mind that your bunk authors are the true liars here?
What’s that? Oh, I see. You’ve googled it all. Good for you.
Haha bravo yes to the author …oh yea who is it? Lmao the author is part of the machine making billions off of your sicknesses. Lol and of course no credible name…no name actually
What do you mean? My name is absolutely linked to this article…and I even posted my CV so you can see who I’m working for! (Not a pharmaceutical company). If you don’t mind my asking, who linked you to this blog? I’m curious why my name isn’t showing up in association with the post, since you’re one of several people who has mentioned this.
Great reply. Did you see this video? I found I had a pretty good awareness of all the evidence before, but this video really helped to consolidate my knowledge, so the next time a patient, or friend, raises concerns, I’m just going to have this link on a computer in my office. People like visuals, AV, and “experts” so it doesn’t matter I spent 12 years after highschool becoming a doctor, this guy is on the “internet” is a better speaker and has visuals. So, instead of me saying “there has never been a credible link between autism and vaccines” or “the rate of autism in California continued to rise after the rate of vaccination fell (a study not actually mentioned in this video, though he cites similar)” or “first, the tiny amounts of mercury, as a preservative, were never proven to be dangerous, and are less than a serving of seafood, however, were removed from vaccines to prevent a theoretical argument to avoid vaccines – and still the rate of autism increased”… instead of those points I relied on, now I’ll say that and say “don’t take my word from it, here is a video with pictures” …
As a Mom I took all 4 of my children on a regular basis to their Pediatrician!!! No matter what other people would say; and at times much was said! Even when I didn’t have a car or other ways to get them to an appointment, I would walk! Or when insurance didn’t cover well care baby care… I would go to our county health care and get them vaccined there!!! I didn’t care what people thought…I did it for my children. I have family members that suffered from illnesses because they didn’t have a vaccine at the time and they live life time effects because of it… Vaccinate you children. You save your children and you save other peoples children! The only problem with this issue is that people are listening to and not reading or looking into accurate facts! It is so much easier to listen rather than do!!! And we wonder??? Get the facts! And stop listening!!!
vaccination hasnt been around that long, in fact we are the crash test dummies….
In NZ they have found a vaccine to stop kids breaking bones too =)
Yep – they no longer are allowed to climb trees or do anything remotley dangerous s there ya go, problem solved….
And the doctors do not know everything – they are taught in pharmecutical medicine, so that is all they know, unless they choose to specialize and learn about natural/holistic medicines! I specialize in one sort of natural medicine, its called massage!
I see clients nearly every day who are delighted to find me and be free of pain when their doctor had told them that their only option is surgery, and send them home with mind altering pain killers…
To vacc or not to vacc, indeed IS the question!
I did, because I didnt know any better – my daughter shows signs of being special but not special enough to deserve a label so I guess I escaped lucky – I do know of many families that are not so lucky…
IF vaccination does not cause autism, why do the symptoms nearly always occur at the same age? Would it not be sensible to delay the shots for a couple of years, surely THIS would prove this debate by results of a control group – the number of people for and against would surely put their hands up for science???
My daughter is soon going to be pushed into having the HPV vaccine – i will be telling those who control their people in such a way, that she will not!
yip, and in new zealand we also have natural therapists that allowed a woman’s brain tumor to get so big it ate a hole in her head, and she continued to tell her patient it was getting better. way to go, keep trusting those natural therapy nut bags and yo9u to can watch your child become maimed from preventable disease.
Completely agree. Mainstream medicine has so much scrutiny that us doctors are terrified of providing false or misleading information…. There is no scrutiny in alternative therapies. I see it time and time again where alternative therapists give false and harmful treatment to their patients without any worry or regard for outcomes, safety or evidence based practice. The undeniable fact is that Vaccination saves lives. Thousands of them. And thankfully vaccination has made the work up and diagnosis of unwell infants and young children a little bit less stressful for clinicians. Please vaccinate your children.
“IF vaccination does not cause autism, why do the symptoms nearly always occur at the same age?” – Umm, potty training also occurs at the same age, so is potty training also responsible for autism? NO. Correlation does not imply causation.
“Would it not be sensible to delay the shots for a couple of years…” – Umm, this would leave children vulnerable to vaccine preventable diseases, which is generally not advised. I might even call it child abuse.
“My daughter is soon going to be pushed into having the HPV vaccine – i will be telling those who control their people in such a way, that she will not!” – Umm, what about you who controls your daughter in such a way? Should she blame you if she contracts HPV at some point in her future?
FYI physicians are taught about pharmaceutical medicine because that is what has scientific data behind it regarding safety & effectiveness. Natural medicines do not come with the same rigorous testing for safety & effectiveness, and that is why it is not utilized in the same manner. Can you imagine a physician saying: ‘Here’s a treatment for you, but it hasn’t been tested to see if it works, or even if it is safe.’ See how far medicine gets with that ideology! Good luck to you and your daughter!
You know what they call alternative medicine that has been shown to work? Medicine!
“FYI physicians are taught about pharmaceutical medicine because that is what has scientific data behind it regarding safety & effectiveness. ”
Well, the FDA places limits on certain levels of toxins like aluminum and furosemide, etc. that are preservatives in vaccines. Interestingly enough, infants receive above the safety limit for adults because of their vaccine recommendation. So “safety and effectiveness” is in question here. It’s always good to keep an open mind, to question, regardless of what healthcare approach you might have.
Besides, science is always changing. Decades ago, modern medicine thought tomatoes were carcinogenic and that smoking was healthy. Who knows that perhaps there is a limit to what a healthy body can tolerate when it comes to vaccines? Too many people are too abrasive in articulating their opinions.
The difference between medicine & science versus quackery and anti-vaccine kooks is that medicine and science are self-correcting. As far as “who knows”, that’s an acknowledgement of ignorance, but not a valid argument. Science and medicine test vaccines and their scheduling all the time. That is why both get updates.
You know what they call “natural/holistic/alternative medicine that has been proven to work”? “Medicine”.
Your kid is special likely because you brought her up that way.
There are countless studies proving that Autism is NOT caused by vaccines. Have you read them? The doctor that originally wrote the falsified paper has been stripped of all credentials…Andrew Wakefield, look him up! You asked for proof there is plenty out there if you look! As for why do we begin diagnosis of Autism at the same time that we vaccines that’s simple…… Just take a child development class!!! The best answer to any question is education!
Did you know there is a study linking crime to ice cream sales? They both increase in the summer. So, eating ice cream MUST cause crime!
