/my-day-at-an-anti-vaccination-rally/

[Guest guest]

I wonder if my comments will remain up...

http://friendlyatheist.com/2010/05/27/my-day-at-an-anti-vaccination-rally/#comme\

nt-479932

A couple of points to be made…

To start with, ’s study has not be discredited in the least, and in fact

his findings of GI distress in autistic children has indeed been replicated

several times now. What was retracted were the implications that the problem he

identified was a direct result of the MMR, which even he said (if you would read

the actual published study) would require more in depth study to determine.

Furthermore, the GMC hearings against Wakefield found a single instance of

“unethical behavior " , namely the drawing of blood for control purposes in a

non-clinical setting. Having the Lancet toss the study based upon this is the

same as a mugger getting off because a cop failed to read Miranda to him when he

was arrested. I have to question why his drawing blood from will persons with

their willing parents present would be unethical simply because it wasn’t at

Royal Free, when vaccines are routinely dispensed in non-clinical settings all

the time. Sort of a goose and gander thing.

Secondly, children haven’t died because of Dr. Wakefield. MMR compliance rates

were actually lower prior to his study’s publication than they were following,

and more parents are declining vaccination now as a direct result of the

behavior of regulators like the CDC and MOH than they are because of a single

research paper. When it is blatantly obvious that the people who are promoting

vaccines are not telling the truth about certain aspects of it, public

confidence erodes and will continue to do so.

Speaking specifically about the measles, the mortality in the Western world from

this particular disease had declined by more than 90% nearly two decades before

the first vaccine for measles had ever been developed. Those who promote

compulsory vaccination the loudest will frequently spout unsubstantiated figures

that measles kills X number of children worldwide, when in fact the majority of

those deaths are estimated in areas where no census is possible, there are no

health officials keeping anything remotely resembling a body count, and in fact

it wasn’t the measles per se that killed the children that are seen, it was

malnutrition, lack of potable water and the collateral societal damage that

comes from war and famine. Even if we were to somehow completely erradicate

measles these children would still be dying from the root underlying causes.

Finally, though people like Offit want us to loathe and fear those persons who

choose to opt out of vaccinating do so using language that makes it appear to be

an all or nothing scenario. Many of the people who question vaccine safety do

not believe it is all or nothing, they wish to make better decisions based upon

the information they are able to get, often from medical professionals and from

peer-reviewed publications. They do not want to acknowledge that the US has paid

out nearly $2 Billion for vaccine damages, including hundreds of deaths since

the inception of the NVICP, despite having a compliance rate with reporting

vaccine adverse events of less than 10% by the CDC’s own admission before

Burton’s Committee. They do not want to let parents read the package inserts

from the manufacturers who list contraindicators that the AAP encourages

pediatricians to ignore. They do not allow discussion as to why we apply the

same risk/benefit ratio for a

truly dangerous disease to one that is at best a nuisance, and in fact may

actually help the body immune system get stronger. They do not want people to

think about how the US has dropped down the list for infant mortality all the

while aggressively adding more vaccines until our children have a lower chance

at life than any of the European nations despite having more than twice as many

shots as their children. And they certainly do no admit that we have destroyed

the natural immunity to many diseases that people had from catching them years

ago, opting instead for the temporary protection of vaccines (none of which

lasts more than a decade and some less than that), meaning nursing mothers no

longer share their immunity with their infants, effectively causing them to be

MORE at risk for disease complications than if we had left well enough alone.

Of course, those who profit like nothing better. By creating this last scenario,

they set the stage to have women of child bearing age primed to need multiple

boosters, which has just created a whole new market where one never was before.

Dr. Healy said it best when she left the NIH. The question of vaccines’ link

with autism has far from been answered, from a scientific POV.