Point: vaccination does not cause autism. This is a fact. It has been scienced to within an inch of anyone's life, proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Correlation does not equal causation. Jenny McCarthy was misled and you have been lied to.
Point: the risks of adverse reactions, the worst being (incredibly rare) anaphylaxis, are so small as to be almost negligible. Here, have some science.
I repeat: correlation does not equal causation. It's easy to blame your kid's autism/behavior problems/ADD/allergies on what, to you the layman, is an unknown injectable. Correlation does not equal causation.
It would be just fine and dandy if people wanted to be as idiotic as they wanted and chose not to immunize their kids because of some harebrained religio-pseudoscientific bullshit. But by doing so these morons are endangering my child (see: herd immunity). Diseases that shouldn't even be on anyone's radar anymore are making a comeback and KILLING CHILDREN.
Health officials cite an increase in the incidence of pertussis, particularly among infants and teenagers. In 1976, there were just over 1,000 reported cases of pertussis in the United States; by 2004, it had climbed to nearly 26,000 cases; and between 2000 and 2005, there were 140 deaths resulting from pertussis in the U.S. (NPR)Now let's take emotion out and look at this rationally.
- You get your child vaccinated and they might run a fever or have some sore joints for a day. If they're really, incredibly unlucky they might have a slight to severe allergic reaction. Chances of death are very, very, very, very, very small.
- You don't get your child vaccinated and they catch whooping cough. They're miserable but after two weeks of exhausting coughing, fever, diarrhea, and vomiting they pull through. Problem is that your kid infected your neighbor's newborn who suffered terribly before finally succumbing to death. And your kid also infected a classmate who infected their kid brother who suffered bleeding in the brain, seizures, and ultimately mental retardation.
Listen. I understand that everyone wants to do the best they can do with their kids. If you allow yourself to be misled by junk science and fearmongering, you're being stupid.
Luckily, stupidity has a cure.
2 comments:
Thank you for being one of the smart ones who understands the correlation:causation thing. My daughter has Asperger's and I get so tired of hearing people say immunizations (specifically MMR) caused the autism. Guess what? She had signs BEFORE she had the shot. How, if the immunization causes autism, is that even possible. Silly idiots ignoring science. Be selfish in the (wrongly assumed) attempt to save your kid while killing the rest of ours. Rat bastards. Thanks for being a voice of reason. There are too few of you.
@thesacredandtheprofane Thanks! There are islands of sanity floating around here; you just have to look hard to find them. :) I hope you and your daughter are doing well.
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