It’s also linked to polio. Ice cream is clearly this world’s greatest threat!
There’s also one that linked drowning with ice cream sales! Imagine that, they both also picked up in the summer and happened more frequently in states with coastlines.
Haha, you must of taken Psychology at some point. This is the same argument I think of whenever I hear someone say vaccinations causes autism.
Then you can sit and hold her hand when the pap smear comes back squamous, and she gets that sinking feeling of “I might have cancer, what now?” You can go with her for the every 6 month gynecology appointments, comfort her when they burn a layer of infected cells off her cervix with a hot wire, and hold her when she frets.
The HPV vaccine came out about the same time i was going through all that. I made damn sure my daughters got the shots instead of the low-grade constant fear.
F***ing THANK YOU. I had all that crap happen to me and I plan on having my SON get the shot (they can get it too you know and since guys tend to be the carriers, that’s a great thing.)
Sorry hun, me too as did 2 of my aunts before me. And I did the same thing for the exact same reasons. Too high of a risk to ignore something that may save her life one day.
Signs of autism are evident at this age because this is the age where we are expecting more language development and can see the difference in behavior between children on the spectrum and not. There is no reputable data to support a link between autism and vaccines.
Kids are also breast fed until that age, does breast feeding cause autism? Or wait, maybe eating anything but milk causes autism?
The vaccines need to be given at that age, or else children go through the high risk period unprotected!
The HPV vaccine is a prevention for cancer. Not even treatment but one better. We should be dancing in the streets we’ve found a way to prevent a devastating cancer!
And yes, it would be great if your daughter met Mr Right at age 25, both being virgins, and they were both always faithful and spent the rest of their lives together.
Problem is, as sad as it is, we know most children have pre marital sex, and sadly the average age for their “first time” is in high school! Even if they do no, odds are, eventually Mr Right will have. And the divorce rate is 50%. Even more disturbingly, evidence shows a significant minority of women are the victim of rape or sexual violence of some form during their lives. This does not mean we should not severely punish the perpetrators, but that we should protect our daughters in every way possible.
So, in an ideal world, the HPV vaccine should not be necessary. But in the real world, this is an extremely safe, extensively studied vaccine that prevents the majority of cervical cancer from occurring in the first place. Much like Hep B has been nearly eradicated (new cases) we can do the same for HPV and cervical cancer. This does not undermine your role as a parent to educate and empower your children. To support them. To keep creeps away. But most women will be exposed to HPV. And most of them had equally conscientious parents like yourself. And some of those will get cervical cancer, though the minority, and of those, a minority would die. So if everyone was vaccinated against HPV, less would get cancer and less would die. Even though most don’t at present.
Autism is a horribly challenging condition. As are all parts of the ASD. We don’t have enough support for parents. We don’t know what causes autism – other than we have confirmed time and time again that it is not vaccines. We don’t have enough information about the best way to educate and support children with ASD. But that does not mean we should subject them, their siblings or their pears to vaccine preventable illness.
Watch the video
It is not about minimizing the significance of autism
But increasing other illnesses, despite overwhelming evidence vaccines are in no way even related to autism, is not a solution.
Oddly, good chance we’ll find genetic predisposition triggered by a virus … so that a vaccine against that trigger could become the eventual PREVENTION of autism!
Problem is, just like HPV being a prevention for cancer, some will oppose on artificial religious (not one main stream religion opposes vaccines) or other reason!
Hummmm the rooster crows before daylight and then the sun comes up. He believes he causes the sun to rise (but maybe, just maybe there is an outside chance the rooster didn’t cause the sunrise).
>vaccination hasnt been around that long
Vaccination has been recorded as since before the 16th Century, that’s over 500 years. There is documented examples of smallpox vaccination in 17th Century china.
‘Natural’ quacks like you should be prosecuted as a danger to public health
Sheeple.
eloquent, aren’t you
I’ll just point out a couple of glaring things off the top of my head. A. Comparing injected aluminum levels to orally ingested aluminum is disingenuous. Orally ingested aluminum is absorbed at less than 1% in the GI tract. Aluminum injected IM is absorbed at a much higher rate. I’ll be happy to discuss the pk/pd profile of aluminum with you if you care to. B. The Cochrane Collaboration reviewed 50 flu vaccine studies and determined it to be of no benefit. This is just from a light skimming of the article. Also, most of the recent outbreaks of measles and whooping cough have occurred in populations with >90% vaccination rates or so-called “herd immunity”.
But babies injest a million more times milk than the volume present in an injection
She is comparing apples to oranges. Frist, she is comparable 2 different aluminum compounds with completely different metabolic break downs. Secondly, the source cited dates back from the mid ’90’s. Thirdly, the studied population was from Croatia which also included refugees. Has anyone analyzed her sources????
If the analogy to ingested aluminum bothers you, you can skip straight to the research:
“The authors based their calculations on the series of vaccinations that deliver the maximal possible levels of aluminum during an infant’s first year of life and the assumption that infants would receive the entire recommended schedule of vaccines during this time. . . . Using the updated parameters, the authors found that the body burden of aluminum from vaccines and diet throughout an infant’s first year of life is significantly less than the corresponding safe body burden of aluminum, based on the minimal risk levels established by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.”
These stats are interesting- 3 million are saved using vaccinations and 2 million die from not being vaccinated? Where is this?? That implies that 2/5 of children in this selection are dead. I don’t think so.
No, it doesn’t. It’s comparing to the entire population of the world.
For the author, who is a “so-called” scientist, she has linked many out dated sources, linked back to her many biased blogs, and made comparisons that are absolutely incomparable. All of these issues put her “accreditation” and “credentials” at risk, it puts others in her field in a vulnerbale position and discredits them. Any of those in the research field understand the foundation of this article can be easily discredited and unworthy of any attention. Bravo, Jennifer Raff, Bravo!
Which sources are too old, in your opinion? That’s the kind of feedback that I take very seriously. I’ll note that I haven’t gotten any negative critiques from physicians or other researchers on my citations, but I’ll update the lit review if there are real flaws.
I linked to several of my previous blog posts, because they contain collections of links to primary research papers that I didn’t feel that I needed to duplicate in this post. But perhaps you’re right that the extra layer of reading is too onerous, and I should repost every single study here. Which topics do you believe are lacking citations?
All the sources dated in the 90’s, there are too many to list. I am sure since you cited them you know exactly which ones. Going through post graduate school any citations made that were 15 + years in age gave very little credibility to the argument a student is trying to achieve, to prove or disprove a theory. You of all people know that, correct?
