5 ms·

Anti-vax parents aren’t stupid, love their kids, and aren't disregarding yours

3 points by thanatosmin 12y ago

owly 12y ago
I thought the main charge of the anti-vax group was the, now debunked, thimerosal-autism link. Is that not the case? No doubt that pharmaceutical companies have a history of spreading disinformation for profit. What is the solution? I believe greater openness and greater CDC oversight of independent trials is the only way. Much of the work requires very long term studies and the public is not willing to wait.
- DanBC 12y ago
  The MMR-autism sham involved a doctor (now struck off) who was developing his own measles vaccine and thus needed to stop people taking MMR, and who was being paid by a lawyer to find problems with the MMR vaccine for a law suit. That then-doctor took samples without permission, faked results, lied to colleagues. You're right about dishonest pharmaceutical companies losing the trust of the public, but in the MMR case we've had very strong evidence from a wide range of scientists and companies to show that MMR vaccine is safe. Although every thing carries some amount of risk the risks of having a vaccination are much less than not having the vaccination. I don't know how we get that message across to parents: there's a risk with everything, even with doing nothing, and in this case doing nothing is riskier than doing something.
bikamonki 12y ago
Jhonny's parents 'believe' vax are unnecessary so he skips the needle. A few years later he goes to a school with mostly vax kids. Naturally, on such healthy environment there is nothing for Jhonny to catch so he grows strong and healthy. His parents conclude that their belief was correct completely ignoring the fact that un-vax Jhonny never encounter a threat to actually 'prove' that vax are not needed. Jhonny's mom finds a better job so they move, this time they relocate to a community with a higher concentration of anti-vax parents. Summer's over, back to school, a few weeks in: boom a measles outbreak! Jhonny gets sick :( What went wrong?
sklogic 12y ago
Morons? Probably not. Ignorant? Definitely. A complimentary read on this topic: http://www.badscience.net/ http://www.badscience.net/
SEJeff 12y ago
I call blatant ignoring of facts, science, and numerous pleas from pediatricians supporting vaccinations as stupidity. What other word in the English language fits that description?
- bikamonki 12y ago
  Irrationality
sithadmin 12y ago
>"They love their kids no less than anyone else and sincerely want to protect them from harm. They are not trying to selfishly ride the herd immunity. They are not willfully endangering the health of the other kids." Oh, really? Willfully allowing your child to become a vector that enables the spread of disease to other people, including those that have legitimate reasons to depend on herd immunity rather than vaccinations (i.e., those that take immunosuppressant drugs after transplant operations, or those with otherwise compromised immune systems) doesn't count as willful endangerment? That's nonsense. The anti-vaxxer community operates from a moral low ground, and deserve to be held accountable for the grave public health risks they create.

3 points by thanatosmin 12y ago

owly 12y ago

I thought the main charge of the anti-vax group was the, now debunked, thimerosal-autism link. Is that not the case? No doubt that pharmaceutical companies have a history of spreading disinformation for profit. What is the solution? I believe greater openness and greater CDC oversight of independent trials is the only way. Much of the work requires very long term studies and the public is not willing to wait.

DanBC 12y ago
The MMR-autism sham involved a doctor (now struck off) who was developing his own measles vaccine and thus needed to stop people taking MMR, and who was being paid by a lawyer to find problems with the MMR vaccine for a law suit. That then-doctor took samples without permission, faked results, lied to colleagues. You're right about dishonest pharmaceutical companies losing the trust of the public, but in the MMR case we've had very strong evidence from a wide range of scientists and companies to show that MMR vaccine is safe. Although every thing carries some amount of risk the risks of having a vaccination are much less than not having the vaccination. I don't know how we get that message across to parents: there's a risk with everything, even with doing nothing, and in this case doing nothing is riskier than doing something.

bikamonki 12y ago

Jhonny's parents 'believe' vax are unnecessary so he skips the needle. A few years later he goes to a school with mostly vax kids. Naturally, on such healthy environment there is nothing for Jhonny to catch so he grows strong and healthy. His parents conclude that their belief was correct completely ignoring the fact that un-vax Jhonny never encounter a threat to actually 'prove' that vax are not needed. Jhonny's mom finds a better job so they move, this time they relocate to a community with a higher concentration of anti-vax parents. Summer's over, back to school, a few weeks in: boom a measles outbreak! Jhonny gets sick :( What went wrong?

sklogic 12y ago

Morons? Probably not. Ignorant? Definitely. A complimentary read on this topic: http://www.badscience.net/ http://www.badscience.net/

SEJeff 12y ago

I call blatant ignoring of facts, science, and numerous pleas from pediatricians supporting vaccinations as stupidity. What other word in the English language fits that description?

bikamonki 12y ago
Irrationality

sithadmin 12y ago

>"They love their kids no less than anyone else and sincerely want to protect them from harm. They are not trying to selfishly ride the herd immunity. They are not willfully endangering the health of the other kids." Oh, really? Willfully allowing your child to become a vector that enables the spread of disease to other people, including those that have legitimate reasons to depend on herd immunity rather than vaccinations (i.e., those that take immunosuppressant drugs after transplant operations, or those with otherwise compromised immune systems) doesn't count as willful endangerment? That's nonsense. The anti-vaxxer community operates from a moral low ground, and deserve to be held accountable for the grave public health risks they create.