Debunking anti-vaccination propaganda is something of a hobby of mine
Wow, what a hobby! I guess that makes me just an occasional anti-vaccination propaganda ranter. Like, for 5 years, I've been arguing with my friend (who is not stupid and has a college-education) over her anti-vaccination views.
Basically, she says she'll eventually get her kids vaccinated, but she wants them to be old enough to be able to tell her if they experience side-effects(?!?!) Like, wasn't a thermometer enough to diagnose/treat their ailments in infancy and toddlerhood? And when I told her that it isn't fair that parents like me have to assume the (albeit) small risk of adverse effects so that her kids can benefit from the herd immunity from measles, polio, diptheria, she said, "Aha, so you admit these vaccinations have adverse effects!"
Yes, of course they do! But even a rudimentary knowledge of statistics and epidemiology would show you that the risk of exposure to these potentially deadly pathogens in an unvaccinated population is much greater than the risk of side effects! Studies in Britain have shown that when the immunization rate has gone below a certain percentage level in the population (I forget what the percentage is), epidemics have broken out.
And as a student of the history of medicine, I can tell you that until about 1950, children regularly died of epidemics of diptheria, polio and measles -- a horror our generation has never experienced.
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Date: 2008-05-15 01:58 am (UTC)Wow, what a hobby! I guess that makes me just an occasional anti-vaccination propaganda ranter. Like, for 5 years, I've been arguing with my friend (who is not stupid and has a college-education) over her anti-vaccination views.
Basically, she says she'll eventually get her kids vaccinated, but she wants them to be old enough to be able to tell her if they experience side-effects(?!?!) Like, wasn't a thermometer enough to diagnose/treat their ailments in infancy and toddlerhood? And when I told her that it isn't fair that parents like me have to assume the (albeit) small risk of adverse effects so that her kids can benefit from the herd immunity from measles, polio, diptheria, she said, "Aha, so you admit these vaccinations have adverse effects!"
Yes, of course they do! But even a rudimentary knowledge of statistics and epidemiology would show you that the risk of exposure to these potentially deadly pathogens in an unvaccinated population is much greater than the risk of side effects! Studies in Britain have shown that when the immunization rate has gone below a certain percentage level in the population (I forget what the percentage is), epidemics have broken out.
And as a student of the history of medicine, I can tell you that until about 1950, children regularly died of epidemics of diptheria, polio and measles -- a horror our generation has never experienced.
Rant, Rant, Rant!