As for the “extra layer” of reading, you should remember that you are projecting this blog to the lay person. Many parents do not have the time nor effort to click on link after link after link to finally arrive to the actual source. It seems as though you just want to continue to portray your biased point of view by re-linking back and forth to your blogs. If you want parents to think critically put it all out there in one click or will that put your blog in jeopardy? To ask parents to think for themselves instead of reading one-sided opinions?
Anonymous, it seems as though you don’t have any specific criticisms of the article here, just vague insinuations that the material you don’t like isn’t credible. If you give me specific examples of flawed citations, I’ll review them and update if necessary. It’s important to me to cite to the best research. You need to know that when evaluating the scientific/medical literature, the date of publication of a study may indeed be one consideration of quality and relevance, but it’s not the only consideration. The most appropriate research could easily have been done in the 90s. It’s also possible that some studies in there are too old, but I simply don’t know which ones you’re referring to.
And as for your last criticism: I’m sorry if it’s a lot of reading–science often is, and if you want to discount the informed opinions of experts, it’s going to take a bit more work than reading a single blog post to become informed yourself. I am more than happy to ask parents to think for themselves and not take my word for anything on this subject. In fact, that’s the entire point of this post.
Since you seem to be asking for references to more studies, here is a great collection of links to vaccine safety studies, with explanations about what they mean. http://www2.aap.org/immunization/families/faq/vaccinestudies.pdf I’ve linked to it before, but I’ll post it again here for you.
Thank you for this awesome article. I couldn’t agree with you more Jennifer Raff. This is one to be bookmarked!! Thanks!
It is really disheartening that one has to sit and take so much time to point out each and every flaw and discredited/out dated cite on here. As a “so called” scientist you should know all and every link that I am referring too, because you are the one who posted them. However, I will take the time to point them all out since it is apparent your credentials are severely lacking.
“The people who claim to be acting in the best interests of your children are putting their health and even lives at risk.” The link is from weather.com, need I say more?
“They say that vaccines aren’t that effective at preventing disease.
But 3 million children’s lives are saved every year by vaccination, and 2 million die every year from vaccine-preventable illnesses.” Let’s provide more up to date statistics, 15 + years is too long of a lapsed time. You know this.
“They say that “natural infection” is better than vaccination.
But they’re wrong.” This is very vague, you only cite and make a comparison to one illness.
“They say that vaccines haven’t been rigorously tested for safety.
But vaccines are subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than any other medicine. For example, this study tested the safety and effectiveness of the pneumococcal vaccine in more than 37,868 children.” The second link is unable to be pulled up. Again lets provide up to date information.
“They will say that doctors won’t admit there are any side effects to vaccines.
But the side effects are well known, and except in very rare cases quite mild.”
You are providing a UK source, UK has a different vaccine schedule than the US does. Did you know that?
“They say that the aluminum in vaccines (an adjuvant, or component of the vaccine designed to enhance the body’s immune response) is harmful to children.
But children consume more aluminum in natural breast milk than they do in vaccines, and far higher levels of aluminum are needed to cause harm.”
The first link is very dated to the mid 90’s and in addition include women from Croatia. Secondly you can not compare the aluminum compound to the 3 different types of aluminum compounds found in vaccines. That is comparing apples to oranges. But you knew that right?
“They say that the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (and/or the “vaccine court”) proves that vaccines are harmful.
It doesn’t.” This links back to your blog with you being the sole author with no citations provided. And who exactly are you again?
“They say that ‘natural’, ‘alternative’ remedies are better than science-based medicine.
They aren’t.” You are providing only certain alternative therapies for one specific condition. If you are going to make a statement like the one you did you need to be more specific with your statement or provide more sources to back up your vague generalization.
“I can predict exactly the sort of response I will be getting from the anti-vaccine activists. Because they can’t argue effectively against the overwhelming scientific evidence about vaccines, they will say that I work for Big Pharma. (I don’t and never have). They will say that I’m not a scientist (I am), and that I’m an “Agent 666” (I don’t know what that is, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not one).” You can make a Vita online to make it say whatever you want, you know what so can I! Does not means it authentic.
“There are outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses now throughout the United States because of unvaccinated children.” Did you even read the article?!?! The child had an immune deficiency and was unable to receive the vaccine. They have NO clue how the infant contracted it. In addition there is no link to back up this claim, according the CDC the last cause of wild polio in the US was 1979.
“And as for your last criticism: I’m sorry if it’s a lot of reading–science often is, and if you want to discount the informed opinions of experts, it’s going to take a bit more work than reading a single blog post to become informed yourself. I am more than happy to ask parents to think for themselves and not take my word for anything on this subject. In fact, that’s the entire point of this post.”
Parents are not here to discredit you (I can do that on my own, parent and physician), they are here to read well thought out, easy to decipher, non strongly biased FACTS. Something that you have only provided in about 50% of your blog. The only thing you are being successful at is making the attempt to sway parents to your “opinions” without providing sound literature to prove your opinions. If this post was intended for parents to think critical you would have provided direct, up to date links instead of sending them on a goose chase.
“any citations made that were 15 + years in age gave very little credibility to the argument a student is trying to achieve, to prove or disprove a theory.”
So if something was well-established in research, you require that people re-establish it every fifteen years? That strikes me as odd.
Odd, but very convenient if you’re trying to discredit inconvenient research without a comparable body of science to refute it.
Not if there is up to date literature on the subject which in this there is. The author just refuses to acknowledge that.
Anonymous, you have had several requests to post links or stats to more up-to-date studies that refutes the authors information, but you have not given us anything.
So, why should we listen to your rants to discredit the author when you give us nothing to back up your argument? On top of that, hiding behind an ‘Anonymous’ handle only re-iterates that we should not listen to you.
