Rant about the vaccine controversy

[justalurkr]

Here's my thing about immunizations: if there were still a smallpox booster, I'd totally get it. I believe in Western medicine like some people believe in alternative medicine. This isn't particularly rational, and does give rise to difficulty in discussing exactly how bad it is to move heaven and Earth in an effort to avoid vaccinating one's children or ditching the annual flu shot. If I truly understood why Western medicine works, I could annihilate idiocy such as I heard hanging around Second Life yesterday.

"Nobody dies of the flu anyway."
Yeah, tell that to the families of the approximately 50 million people who did exactly that during an 18 month period between 1918 and 1920 of a strain that is apparently turning out to be H1N1. We've all heard of that one somewhere, right?

"I take care of autistic children, so..."
You think they're better off dead than autistic? Dying of freaking measels or something equally juvenile but deadly is the risk run by not vaccinating. Assuming for the sake of argument that there's any merit to the connection between childhood vaccines and autism (and I don't assume that for any other reason than the sake of argument,) the risks we're weighing out are:

1. Possible life-altering side effect if vaccinated
vs
2. Possible death by preventable disease if not vaccinated

Me? I think kids are better off autistic than dead. Immunizations are not just about the parents' convenience so mommy and daddy don't have to miss work to mop junior's fevered brow; they target communicable diseases with a known death rate.

Lastly, faking a set of religious beliefs to get out of vaccinating your kids and into homeschooling is just contemptible. If God actually cares about these things, you'll be hearing from Him later. Have fun with that.

It was rolling around in my head and needed to get out somewhere. I'm done now.

Comments

[amycooper.livejournal.com]

Vaccines were found completely safe, at least according to autism. There is a small body of research that spacing out vaccines as opposed to clustering are a safer option for some children (this means rather than doing say, four vaccinations in one appointment, all four still given, but separate from each other at different visits.)

The argument is that the vaccines had mercury. The didn't but if you had a can of tuna and breastfeed your baby, you've already given them a larger dose. Plus, the vaccines haven't had mercury since some time in the mid-90s. They took that out.

Forget H1N1, thousands of people die annual of the flu, even when there is no epidemic. Not everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated by the medical community as strongly as others. If you have a medical condition that ups your risk, those people need to vaccine first and if there is enough for everyone else, then low risk people should get it too. There's often a yearly shortage though, because vaccines need to be produced each year with the form of the virus that looks to be the most prevalent for the year.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Given that manufacturers have to figure out what to put into the dose 18 to 24 months in advance so they can grow it in time for a given flu season, I'm surprised they get it right as often as they do. I can only recall one really bad flu season (nearly 10 years ago) attributed to guessing wrong and letting a bad one through, though I don't pay that close attention to it

I saw all the reasons for pregnant women getting encouraged to get flu shots while reading up yesterday, and I think my eyes crossed. I salute your courage and the courage of every other woman out there who has volunteered for the hostage to fortune that is a child.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

That is what I did with my kids-I mostly had the doctor space them out as much as possible. The *reason* doctors try to have as many done at once is that they're afraid (justifiably in many cases) that the child won't be coming back to the doctor's office. For many reasons-parents lose insurance. Hate doctor's offices. Whatever.

What I *have* heard recently, and now I wish I'd kept the URL, is that no, vaccines have nothing to do with Autism. BUT they may have everything to do with the mysterious rise in life-threatening food allergies, like the one for peanuts, which didn't seem to exist before 30 years ago. 30 Years ago, it was rare. Apparently peanut proteins are incorporated into the vaccines. And some other proteins are used as well.

I'll have to re-google it, I think.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

:( They only warn for people allergic to eggs when you sign the consent form. I guess that allergy kills you dead on the spot, whereas the peanut-y goodness lurks about and pounces later.

[nialla]

The flu vaccine is cultured in eggs, so that's why there's that warning. Not sure if all vaccines are done the same way.

One theory is people are getting exposed to potential food allergy sources much earlier in life, and repeatedly do so without even realizing it's causing a problem until it's too late.

The thinking is we're getting repeatedly exposed to amounts that normally wouldn't be an issue, until finally our body has enough and says "No more." Similar to how someone can have one or more bee stings during their life and not have a reaction, but have one later and have a major reaction.

[nialla]

Because of where I work, I get a flu shot every year. I even managed to get a free H1N1 add-on shot once they got through the priority list. I didn't get it at first since there was such short supply. I wanted the people who needed it to get it first. My parents are on the priority list (they've both had severe pneumonia and a bought of the flu can quickly turn ugly for them), so I know there's a reason I can wait so the priority patients can get their shots first.

Vaccines have created a "herd immunity" buffer that gives people the illusion (or rather, delusion) that they don't need the shot. Herd immunity is actually a good thing, because not everyone can get vaccines (if you're allergic to eggs, you're SOL on a flu shot).

Unfortunately, those who should get vaccines and don't are weakening herd immunity. That means those who literally can't get the shot are at much greater risk. There's been pockets of diseases that haven't been seen in years popping up, and it's been due to people not being vaccinated because they didn't want to. So far they have been contained by isolation, but all it takes is a family gathering, plane ride, etc., and we're in an epidemic.

The guy who wrote up the research about vaccines causing autism has admitted his research is bogus, but his legacy lives on. Parents with an autistic child want someone or something to blame. Symptoms are noticed a lot earlier these days, and they begin about the age vaccines are given, but that doesn't mean they're related.

I find some irony that these people are using junk science to back what seem to be a stronger "anti-science" sentiment than I would have ever believed possible. There seems to be an epidemic of The Stupids, especially in the US.

I've read reports in our local newspaper archive about the "Spanish Lady" (aka the 1918 pandemic). Even for those who managed to survive, it often left their health compromised for the rest of their life. For those who didn't survive... our town expanded the cemetery. I think we lost more people to the flu than the war at the time.

We now have antibiotics and other treatments that can help with the secondary problems (which is believed to be the major cause of death in those compromised by the 1918 strain), but we don't want to have to risk those medicines not working fast enough and/or the virus mutating to become resistant.

If you haven't already, you should watch season one of ReGenesis. The storyline is a fictionalized version of researchers trying to find ways to stop viruses and the like, and there's a recurring theme of a fascination with discovering the secrets of the Spanish Lady to prevent it from happening again that ends up with horrifying consequences. Not long after that season aired, researchers actually did sequence the DNA, as was done in the show. Fiction and reality collide quite a lot in that show.

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I saw the Wikipedia thing on "herd immunity," and thought that was an interesting concept to apply to human beings when I found out that the alternative term used is "community immunity."

For some reason, I can't say either one with a straight face. Yes, I am still mentally 12.

[nialla]

Yes, I am still mentally 12.

Stop insulting 12 year olds! ;)