A story from family history
Mar. 8th, 2006 05:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageBack on my kick about vaccinations - I'll make it public for those who wish to link to it later.
My grandmother used to tell the story of her cousins, who went to a Sunday School Picnic around 1928. She herself stayed home, because her baby sister was ill and her mother needed the help, but out of her very large family, almost all the kids went. They went to a local park and waded in a pond, having a glorious time. Nana was quite jealous.
Two weeks later, two-thirds of them were dead of diptheria. Several more were weakened by it enough that when another disease came flying around a few years later, their overall health was lessened and they succumbed to that. (I think that was scarlet fever.)
Contrast that mortality rate - approximately 66% - with the fairly slim chance of developing any kind of autism. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sassy_fae, stat please?) Now contrast it with the even slimmer chance that that autism has anything at all to do with the vaccines you're giving your kids.
And this was just one disease. Not the fifteen or so against which modern, free vaccines in Canada will protect them.
Please, please, vaccinate your kids. It's the single best thing you can do to ensure that they will grow up to be healthy adults. Vaccines are the reason we no longer feel the need to have half a dozen children each. We're not afraid anymore than one bad epidemic of measels will take our only child away from us. If we don't vaccinate, we should be.
My grandmother used to tell the story of her cousins, who went to a Sunday School Picnic around 1928. She herself stayed home, because her baby sister was ill and her mother needed the help, but out of her very large family, almost all the kids went. They went to a local park and waded in a pond, having a glorious time. Nana was quite jealous.
Two weeks later, two-thirds of them were dead of diptheria. Several more were weakened by it enough that when another disease came flying around a few years later, their overall health was lessened and they succumbed to that. (I think that was scarlet fever.)
Contrast that mortality rate - approximately 66% - with the fairly slim chance of developing any kind of autism. (
sassy_fae, stat please?) Now contrast it with the even slimmer chance that that autism has anything at all to do with the vaccines you're giving your kids.And this was just one disease. Not the fifteen or so against which modern, free vaccines in Canada will protect them.
Please, please, vaccinate your kids. It's the single best thing you can do to ensure that they will grow up to be healthy adults. Vaccines are the reason we no longer feel the need to have half a dozen children each. We're not afraid anymore than one bad epidemic of measels will take our only child away from us. If we don't vaccinate, we should be.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-08 02:28 pm (UTC)why else would I make so many baby afghans.I worked in nursing for almost 10 years and went to nursing school for a brief period of time; I am a big proponent for vaccinations. I’ll have to check with the nursing instructor at work, too.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-08 03:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-08 04:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-03-08 09:37 pm (UTC)The problem with the scare is a) too little clinical information, b) too little attention to the vast benefits of the vaccines and the very small occurrence of autism in the population in general, c) the fact that most of the important vaccines are now available in a thimersol-free variety. In Canada, all infant vaccines are thimersol-free, as is the flu shot and the Rh shot for pregnant women. The thimersol-free vaccines are not standard in the States, but they can be requested.
So, while I'm reserving my opinion about the possibility of a link between mercury poisoning and autism pending more research, I'm also choosing to vaccinate because my government reacted to the scare in the only sensible way - they pursued equivalent vaccines without that ingredient, and made them standard.