So many of you, obviously, have never had your child damaged by a vaccine. My child was 16 years old when we moved to another school district that required a booster MMR. Of course I took her for the booster — not a second thought about it. That’s when our nightmare began. Two weeks after the vaccination she started experiencing weird symptoms of weakness, rash, disorientation, nausea, headache, joint pain, low-grade fever and a dozen other strange symptoms. Took her to the doctor who said she had a viral infection of some kind and it would pass. I asked if it could possibly be due to the booster shot she had received two weeks earlier and was told no, that would be impossible. One year later we were in the office of an infectious disease/immunology specialist at a major university medical center in Michigan, who thought otherwise. Took 12 vials of blood and sent them to a lab at a University in Vancouver that was doing studies on this particular vaccine. One year later I got a call from the infectious disease doctor with good news and bad. Good news was that there was a reason for my daughter’s illness. She had chronic rubella –the result of a problematic “missing” component in the vaccine. Bad news was they weren’t sure how to treat it. Scientific logic said gamma globulin treatments would provide immunity, so that’s what we did. One in a million people who get these IV treatments for a host of other health issues gets non-infectious meningitis — and, unfortunately, so did my daughter. She struggled to finish high school and college, and at times I believed she wouldn’t finish at all. It took a good 5 years for her to return to a ‘new normal’, but even now, at the age of 37, she is still dealing with the effects of that one shot. Epidemiologically speaking, there is no doubt that vaccines have helped stamped out horrific diseases globally. However, please DO NOT SAY WE ARE BEING LIED TO, because the truth of the matter is, we do not know what’s in vaccines that can be harmful. Our story is just one story. How many other stories are out there that we don’t know even know about because their family doctors will not even entertain the idea that a child’s sudden illness could be due to a recent vaccination? Our medical community looks at the larger picture, what’s good for the masses. And vaccines have stamped out polio, diphtheria and other horrific deadly diseases, no one can deny that. But maybe there’s a price to pay. A few cases of Autism, or chronic rubella, or guillian-barre is better than dying, right? Sure, you can look at it that way when your son or daughter hasn’t been injured after having a vaccination. We parents should not be arguing about who is right or wrong. Instead, we should be focusing our efforts on making vaccine manufacturers more transparent and accountable. Our medical community needs to be open to the possibility that what may be good for most is not good for some. When my daughter gave birth to my granddaughter, she asked me for advice on whether or not she should vaccinate her baby. I couldn’t give her an answer. I told her that was a decision she would have to make on her own. And she did. She decided not to vaccinate her baby.
Concerned Parent, I don’t like that I’m going to sound harsh here, but do you understand that what you’ve just said is utterly ridiculous? In the same post you tried to say that doctors don’t understand the dangers of vaccines, but a specialist identified exactly which problem with a vaccine harmed your daughter. You say that manufacturers need to be more open and accountable, but vaccines are better tested than almost any medical treatment and all come with thorough information on potential risks. You say doctors need to be open to the possibility that vaccines are harmful, but no doctor worth the paper their degree is printed on would say vaccines are safe for everyone or come with zero risk for even a healthy person. By suggesting these sorts of things, you’re just as dangerous as the people flat-out lying. You still have your daughter and she’s functional and even gave you a grandchild; some moms don’t have their babies anymore thanks to the recent outbreaks of whooping cough killing infants and some are struggling with children with permanent brain damage from recent measles outbreaks, all because of people choosing not to vaccinate. Putting a child in a car is far more dangerous than giving a vaccine, but I’m willing to bet neither you nor your daughter has any qualms about strapping your granddaughter in a car seat… go investigate the risk profiles yourself, and if it doesn’t change your mind, then there’s no reason to argue. If you can’t use science and logic, there’s no discussion to be had.
@Concerned Scientist – You are an asshole. Concerned Parent is simply telling her story. She is not attacking the pro-vax or the anti-vax people, simply a story. When people like yourself attack a person like that, you lose your own accountability. As a scientist, you need to be open to possibilities as new science often disproves old science. As humans, our inability to see multiple perspectives and the ways we are resentful to those who have opposing views, we are the cancer, you are the cancer.
Well said.
My daughter was religiously vaccinated with no effect. I then had a son 7 years later. He was a healthy normal baby. After his first round of vaccinations he no longer made eye contact and was different. I researched what I’m sure is both nonlegit and legit information sites. Either way as a mom, I decided to delay and pick and choose the vaccinations. He is fully better now at about 5 years old and only lacks a few vaccinations to get this summer before school. If had continued on the proposed vaccination schedule would the outcome have been the same, or different? I don’t know, but I did what I thought best for my son.
I’m sorry to hear your story. My son is also vax injured and it’s very hard to hear from a doctor that it’s “impossible”. The numbers of reactions that are not counted are staggering, or at least that’s what statistics suggest. I know our pediatrician was sure over the phone about it not being a vax reaction, which I think is the only time I’ve had a doctor tell me a diagnosis over the phone.
What statistics?
.
Please ignore concerned scientist. Evidently he/she can’t or didn’t actually read your post. I agree 100% with you that we need transparency, accountability and acknowledgement that “what is good for most is not good for some.”
And the “some” are not always just those already identified as immuno-suppressed. One of my children had serious issues following a set of shots (6 that were to “catch her up” for kindergarten.) The shots activated an autoimmune process, that would have eventually be activated anyway, so it did not alter her life significantly. (well, she ended up with a goiter and thyroid meds age 5, when her siblings did not need meds until puberty.)
I’m sorry for what your daughter has had to deal with. And I’m sorry that there are those that will criticize you for questioning a system that you were in compliance with.
I advocate for immuninization on a delayed, gently schedule that what is currently accepted. And I wish they’d bring back mono-valent MMR. We opted for that for our last child, but the single dose shots were discontinued before she got them all.
This article is ludicrous he accuses those who are anti inoculation of being liars and he then tells you to only read things that support his point of veiw and agree with him. I am lucky because my kids have been inoculated with no adverse effects but if I had to do it again I likely wouldnt. I know people who have had serious side effects… I wouldnt dare tell them that it ok cause
they are only rare rare cases
um, the author is a she. You didn’t read it very carefully, did you?
As I child I was often plagued with small’bugs’ my parents had me vaccinated to protect me from the big bugs. As an asthmatic I am thankful they did. Isaw many other ffriends that had asthma and they were hospitalized because they eere not vaccinated. I lost one to measles and one was extremely affected by chicken pox.
I had my kids vaccinated and would do it again.
