12th May 2008
Don’t infect my kids with your diseases
I read an article this morning about an outbreak of pertussis in a California school which resulted in closing school to try to control the epidemic. Apparently, it’s a school where only about half the students have the normal required round of vaccinations; most parents had opted-out (presumably due to fears of autism).
This drives me up the wall. Autism is not caused by vaccines. The thimerasol (mercury-based preservative), which was initially blamed, has been out of vaccines for years now; multiple scientific studies show that the rate of autism has risen since then. Now anti-vaccinationists rely on the bugaboo of “toxins” without bothering to define them — no science, just fearmongering. Thus whooping cough is able to spread.
Pertussis isn’t just a “bad cough”, it’s agonizing. Similarly, chicken pox isn’t just a week of itching, it’s a ticket to shingles (agonizing pain, again). Polio is crippling (FDR wasn’t in a wheelchair for fun). Rubella causes dreadful complications in pregnant women. Diphtheria kills. Smallpox kills. I’m not a fan of putting all sorts of weird stuff in my kids bodies — I buy organic food, for example — but fuck, letting them die instead? Kinda defeats the purpose.
Modern medicine works. Let it. And in the meantime, keep your “wholesome” unvaccinated children the hell away from me and my family.
UPDATE: Bad Astronomy Blog was ranting about this at the same time I was today 
The reason the students in the Californian school weren’t vaccinated had very little to do with the (non-existant, but anyway) autism link. That particular school was a waldorf school–and those schools are based on a belief system called anthroposophy. Though these people avoid ‘poison’ and everything ‘unnatural,’ the real reasons for the whole popularity of non-vaccination in those circles are the teachings of a certain Rudolf Steiner at the beginning of the past century. Among other wacky things, he claimed childhood diseases–and virtually all diseases–are karmically caused and they should be endured to better one’s karma. This makes diseases good and welcome, and a beneficial obstacle to overcome in your personal/spiritual development. You don’t get autism from vaccinations, according to this belief, but from bad karma of your past life. Thus, these people won’t start vaccinating because all the ‘poisons’ are taken out of the vaccines or if all possible side-effects of the vaccine shots are conclusively ruled out by perfect evidence.
Waldorf schools, and communities surrounding waldorf schools, in Europe have seen recent (and documented) outbreaks of measles.
It’s sad and irresponsible.
Thank you — that is a good point, and a detail I was not aware of. I sort of figured “Waldorf School” was just the name of the place (e.g. it was paid for by a Mr. Waldorf). Nor had I heard of anthroposophy before… and reading the description of your Waldorf school experience is disgusting. Sorry.
I feel a little silly for blaming the autism branch of the anti-vaccinationists, I guess — but the point is still strong that whatever belief you have for “protecting” your children, you’re indirectly affecting the health of other people’s kids. Letting diseases flourish is harmful to everybody.
Thanks
Ah, well, blaming the autism-antivax-branch is probably right, to a certain extent, anyway–because those groups of people clearly influence each other. For example, I’m absolutely convinced that the anthroposophists are delighted that other groups go for similar agendas they do–for whatever reasons. They can sort of reinforce each others beliefs. And, also, I think they might view the anti-vaxers, the believers in anything that is ‘natural’ and the ‘poison-is-everywhere’-people as potential customers! Where will the anti-vaxers send their kids when public schools–or any school with a normal health policy–will require that children be vaccinated? Waldorf, of course! And anthroposophy sort of comes with a package that fits pretty well in with the general sentiments of the anti-vaccination bunch who at this point simply disbelieve ordinary medicine, but who could easily be encouraged to step further into the ‘alternative’ swamp of ignorance! (And anthroposophy’s got stuff and beliefs to sell them!)
So, I think it’s only fair to blame the anthroposophy-/waldorf bunch and the anti-vaccination-autism bunch collectively
(Waldorf was the name of the cigarette factory where the first Waldorf school was founded, a hundred years ago. In many countries, Waldorf schools are called Steiner schools instead, after the founder Steiner. In my country, Sweden, Waldorf schools are usually called Waldorf schools, as they are in the US and in Germany. In the UK and in Norway, they are often named Steiner schools. Waldorf, or Steiner, is like a trademark, I suppose!)
I think that we are really doing a bad job of convincing people to get their kids vaccinated. The focus on debunking the myth of vaccinations causing autism is, in my view, a big mistake. It’s approaching things from the wrong direction. People don’t dislike vaccinations because they think it causes autism; they think vaccines cause autism because they dislike the vaccines in the first place. They are just (largely unconsciously) looking for a reason to support an irrational belief that they already hold.
The strongest evidence of this is that lots of people have been opposed to vaccination since almost its earliest days. Yet as each piece of evidence these people put forward that vaccines are bad is debunked, a new one takes its place. The same body of people (and often the same vocal anti-vaccine activists) move on from one justification to another. Autism has proved to be a particularly effective thing to blame on vaccines, because it manifests itself right around the time kids are getting vaccinated. But just off the top of my head I can think of three supposed ways that the vaccines cause the autism; and since the mercury one is becoming pretty untenable, I’ll bet somebody is already formulating the next bogus link.
