I know I keep coming back to this vaccination topic, but really, I am so concerned about our desire to do the right thing overcoming our better judgement that I'm going to publish every rational, fact-based bit of information I can find that puts the Jenny McCarthys in a corner.
This is an article from a parent in the US whose immuno-compromised child (Cancer--much more serious than a vaccine.) couldn't go to daycare because other parents had decided not to innoculate their children on "religious or moral" grounds.
Quote:
"I realize that anti-vaccine sentiment has been around as long as the vaccines themselves. People who choose not to immunize their children may do so out of the best possible motives: They believe those vaccines endanger their children. But I wonder whether they have fully considered that the herd immunity, of which they are taking advantage, is designed to protect those who cannot be vaccinated."
EXACTLY. Because the more kids are immunized, the better off the rest of the kids will be. People need to stop taking disease for granted and weigh the real pros and cons. And just for the record, no, this does not apply to kids with severe egg allergies, as, obviously, the higher risk of dying from a severe reaction is worse than dying from mumps. But that is a separate (and PROVEN) reason against compared to the autism or "I don't believe in immunizing my kids" argument.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
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4 comments:
I really like the article you linked to. It does disclose a very important reason to consider immunizing. I think it is again important to note that McJ is not stating people shouldnt vaccinate. She is standing up for everyone and saying that pharmaceutical companies should stop putting nasty shit in their vaccines.
http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2005/08/heres-why-disdain.html discusses the commonly used studies used to 'disprove' causation and why they're not necessarily as sound as they should be. I think that is a fairly down to earth explanation of some very wordy science/medicine research that is hard to push through if you're not used to reading it. I additionally thought her defense of McJ is pretty balanced in http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2007/09/jenny-mccarthy-on-oprah-vaccine-injury.html
I totally understand and feel for the family which is unable to send their child to daycare. I absolutely hurt for people who lost their children to preventable diseases. I am certain they play the "what if" game everyday. I am pulled awkwardly in both directions, and think this is an excellent reason to not even have kids, because then you can't choose poorly! (sorry. In my head, the guy who decides who gets sick and who doesn't is the knight who meets Indy in the Last Crusade.)
Yeah, but without the rad chainmail and sword. Boo. :(
I have enough nightmares about feeding my cat too many unknown animal byproducts, so taking care of a kid's just the kind of responsibility I'd like to continue shirking for a while longer.
so why is it that you want to put the jmcs in a corner and so flout the sciencey articles you find which support immunizations, but you don't look for the same from the other side? I don't really understand why you are so pro immunization right now, when you have trouble picking food for your cat.
I haven't found very good arguments on the other side. Keep in mind, though, that while I dis JmC as an individual, the movement is different in her country than in ours, as the regulations and standards in Canada and the US are different. My biggest argument is that the threat immunization poses is less than the threat of having a generation of non-immunized human beings running around reinvigorating disease.
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