Save your self heart break and get them vaccinated.
yes I believe there are other reasons why people choose to not vaccinate their children that have nothing to do with Autism, and I’ve even had my doubts about the vaccinations and not related to Autism reasons, but my children and grandchildren have received their vaccinations and will continue. I believe they do help in preventing the diseases that they are made to protect our children from and the ONLY ones that I don’t agree with are the flu and pneumonia vaccines. I will not down talk these vaccines, I will just say that they are not for me or mine. They do work for others and some live by these vaccines and that’s a wonderful thing. I am happy that these vaccines such as flu and pneumonia have positive affects for others. All I can say is GOD BLESS ALL THOSE OUT THERE THAT ARE STRUGGLING AND WORKING SO HARD TO FIND PREVENTIVE VACCINES AND MEDICATIONS TO HELP US ALL SURVIVE AND BE HEALTHY WHETHER WE HAVE A MEDICAL ISSUE OR NOT. THESE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO HELP US, NOT HARM US, GIVE THEM A BREAK AND BE GLAD SOMEONE IS TRYING TO HELP US, EVEN THOSE THAT ARE UNGRATEFUL. THESE PEOPLE HAVE A HEART FOR MANKIND OR THEY WOULDN’T WASTE THEIR TIME ON US.
Thank you so much for what you have said, I agree with you. When people say we don’t have to get the vaccines because everyone else is doing it…is a selfish way of thinking. I had a friend who was my age (over 60) who got the whooping cough from kids at church. Her immune system was very low from Hepatitis, so when she got the whooping cough it was really bad for her. She coughed so hard she got a detached retina, broke a blood vessel in her lungs and almost died. Seems like there is no thought on how it would affect others.
This article is just as biased and useless as some of the anti-vaccine articles I’ve read. I’m not against all vaccines though I have family members and friends who have had serious reactions and that has made me question their efficacy. There are a few on my hit list that I’ve deemed especially useless (and yes chicken pox and flu vaccines are on that list). What I believe is that it should be a personal choice based on research. That means not reading articles like this and actually reading the inserts that come with vaccinations. It means questioning your doctor’s motives (whether they receive a bonus for every injection by the pharma company) instead of blindly sticking your or your child’s arm out. It means not being intimidated by either side, but examining family history of reactions to vaccines, considering already existing conditions, and deciding if the benefits outweigh the risks for your children. No parent should be called unfit for choosing not to vaccinate nor should an unvaccinated child be treated like typhoid Mary by those who have been vaccinated (incredibly illogical and nothing but fear mongering) after all, if your child is vaccinated, what do they have to fear from one who is not? It’s a hot button topic and I get that but opinions aren’t medical fact. Only knowledge can replace ignorance. Learn about it; don’t just trust doctors or the media for the gospel truth. It may be frowned upon but I promise that thinking for yourself is not a bad thing.
A UK doc here – No back handers or bonuses from drug companies for vaccinating patients here. Vaccines cost our government money. If you can find a reason why the UK government would push vaccines onto our children, with all this proof they are harmful (with ongoing care which is also going to cost our government money) do enlighten me. Could it be that fewer babies and children are going to die?
All this article is is factual. The fact that doesn’t agree with anecdotal “evidence” from friends is not the problem of this article.
“Only knowledge can replace ignorance.” – you say this, but I don’t think you actually believe it.
My mother had polio when she was 22. She was lucky, unlike many other who were crippled for life or died, her upper body was not affected (didn’t need an iron lung) and her parents got her into a Sister Kenny method institute and she made a full recovery – except for 25 years latter when she was hit with post polio syndrome (painful nerve sensations) and accelerated osteo-arthritis requiring three hip replacement and a now permanent hip displacement. We got Salk and Sabin. No one lives in fear of “polio season” anymore, one of the reasons for summer vacations out of a metropolitan area. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed…
As a physician, strongly opinionated essays like this make me want to write a strongly opinionated essay on controversial topics in Anthropology. Cause hey, why not, it’s the internet and people will read it.
I look forward to reading it. Which sub-field interests you?
Completely agree Dan. There is no substance here for parents to read except links to out dated literature and links the re-link the one sided blog. Parents have to muddle through all of this instead of the author providing straight for sources. It seems as though that is what the author is striving for to muddle parents point of view instead of providing credible, up to date sources.
Oh, spare us. Here’s a question – can you identify any up to date research that contradicts any of her points?
Parents who care enough about their children, should be more than willing to read through as many articles and hyperlinks as needed to make a well informed decision about their child’s health care, not just this one. Besides, do you think this is the only article they will be reading on the subject? Stop trying to discredit the author and get off your high horse. We get it, you’re in the medical field too and strongly disagree with her point of view. Get over yourself.
I am so glad you’re not my doctor.
At least you predicted the responses you would be getting from the anti-vax people. I guess it’s no surprise that most of them are ‘Anonymous.’ 🙂
I agree with this article. I’m from. Brazil and I remember the time that polio was a commun disease. I lost friend and some became handicap due this horrible disease. We are free of polio thanks for the vaccination campaigns.
It’s funny that so many of these comments above are so angry and vague that I can’t figure out which side of the argument they are meant for.
This is an excellent article! I am saddened though not surprised by all the negative comments. We live in an anti-science age where “truthiness” reigns. Climate-change deniers, evolution deniers all stand as fervently against science as the anti-vax people. It is impossible to reason with them because their arguments are not based on reason but on feelings, what some celebrity said or what the bible said. Science is based on facts, it is never absolute but it is always reasonable. Please keep up the good work!
Then I guess you can show me the facts. Show me ONE single long-term (or any study for that matter) that has tested the interaction of multiple vaccines? Oops, I guess you’re just trusting their safety, in spite of the current state of the Country’s health. Let’s not look at what is happening in so many areas of health. Let’s pretend none of it is related to vaccines. Let’s pretend is a great game when you’re a kid, but when you’re an adult you need more than “pretend” facts. You have no facts to back up what you’re saying.
Watch the video link. He actually cites multiple, large, long terms studies. Even tells you what country they are from and puts on a time line. There is overwhelming evidence vaccines are not even correlated to autism rates, in fact, given that autism is increasing in California, despite declining vaccination rates actually shows a correlation between NOT vaccinating and autism! (I realize this is not real, it shows there is a third, causative factor we just don’t know about, really means NO correlation)
Still good video
All the “there is no study showing vaccination is safe” people need to realize there are countless studies, across millions, firmly establishing the safety of vaccinations and disproving ANY correlation! I also graduated top of class, from high school after being vaccinated, so did vaccination cause me to graduate? To be a math scholarship level student? Nope. I learned how to speak French after my MMR… did that increase bilingual tendencies? Nope.
Watch the video.
He cites real studies
He puts them on a time line
He gives real numbers
So stop pretending scientists are “making up” the existence of these studies
Every dollar we spend on a witch hunt against vaccines is a dollar we could spend actually looking at what does cause autism and what can prevent it.