There will always be some true believers who will fight vaccination tooth and claw, coming up with an endless string of cockamamie reasons, which they use to justify to themselves their already held beliefs. However, most people who don’t get their kids vaccinated aren’t in this category. They are people who don’t like vaccines: they don’t like having their kids stuck with needles (probably having hated it themselves); or the notion of injecting any viral material into their children makes them uncomfortable. They are willing to grab onto anti-vaccine propaganda and justify not letting their children get shots. But if there were a strong societal opprobrium against doing that, they would go along with the vaccinations. These parents are, after all, not making this decision based on the merits, but entirely on psycho-social considerations.
The reason that vaccination rates are going down is that not having your kids vaccinated is becoming more socially acceptable. People who are now of child-bearing years are too far removed from the era when debilitating childhood diseases were commonplace to appreciate viscerally how important vaccination is. If you didn’t get your kids the polio vaccine in the 1960s, family members and other parents would get very upset with you. That doesn’t happen any more, and that’s why the (frankly) weak-willed people who don’t like vaccinations are actually following through on their stupid impulses nowadays in ever greater numbers.
So if we want to raise vaccination rates back up, we need to get the regular people who believe in vaccination angrier at the people who don’t. That is, I contend, what will really make the biggest difference.
We could also discuss the aluminum, electively aborted fetal cells, calf serum, etc. in vaccines, and how vaccinations are cultured in ground up monkey kidneys and other animal byproducts. Why don’t you all start looking outside the box instead of trying so hard to stay in. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that vaccines are not good for us. Our GOVERNMENT OWNED vaccine Gaurdisil has been killing young girls. Can we say population control? Just because you can’t see through the bullshit doesn’t mean that the people who can are crazy. Knowledge is power. You should really read more.
[blogger's note: this crazy person's tirade deserved its own post, and has been granted one.]
[...] mother” commented on my anti-anti-vaccination post from months ago… We could also discuss the aluminum, electively aborted fetal cells, calf [...]
Many of you are very misled. it is not crazy, hokey and uninformed people who are concerned about vaccines. First and foremost the ingredients we are worried (aluminum, formaldehyde, pigs brain, so on) are very toxic to the body, esp in children. No one is saying there has not been a public health benefit to vaccines, but there are risks and we should not be ignorant and blindly ignore them. For example the manufacturer of vaccines have to date paid 850 BIllion in damages to families whose children experienced adverse reactions. This is a fact, not a bloggers exaggeration just check the New England Journal of Medicine, one in 300 children have an adverse reaction to the dtp vaccine, most of this leading to permanent damage, not just a fever or red rash SO people on all sides have good points, but STOP blindly ignoring facts on the risks. There are risks with every medicine you take and vaccines are NO different. You may feel the benefit is greater then the risk, that is your choice, but to dismiss those who are still concerned is just ignorance. Also, the studies showing no link to autism were largely conducted by pharmaceutical companies and hardly unbiased. There were several children who had adverse reactions (19 in one study) and they had no way to explain it other then the vaccine caused it….don’t believe everything you hear about those worried about vaccines, educate yourself on both sides or you are as ignorant as you claim the anti-vaccination people are! Btw the flu vaccine STILL has mercury in it, just look right on the box it comes in…I have already seen it for myself
Dear Melissa,
I hope you never are a nurse for my children. Anybody that ignorant of the PERCENTAGE CONTENT of something should have their license revoked. You get more mercury in a tuna fish sandwich that you do from a flu vaccine.
Shame on you calling yourself a medical professional and spreading baloney like this. Yes, there are extremely rare adverse reactions — where did I say there are not? — but bullshit about “very toxic” ingredients is hyperbole. And when you exaggerate that much, you’re spreading misinformation.
The risks are all spelled out in great detail in the CDC information sheets which are supposed to be provided with every vaccine (including flu shots) that children get. Half a page lists risks.
Very interestingly, I’m looking at the DTaP vaccine sheet right now, since my son had his last week, and whaddya know, “severe problems” are so rare that the number isn’t even listed, “moderate problems” are seizure (1/14000), crying for 3 hours (1/1000), and high fever (1/16000) — and none of those moderate problems are permanent conditions. I would be very happy to learn exactly where you get the figure “one in 300 children have an adverse reaction” and “most of this leading to permanent damage”. If you aren’t able to back up YOUR “fact”, then please kindly never bring your “oh you’re so misled keep an open mind” whinging off my comments until you learn statistics.
“Pigs [sic.] brans”? How are those “very toxic”? Are you trying to get scare us with the specter of porcine spongiform encephalopathy? Which has never been confirmed to exist in swine, must less be transmissible to humans.
The old DPT vaccine was nasty though, with an unacceptably high risk of complications. My father saw that my younger brothers never got it. The new DTaP is completely reformulated, in response to medical dissatisfaction with the original, and is tremendously better. Quoting statistics on the number of complications from DPT today is like decrying modern medicine on the basis of how many people were killed by overzealous leechings.