Vaccinations (Countering the misinformation of Anti-Vaxx Movement)

[Siggie]

Anti-vaxxers mislead people

Why I feel duped by the anti-vaccine movement


I have a 3-year-old daughter and a kid on the way. So I am fully aware of the vaccine debate. And by now, I’ve been conditioned to believe that my thinking on vaccines should always be, "Question everything."

But having just read the November cover story from Wired ("An Epidemic of Fear"), I'm now questioning why I’ve been so skeptical. Do I just feel this way because the anti-vaccine movement has me duped? Or are those fears grounded in something real?

The article asserts this: People who choose not to get vaccinated or get their children vaccinated are putting all of us at risk by increasing likelihood of outbreaks of previously nearly eradicated diseases. And those people have an irrational fear of something that's been proven time and again to be safe or at least a lesser risk than the alternative.

The story also shows that the problem with the anti-vaccine message is that it's not just about skepticism, which is of course healthy; it's really about fear of what might do your child harm versus what actually will. It says that we're letting that fear of being bad parents overtake what we should really fear: the diseases themselves.

The aha moment for me comes from the piece's most controversial interview subject, Dr. Paul Offit, creator of many vaccines who is also Public Enemy #1 for anti-vaccine activists: “The choice not to get a vaccine is not a choice to take no risk,” he says. “It’s just a choice to take a different risk, and we need to be better about saying, ‘Here’s what that different risk looks like.’ Dying of Hib meningitis is a horrible, ugly way to die.”

We here on Shine know firsthand that the anti-vaccine movement is not just active; it's practically devout. Its followers believe vociferously in their theories, and they don't take kindly to doubters. Many in this movement, especially those who have autistic children, are desperately looking for answers, and also want to protect other kids from ill effects. It's hard to tell someone watching their child suffer that they shouldn't explore every avenue of possibility, even ones that haven’t been proven in a lab.

But it’s difficult for me personally to ignore the hard-science statistics and studies that show that declining vaccination rates are bringing back diseases that were once thought to be eradicated (measles, mumps, pertussis). And it’s equally tough to disregard that many anti-vaccine arguments are held up by "evidence" that’s mostly conjecture. The story accurately points out that our modern society tends to think of health as something that "can be managed and controlled if we just make the right decisions." And as we flock to the Internet for answers, we end up finding a wealth of misinformation to back up our greatest worries.

Obviously, this story treads into extremely controversial territory with guns blazing. And maybe that aggressive, often-belligerent tone was what I needed to take a close look at my own beliefs. I realized that a lot of my concern over vaccines was based on others telling me what I should think.

So from here on, with my pediatrician's guidance, I'm officially a pro-vaccination mommy. My declaring my change of heart is not meant to be a judgment on anyone else’s choice to not vaccinate. I’m only hoping other parents will take a close look at how they're making their own choices, and ensure they’re choosing to not vaccinate just based on being scared or bullied into the non-vaccine camp.

I really feel for those who believe their suffering or their family’s suffering is caused by vaccines.And if there's a connection there, I'll trust one day it'll be discovered. But for my family and my child, I'm choosing to go with current science on this one, and I will choose to protect them and myself from real dangers versus unproven ones.

Source

[Siggie]

Mumps INCREASING

Old-fashioned mumps make comeback in Borough Park; 57 confirmed cases
City health officials warned Thursday of an outbreak of the old-fashioned childhood disease mumps in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.

The outbreak was traced to a child who went to Britain - where the illness is more common because of lower levels of vaccination - and then attended a summer camp upstate, apparently infecting dozens of kids.

City health officials say there are 57 confirmed or probable cases and they are investigating more. Those infected are mostly between 10 and 15 years old.

Puzzlingly, 75% of the victims had the normal two doses of mumps vaccine, which is supposed to protect against the illness 90% of the time.

"We know that approximately one in every 20 people who are vaccinated may not develop antibodies," said Dr. Jane Zucker, assistant commissioner of immunization. "If the vaccine was not effective we would have many, many more cases. "

The infection caused by the mumps virus was a common scourge of childhood - and a leading cause of deafness - until vaccination largely ended it in the developed world.

Typically, it causes a painful swelling of the salivary glands. In rarer cases, patients can be rendered deaf.

It spreads through coughs and sneezes, and a person becomes ill about two weeks after exposure.

There is no treatment. The illness usually lasts about 10 days.

source

[Federate]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

Meanwhile, Armenia continues to remain H1N1 free but remains on high alert in case of an outbreak.
--------------------------------------------------------
Armenia has no swine-flu cases registered


According to Armenia’s chief infectiologist, Ara Asoyan, and Anti-Epidemiological Inspectorate Director Artavazd Vanyan, there has not been a single case of H1N1 virus in Armenia.

Sanitary-quarantine measures have been put in place to prevent spread of infection, Artavazd Vanyan announced. He also pointed that Armenia has got all the necessary laboratory equipment providing medical examination.