Oddly, good chance we’ll find genetic predisposition triggered by a virus … so that a vaccine against that trigger could become the eventual PREVENTION of autism!
Problem is, just like HPV being a prevention for cancer, some will oppose on artificial religious (not one main stream religion opposes vaccines) or other reason!
Who exactly Is Jennifer Raff the author and why is what she has to say in this topic any more important or truthful than what those that oppose her view have to say?
We live in a time where Government can not be trusted. Who in charge, running the show regarding immunizations and vaccines. Are those running the show known for their truthfulness.
I’m not going to say that immunizations are bad but I don’t believe that they all are sife. Ask those that had the swine flu shot back in the 70s. How many bad batches of drugs has been utilized on americans that come, are made, in countries that don’t hold to the same standards as the United States?
How many times in the past couple of years has some government agency admitted to not being capable of doing the simplest of task when it comes to doing their jobs?
To much crap goes on in the world today and there is becoming a growing increase in the lack of trust regarding government. It’s not like someone is taking a child to a doctor and getting the child a simple shot in the arm. That adult is placing a trust in government and the medical field in regards to what is being pumped into their child.
Cigarette smokers light up a cigarette and believe that they are smoking 100% tobacco. A simple internet search shows that there are 100’s of additives that are added and almost every additive is just as bad if not worse than the nicotine. Government allows it.
GMOs and the use of Hormones. More trust in Government and the actual safety of We The People? I don’t think so.
Imports of products from countries like China? How many shipments alone of just contaminated Tilapia have been rejected? How many could have gotten through? Makes one wonder and again, where is the trust and the willingness to expect Government to protect. They admit time after time, that they aren’t up to handling the job. And I only mention China because I do believe that almost every source of something as simple as the additive Vitamin C comes from China
she publishes her CV on the blog, if you bothered to look
I could post a vita online, too. Doesn’t mean it’s authentic.
It is really disheartening that one has to sit and take so much time to point out each and every flaw and discredited/out dated cite on here. As a “so called” scientist you should know all and every link that I am referring too, because you are the one who posted them. However, I will take the time to point them all out since it is apparent your credentials are severely lacking.
“The people who claim to be acting in the best interests of your children are putting their health and even lives at risk.” The link is from weather.com, need I say more?
“They say that vaccines aren’t that effective at preventing disease.
But 3 million children’s lives are saved every year by vaccination, and 2 million die every year from vaccine-preventable illnesses.” Let’s provide more up to date statistics, 15 + years is too long of a lapsed time. You know this.
“They say that “natural infection” is better than vaccination.
But they’re wrong.” This is very vague, you only cite and make a comparison to one illness.
“They say that vaccines haven’t been rigorously tested for safety.
But vaccines are subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than any other medicine. For example, this study tested the safety and effectiveness of the pneumococcal vaccine in more than 37,868 children.” The second link is unable to be pulled up. Again lets provide up to date information.
“They will say that doctors won’t admit there are any side effects to vaccines.
But the side effects are well known, and except in very rare cases quite mild.”
You are providing a UK source, UK has a different vaccine schedule than the US does. Did you know that?
“They say that the aluminum in vaccines (an adjuvant, or component of the vaccine designed to enhance the body’s immune response) is harmful to children.
But children consume more aluminum in natural breast milk than they do in vaccines, and far higher levels of aluminum are needed to cause harm.”
The first link is very dated to the mid 90′s and in addition include women from Croatia. Secondly you can not compare the aluminum compound to the 3 different types of aluminum compounds found in vaccines. That is comparing apples to oranges. But you knew that right?
“They say that the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (and/or the “vaccine court”) proves that vaccines are harmful.
It doesn’t.” This links back to your blog with you being the sole author with no citations provided. And who exactly are you again?
“They say that ‘natural’, ‘alternative’ remedies are better than science-based medicine.
They aren’t.” You are providing only certain alternative therapies for one specific condition. If you are going to make a statement like the one you did you need to be more specific with your statement or provide more sources to back up your vague generalization.
“I can predict exactly the sort of response I will be getting from the anti-vaccine activists. Because they can’t argue effectively against the overwhelming scientific evidence about vaccines, they will say that I work for Big Pharma. (I don’t and never have). They will say that I’m not a scientist (I am), and that I’m an “Agent 666” (I don’t know what that is, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not one).” You can make a Vita online to make it say whatever you want, you know what so can I! Does not means it authentic.
“There are outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illnesses now throughout the United States because of unvaccinated children.” Did you even read the article?!?! The child had an immune deficiency and was unable to receive the vaccine. They have NO clue how the infant contracted it. In addition there is no link to back up this claim, according the CDC the last cause of wild polio in the US was 1979.
Sure, you are smarter than all the PhD’s and MD’s in the world. What exactly do you do for a living?
I would encourage that if you disagree with the medical establishment so much, you consider taking phone calls at 3 am for kids in respiratory distress. As you care apparently much more likely to provide good care than all the pediatricians and intensivists in the world!
And some studies are “outdated” as they do not need to be redone.
Not much has changed in the last one or two decades, so if an illness still exists anywhere in the world, and 10 years ago, a vaccine preventable illness killed 2, or 3, million children, when half were vaccinated, that is a good estimate of seriousness of the underlying illness and not a reason to stop giving vaccines for a couple years just to make sure these illnesses could still kill a few million if we stopped vaccinating our kids.
Smarter than all the PhD’s and MD’s no, but I am a physician. I am not disagreeing with the medical establishment at all. I am disagreeing with many of the “sources” the author cited. The medical advancements have not changed in the past 1-2 decades? Really? Would you like to review, let’s say, even the vaccine schedule that has evolved in the past 15 years?
Then how about YOU post up to date information, and updated sources, and put your money where your mouth is, if you know better, instead of just commenting on everything, and putting her down.
I’m curious – people have mentioned the Croatian thing a few times. Do you guys feel Croatians absorb aluminum differently? It seems like an odd thing to pick on.
I think the comment you’re responding to is digging for anything the commenter can think of to try to detract from the credibility of the sources cited above. It’s telling that like the rest of the critics who have cropped up to complain about vaccinations, the commenter can find no specific reasons why that information is wrong–just very vague, generalized complaints designed to make a rhetorical rather than factual point.
The also note, in two different comments:
“You can make a Vita online to make it say whatever you want, you know what so can I! Does not means it authentic.” And then, when someone raised the fact that the expert consensus is in favor of vaccines, “Smarter than all the PhD’s and MD’s no, but I am a physician.” I don’t think those two statements are entirely unrelated.
