If this conversation were about newborn hep B shots, we’d have a debate.
But it isn’t, so we don’t.
Tiny babies are designed to be colonized by vaginal flora. This is an interesting article about how their immune systems, which need to be exposed to microorganisms immediately in order to function, can be compromised by caesarean delivery.
(I’m aware that peer-reviewed medical literature from the National Institutes of Health won’t change a committed mind, but I thought this might be of interest to others.)
Children (or adults) who have been vaccinated can still get chickenpox. The vaccine was only about 80% effective when it first came out, but not sure what the success if now. I know fully vaccinated kids who have gotten horrible cases of chickenpox, and one who was about 12 (vaccinated) who got whooping cough.
I like our chances much better with the vaccines, but we are not 100% guaranteed not to get the diseases even after vaccination.
I don’t mind if drug companies make money on vaccines. They put a lot of money into R&D and they deserve to make money on their product just like Chevy deserves to make money on its cars.
The problem I have is you cannot tell which child will have an adverse reaction to a vaccine. And to have huge numbers of unvaxxed kids brings down herd immunity which definitely increases the number of people who will get sick.
I have not seen compelling data on significant adverse reactions to vaccines; if someone could post some I’d love to read them.
And I say this as someone whose family member contracted Guillain Barre shortly after a flu shot - there is still not hard evidence of a connection to me and it does not stop me from getting my daughter a flu shot because I don’t want to risk severe asthma with her.
I had one hep A vaccine in 2005. Instead of just ordering another vaccination for me, my doctor put in an order for my blood to be tested for immunity. Sure enough, I am still immune to hep A, so I didn’t have to get another shot.
Interesting question - do anti-vaxxers continue to skip vaccines when there are outbreaks such as the one I linked above? Or do they get in line with everybody else since there’s no herd immunity to protect them?
“How are you going to control this? Should they wear armbands? Should the government forcibly vaccinate/revaccinate every single person of every age (even if they are completely healthy), damn the torpedoes? Because that looks like what some are advocating.”
@TranquilMind - can you supply a source for who is advocating this?
“Check out the VAERS reports on Gardasil.”
As noted by several athers, the VAERS system does not track proven side effects, but rather ANY reported events after vaccination in order to allow patterns to be detected. You do have to apply some critical thinking to the information, though. Gardasil, for example, has a higher-than-expected incidence of blood clots reported compared to other vaccines. However, the rate of blood clots was in line with that in the unvaccinated population that had similar risk factors, e.g. use of birth control pills. Sometimes commonly reported adverse effects are reported just because they’re common.
It’s true that vaccines have rare serious side effects. Guillain-Barré affects about 1 in a million… although there is also a background incidence of Guillain-Barré, so the true incidence may be lower. But almost 4000 women die from cervical cancer each year. And if you as a parent are that worried about the 1 in a million risk, then I strongly advise you never to let your child get into a car, because the risk of dying in a car crash is far, far higher.
Not sure what prompted it specifically, but the local news had a blurb about a “Vaccines Cause Adults” t-shirt that is trending recently. If I wore t-shirts with slogans, I’d get that one.
<p>Then you should probably be able to read vaccine inserts stating all the possible side effects. You should also be able to read the "studies’ (only done by the vaccine industry) which say vaccines aren’t harmful and realize they only tested ONE ingredient…mercury, not the dozens of other harmful ingredients in vaccines. You should also be able to read the stories of parents who immediately saw a change in their child like my own who started a seizure disorder THE NIGHT after he received multiple vaccinations and now is ill for life thanks to vaccinations! You should also be able to read books from MDs who point out the coverups and vast amount of medical information pointing to concerns with vaccination. You should also be able to read about how the government made the vaccine industry non-liable for any damage done for vaccination. I could go on and on, but I do not have time for people like you. You have NO IDEA what others suffer and sit on your high horse snubbing your nose at people who are truly suffering. I hope you will atleast try to give people like myself a chance. You could watch some clips from VAXXED on Youtube. </p>
<p>Vaxxed? You know who wrote, directed, and appeared as the main “expert” in that movie, right? Andrew Wakefield, the doctor who lost his license after falsifying his research linking vaccines to autism, research which has been widely, and repeatedly debunked.</p>
People like Wakefield infuriate me and I firmly believe they should be in prison. It’s one thing to be an anti-vaxxer. It’s another to use your credentials to lie for financial gain. He’s no different to me than a doctor who would knowingly poison a patient.
Wakefield was trying to sell a product and instead spawned a conspiracy that has cost thousands of lives.
This month’s Smithsonian Magazine several articles on the Flu. There is a long scary article on the Influenza of 1918-1919. There is an article on “The Birth of a Killer” on the H7N9 virus and an article on “How to stop a lethal virus”. These are must read articles.
