http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/02/health/AP-EU-Britain-Medical-Journal.html?_r=1&hp This may escalate to the D&D, but I wanted to post it here to get as many people to read this as possible. Thoughts?
Blood type is what sets us apart. I went to a new high school in a district 30 miles away, and yet they followed me with these shots and kicked me out of school until I took them. The Constitution is paper, and so is money. Yet, the former piece of paper has no value. "Paper is poverty." -Thomas Jefferson, 1788.
This has been studied to death, and is a place for fools and conspiracy nuts to hang their hats. The entire population pays the price.
I support this statement, but with nicer language. Parents of autistic children, in its full spectrum, of *course* want to know what may have led to the condition. I can only imagine it. And new parents want to "protect" their babies from every possible thing -- it's as natural as being alive. But it has been studied to death. Even if this one odd article in the Lancet was allowed to stand, so very many other studies have found zero correlation that the large weight of scientific evidence has spoken: vaccines are not causing the observed rise in autism. And as lpbman said, non-vaccinated kids make our societal immunity weaker. It's really not a smart thing for people to do, speaking logically, and the decision to avoid vaccines affects more than just the one kid.
I don't apologize for my tone except to say this isn't the place for it so ... Sorry. But not immunizing has direct, demonstrable consequences in the form of body bags. I realize no one does this with the intent to harm others.
I definitely didn't want you to apologize. It's the internet. I'm more hoping to reach out to (perhaps) someone reading who is scared of vaccines.
Don't be stupid like these people. Get vaccinated; vaccinate your kids. If this idiocy continues we might all be at risk again.
Interestingly and in keeping with observations we've made on other topics, the far right and the far left are increasingly united in their distrust of basic science. Marin County in Northern California now has barely 80% of children vaccinated. It is called an emerging health emergency, in one of the most affluent counties in the country. Super-hippy-dippy liberal parents thinking they know better than established science. Very sad, and as you say, very dangerous. (sorry no link for data -- local public radio report as of a few days ago)
That's terrifying. Herd immunity requires around 96% to work. A bunch of dolts are putting everyone at risk.
LOL, well 3 years later and my thoughts are pretty much the same. I come from a scientific and medical background so I was never off the vaccine bandwagon. I have seen what strept pneumonia can do to a vulnerable individual and hope to never see a case of whooping cough. The difference between linking autism to vaccines and linking vaccine preventable disease to vaccines is that one is absolutely true and one is absolutely false. This is the one unique aspect of social policy where your personal decision undoubtedly changes the overall outlook of the community's health. I am a proponent of individual rights, but I will not stand for ignorance. It honestly doesn't matter what your reasons are for not using vaccines, at the end of the day you are making a conscious decision that absolutely endangers the health of the community.
Well, thank you for the response. I really wasn't sure how you stood on the topic. I agree that everyone should get vaccinated. I saw a local news report a few months ago that said that some of the areas of Houston with the lowest vaccination rates were also areas where the population was highly educated. I found this to be rather surprising and disturbing.