Thank you for this post, full of the truth from someone who is NOT being paid by the vaccine industry. As a fellow momma who is CONCERNED for her children’s health It bothers me that people think they have a CHOICE! Why do I have to be afraid to go grocery shopping with my infant who is too young to have the MMR because parents STUPIDLY choose to put other people’s children at risk? Children REGULARLY DIE from these diseases! and before vaccinations, the numbers of infant mortality from said diseases were MUCH HIGHER than the numbers of autism today. Besides for the fact that LOTS OF RESEARCH states that autism STARTS MUCH EARLIER even though it can only be DIAGNOSED at ages that these vaccines are given. So continue to be stubborn YOU ARE PUTTING MY PRECIOUS BABY AT RISK! AND YOUR OWN! AND MANY OTHERS!
Im still waiting for a link to a gold standard clinical study that proves they are either or both safe and effective. The attempt at proving this via link in this article was not available. All the science, for real science with reputable studies tell me that these are not safe, especially for my infant. There areore studies proving that formadehyde is a neurotoxin, than there is that there is a safe dose…. nuerotoxin= brain toxin…. did you know that the CDC lists autism as a possible side effect of vaccines. I just have never seen legitimate clinical study proving to me that these are good for my family…. find me one…. and then we’ll talk. It would sure be easier to be on the side of vaxxing than going upstream As an antivaxer.
I’m not sure why you say that the “for real science with reputable studies tell [you] that these are not safe,” when the scientific consensus is exactly the opposite. If you want a “gold standard” study on the safety and efficacy of vaccines, you can’t do much better than the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science’s report, Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholder Concerns, Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies. In a two-sentence executive summary: “This report is the most comprehensive examination of the immunization schedule to date. The IOM committee uncovered no evidence of major safety concerns associated with adherence to the childhood immunization schedule.”
It’s not a clinical study, because no ethical researcher is going to leave children unvaccinated when the overwhelming conclusion of researchers and experts is that vaccines are effective and vastly safer than the diseases they prevent. It’s just like car seats, as someone else recently commented: you can’t study whether car seats work by tossing some kids in a car without one and slamming it into a wall. The way to study things like car seats and vaccines is through population and epidemiological studies; fortunately the numbers are large enough to make such studies useful and definitive.
So I read several responses from both sides and I have to say it makes my head hurt. Instead of doing your own research you resort to name calling because someone doesn’t agree with your opinion. I will start by saying if you start by quoting “wikipedia” no matter what comes after that you have lost all credibility. I was proving a point to a friend one day and made my own wikipedia page for a facebook page to prove that anyone can type anything on wikipedia. I did my own research and talked to several different doctors and agonized for months over this decision before I even decided to try for a child and then again all through my pregnancy it is not a decision that comes easily and not a decision a few days on google can help you with. Spend your time and look into it read up on both sides of the argument and then make your own educated decision and best of luck to you all in your choices. I vaccinate and I am not going to yell at anyone or call you a name just because you chose differently than me hate is what is wrong with this world and by adding to it we as a whole are only damaging the world more. Just remember if you chose not to vaccinate please if your child shows any symptoms of illness (just like if you do vaccinate) keep them at home. I live in an area where someone took her son with measles out to stores and things and my son is not old enough for the vaccine yet and it scares me.
Who wrote this article? Why don’t they give their name?
Her name is Jennifer Raff she has replied to several comments on here
She has only replied to 2 original comments that have been directed to her and ultimately called her entire blog into question. Other than that she allows a free for all.
I’m not sure if your comment is sarcastic or not–she’s responded to dozens of comments. Are you aware that this page of comments is only the most recent? Look for the “Older comments” link at the bottom of the page.
No one knows for sure about reactions to the vaccine. Even all the research in the world cannot tell you how every individual is going to react. They can take the research and show you that this percentage did not react while this small percentage did. I have had the flu vaccines many times (I would say at least a dozen times). The last one I got I had a pretty severe reaction. They do not know what caused it, but the doctor has informed me not to get the vaccine in shot form again. I am not sure if I will be able to get the nasal spray or not. I will cross that next flu season.
My child has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and Autism. He takes corticosteroids to help slow the inevitable destruction of his muscles (including his heart and diaphragm). Due to his steroid treatment, he has a compromised immune system. By choosing not to vaccinate your healthy child, you are putting my son’s life in danger.
I am 100% confident that my son’s MD and Autism are genetically based. My son has had his DNA sequenced, and that identified the specific genetic mutation (he has deletion of exons 49 and 50 of the dystrophin gene). His symptoms of Autism have been present since shortly after his birth, and there is a higher incidence of ADHD and Autism in boys with DMD than the general population (due to a lack of the dystrophin protein in the brain).
I do have a deep distrust of the FDA, as they are roadblocking a treatment for his DMD that has shown efficacy with no adverse effects in a small sample of boys for over 2 years (phase II-B clinical trial), but that is a whole other story. While I do not trust the FDA, I do trust my son’s doctors. I also have enrolled my son in clinical drug trials to try to save him from his 100% fatal diagnosis, yes my son has been a “guinea pig” and he fully agreed to it! I believe that any parent, given a death sentence for their child, should try anything they can to save their child’s life.
If you choose not to vaccinate your child, KEEP THEM AWAY FROM OTHER CHILDREN! You are not only making the choice to endanger your child, you are endangering mine! My son has already been dealt a crappy enough hand in life, he should not have to suffer measles, mumps, whooping cough, or any other preventable disease! These diseases could very easily end his already shortened life even faster!!! My son could die from the flu! I have seen it happen to other children with his disease, the flu very quickly can turn to pneumonia due to their impaired ability to cough, and can quickly end their lives.
It is an absolutely selfish decision to not vaccinate your child, and then to expose everyone else.
Oh please people, understand that most vaccines doesn’t give immunity. They are to help your child to get better sooner when she/he gets the disease. It means that all the kids that are vaccinated, still can carry on the disease! A healthy person can give virus to another one! You can give it to your child no matter the fact that you have gotten the shot.
So, because a vaccine does not give 100% immunity…let’s do away with them and increase the chances of my child contracting a preventable disease that could kill him??? That makes SO much sense!!! I guess you showed me, didn’t you???