414 thousand laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported worldwide, said Ara Asoyan.

http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2009/10/30/grip/

[ArmSurvival]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

The CBS article that KanadaHye posted is a very revealing investigation. It helps prove what many "conspiracy theorists" have been saying all along. Namely, that this flu is blown WAY out of proportion, in order to create panic amongst people which works to boost demand for vaccination programs (a multibillion dollar industry).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX14wnmbPJI&feature=related

Listen to what Barbara Loe Fisher says in the first half of Part 2:

This assumption that we ought to never, ever have any experience with influenza or other kinds of infections is potentially counter-productive to achieving true good health. One of the things I’ve been worried about is if you try to prevent all experience, from childhood, with Type A or Type B influenza with vaccination, which only gives you a temporary immunity at best, you take out from the population, you prevent the population from ever having any natural experience with influenza, and you basically set up a situation where you become vaccine-dependent and you become exquisitely vulnerable to future pandemics of potentially more dangerous types of influenza because the population has no natural immunity whatsoever. And who’s right is it really, to decide, to make that kind of a decision for a population, that there should be no natural experience with Type A or Type B influenza and that we should become totally vaccine-dependent?

And notice how they discuss an investigation which highlights the conflicts of interest between the federal policymakers in the FDA and CDC and the companies that manufacture the vaccines. They are saying exactly what KanadaHye has been saying this whole time. So are these professionals in fact just conspiracy theorists? Are they engaging in psuedo-science?

[Sip]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

My appologies for not having read this entire thread before commenting (in case this has been discussed) but Google flu trends recently added a number of new countries (in addition to the US) and provides some very interesting data about this year's flu craze.

https://www.google.org/flutrends

In case you haven't seen this before, they are able to track flu outbreaks, fairly accurately, by what people are searching on google, much faster than the CDC is publishing their findings.

[Siggie]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

There are news stories trying to sway public opinion on getting the H1N1 vaccine by claiming the US is getting the live virus vaccine and the Canadian vaccine is the killed strain so it is safe. What incentive would a reporter have to make up stories? If the seasonal flu is the same, then once you get sick, you should be immune to it. There is no H1N1 outbreak and it is not deadly, why are they so persistent with selling this to the public?

I was commenting on the example you gave of the media reporting deaths not attributed to H1N1 by doctors as H1N1 deaths. I don't know what you're talking about as to the type of vaccine.
The incentive to fear-monger is clear... it gets people to watch the news.

Influenza is influenza, but it mutates so there are different strains. That is why we get some protection, but not immunity unless to the identical strains. This is what necessitates an annual vaccine. My point was that H1N1 was built the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine every year. It's not a completely new vaccine. It's made the same way.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

It's not trial and error. Every year they try to predict which strains of influenza will be most prevalent and include those in the seasonal flu vaccine. H1N1 is done the same way. The base is the same as the seasonal flu is the same, but they are including killed strains of H1N1 virus instead or the other varieties of influenza virus. What is so hard to wrap our heads around? It's not a completely new thing that's never been tested in any shape or form.

There are news stories trying to sway public opinion on getting the H1N1 vaccine by claiming the US is getting the live virus vaccine and the Canadian vaccine is the killed strain so it is safe. What incentive would a reporter have to make up stories? If the seasonal flu is the same, then once you get sick, you should be immune to it. There is no H1N1 outbreak and it is not deadly, why are they so persistent with selling this to the public?

[Siggie]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

Oct. 21, 2009

Swine Flu Cases Overestimated?

CBS News Exclusive: Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...MainColumnArea

Every death in Canada is now reported due to swine flu even though there is absolutely no evidence that it is the cause of death. In fact, possible meningitis deaths are being reported as swine flu without any diagnosis. This is very poor and irresponsible reporting by the media.

That's a problem with the media not reporting on only the confirmed cases.

Junk science is using the trial and error method of developing vaccines and using entire populations for testing. It's kind of like being the first person to eat the poisonous mushroom.

It's not trial and error. Every year they try to predict which strains of influenza will be most prevalent and include those in the seasonal flu vaccine. H1N1 is done the same way. The base is the same as the seasonal flu is the same, but they are including killed strains of H1N1 virus instead or the other varieties of influenza virus. What is so hard to wrap our heads around? It's not a completely new thing that's never been tested in any shape or form.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

Oct. 21, 2009

Swine Flu Cases Overestimated?

CBS News Exclusive: Study Of State Results Finds H1N1 Not As Prevalent As Feared

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...MainColumnArea

Every death in Canada is now reported due to swine flu even though there is absolutely no evidence that it is the cause of death. In fact, possible meningitis deaths are being reported as swine flu without any diagnosis. This is very poor and irresponsible reporting by the media.

Then you quote a quack alternative medicine, natural medicine, junk-science site for the information saying the vaccine was harmful.

Junk science is using the trial and error method of developing vaccines and using entire populations for testing. It's kind of like being the first person to eat the poisonous mushroom.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Vaccinations (Anti-Vaxx Movement)

If you read the history, the disease had begun being treated as early as 1000 BC.

Taken from Wiki:

"Inoculation was allegedly first practiced in India as early as 1000 BC, and involved either nasal insufflation of powdered smallpox scabs, or scratching material from a smallpox lesion into the skin. However, this idea has been challenged as few of the ancient Sanskrit medical texts of India described the process of inoculation. Accounts of inoculation against smallpox in China can be found as early as the late 10th century, and the procedure was widely practiced by the 16th century, during the Ming Dynasty. If successful, inoculation produced lasting immunity to smallpox. However, because the person was infected with variola virus, a severe infection could result, and the person could transmit smallpox to others. Variolation had a 0.5–2% mortality rate; considerably less than the 20–30% mortality rate of the disease itself."

The small pox vaccine was developed over thousands of years until it became a near perfect science.

Now how is it that it made a huge impact and come back in the 20th century? And in the UK and USA which supposedly are now the "first world" countries