It should also be pointed out that most of the studies forwarded by the Anti-Vaccinating community do not in fact show any link between autism and vaccination. The ones that I have read (over and over and over) simply observe side-effects that the vaccines cause in autistic children, such as the larger amount of MMR antibodies in autistic children than in non-autistic children. This side effect is not surprising, autism is an autoimmune disease. What IS surprising is the hypothesis based on this information: in one case an article states that a mutated form of the MMR vaccine may trigger an event in children predisposed towards autism. Despite this very apparent lack in any real evidence, or even an actual statement that vaccines cause autism (the authors always use the words ‘may,’ hypothesis,’further research required’) the Anti-Vaccinating community doggedly states that each of these articles “prove” that “vaccines cause autism.” This must be a huge oversight of this community, that or they have no idea what they are reading.
Reblogged this on Jaide's Lair and commented:
and I AGREE with this message.
I’m 76 years old and I have been Vaccinated and Inoculated for Small Pox, Influenza, polio (Sabin and Salk), Tetanus, Pertusis, Rubella and Pneumonia and all I got out of it was a steel knee and I’m getting my right hip and my left knee done and then I’ll be perfect . . . .
Don’t you understand? The vaccines gave you the steel knee!
For visitors coming to this thread via a direct link, please note there’s now a new open thread at https://violentmetaphors.com/ .
So long as people can continue to make their own choice, that’s important.
Most parents love their kids and would not do anything to harm them.
I’m concerned about the people that make decisions based on Religion, Politics and Peer Pressure. It’s hard to find real facts with all the Crap peddlers, Liars and Money centric companies on the Internet. I empathize.
One day enough people may wake up and see that part of the reason so many are sick and unhealthy has to do with the crap we pump into our water and food supplies. When will it stop?
While this may not have any direct correlation with Measels…a heathy person has a far better chance of brushing these afflictions off.
You can’t be healthy overdosing on Sugar, Aspartame, MSG, food coloring, and over processed nutritionally devoid food”.
We are over sanitizing everything. There may come a day when humans can’t fight off the majority of afflictions without some type of pharmaceutical jab in the arm. Just saying…
This last year my daughter had 16 hospital admissions, why? Because when she was six her vaccination caused her to end up in Intensive Care and she almost died. Why? because she was administered a group of vaccines within one needle which was a way of administering that was unresearched and since proved to be dangerous. She is eleven now, struggles to get to school and has major lung issues. We have had around 90 hospital admissions since that vaccine caused her life to change. Am I against vaccination, well actually no. I am though against the vaccination lobby stating that it is safe, tested and pretty much foolproof. Actually most of the vaccinations we pump into our bodies we have no idea what they are going to do to us over our lifetime. Even though vaccination ruined my daughters life, I am still a supporter of it, BUT I believe the truth about the risks need to be honestly stated, and that A LOT more money needs to go into risk reducing research.
I’m very sorry that your daughter is ill, I hope she’s on her way to a strong recovery.
I’m curious why you say that “she was administered a group of vaccines within one needle which was a way of administering that was unresearched and since proved to be dangerous.”
Can you give us any details about what the shot was, and why a doctor was using a vaccination method that had no research or safety studies behind it?
Here in Australia we do not do vaccinations via a doctor, it is a government endorsed system where within our health system all children are given vaccinations at certain ages. This is great because we have a very high vaccinated percentage of children. It is free to all parents, all they have to do is turn up and their children get vaccinated, this starts at birth and goes right through the school system as well till the child is 18. When we took our daughter in for her 5 year vaccination she was given one needle that had 4 different vaccinations in it. This is something they do not do anymore because to many children got sick from the intensity (quantity) of vaccine’s. (I can’t remember the specifics) We were not told we had a choice of a single needle or spread the shots out over a prescribed time period. Post having her needle her immune system crashed and she ended up in intestine care, her lungs crashed, plus other internal issues and she now has scarring to the lungs. We are hoping she will grow out of it and within the six years since, we are seeing small improvements which is great.
My personal issue was the lack of information, and the “corporate” administration of a “new combined needle” that was a cost savings to the government above good medical practice.
NOT AN ANTIVAXXER!
I think people needs to be fully aware of consequences regardless of what their choices are, to vax or not to vax. I am sick of the redundant argument that vaccines are with out flaw and do not cause issues. They do – however, they do save lives. My problem with vaccines are that as a nation we have become overly vaccinated in comparison to other countries. In 1982/1983 we got 10 vaccines and those vaccines packed a punch and did their job. THEN PHARMA GOT GREEDY! Stopped spending money to monitor and used more money to produce. The CDC is not effectively monitoring vaccines, they don’t know their effectiveness or longevity. Secondly the resurgence we are seeing in certain diseases is not evolving from unvaccinated children, but from people who are not reboostering!! The population of adults who are no receiving boosters is far greater than those who are antivaccine! Do the research and the truth shall set you free. Vaccines do serve a purpose in medicine, however it has become very hard to trust people who are motivated by the $$$$ DOLLAR BILL $$$$!
First, yes, dolla dolla bill y’all.
Second, you may be unaware that a great deal of effort goes into monitoring the safety and effectiveness of vaccines that have already won approval. Google “post-licensure” vaccine studies to read more; this article seems to have a lot of detailed information but I haven’t had time to really read it. And of course many of the epidemiological studies that have been discussed on this thread are conducted on widespread, post-licensure vaccines to monitor their safety and efficacy. I don’t doubt that more could be done to monitor vaccines, but I have to wonder whether it would be an efficient use of resources given the lack of actual scientific data showing that vaccines are overall extremely safe. At some point, a dollar spent on such monitoring is a dollar better spent on some more important study. I don’t know whether we’re at that point or not.
I’m really sorry but why is religion against vaccination or even abortion for that matter? How do you use science to study the fusion of egg and sperm and assign stages of life through science and then disavow the same science with religion by ‘killing’ a life when it comes to abortion? Bullshit. I’m a devout Christian of 33 years and I’ve never seen a verse in bible that tells me not to kill a zygote or a conceived child in a mother’s womb that’s a danger to the mother, nor tell me not to take vaccinations against diseases. If anti vaccination nutters are so against vaccinations, they should denounce all medical remedies, scientific treatments to increase chances of pregnancy and internet. What right do we have if we choose to interpret religion to our needs and accuse others of religious terrorism and intolerance? Don’t get me started on gun control, but all of the Christian covenants are covered in two simple ones. Read Mark 12 30 to 31. There are none, concerning vaccination, abortion, gun control, discrimination based on skin color, sexual preference etc
Evolution. I actually HAVE written extensively on it (pre-blog days), but not so much on related anthropology aspects.