Okay, but that can fall within the scope of “medically contraindicated” doesn’t it? The same as someone who is allergic to a vaccine, is too young to receive the vaccine, is immunocompromised, or who has had Guillain Barre syndrome. I don’t see anyone here arguing against that.
That’s not the same as "vaccinations just don’t feel good for my family.
My comment was in response to a post which talked about exemptions for all kinds of things, not vaccines specifically.
tbh, that exemption probably stems of the old pertussis vaccine, in the pre-acellular pertussis era. It should probably be revised and eliminated, but most likely never will. Those heavy-duty neurologic side effects were more associated with the old DTP. Now we use DTaP.
NY state is very strict about checking up on vaccines for school and stingier than most about giving exemptions, an yet there are sizeable populations not getting vaccinated. There was terror abound at Memorial SLoan Kettering during the mumps epidemic within a Hassidic Jewish population. They have their own school structures, so they tend not to vaccinate. They also tend to have a higher than average incidence of cancers, so they brought the disease right to the cancer hospital. Yeah, nice, right? There are states that are more lenient and doctors that will sign for just about any reason.
Just realized I interpreted the "seizures run in the family " to be “seizures after certain vaccines run in the family.”
My mistake.
This is sad http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/02/open-letter-parent-unvaccinated-child-measles-exposure
Also, ot only was Wakefield’s study linking MMR and autism/colitis discredited, but he had a clear conflict of interest, accepting large payments from attorneys trying to prove the vaccine was unsafe. He ultimately lost his license to practice medicine. But look what mess thats left us in. The outbreak has now hit 14 states. The American Academy of Pediatrics is urging people to vaccinate their kids. http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Urges-Parents-to-Vaccinate-Children-to-Protect-Against-Measles.aspx
One of my professional listservs is having an active discussion regarding whether they have the right to refuse to see individuals who are not vaccinated. Its an interesting discussion.
There are thousands of Hannah Polings. Listen to them. Hear their stories. Those stories are your missing piece. Science has not looked at these children to find the common bond.
Haven’t any of you seen the Gerberding interview on CNN that says, “Vaccines don’t cause autism except when they do.” ?
Merck is in hot water right now - they have a study that shows increased risk of autism from MMR in African American boys, so they just removed those kids from the results and published a positive study. Additionally, there are charges that Merck misrepresented efficacy of the mumps portion of the MMR.
@cosmicfish Ginger Taylor keeps a list of studies at Adventures in Autism. There are almost one hundred. look for the “No Evidence of Any Kind” post. I can’t post the link bc it is on a b l o g .
Have any of you read the Matt Walsh columns on this topic?
@jym626, that was indeed a touching article. And a rabid anti-vaxxer won’t give a flying flip about that man’s children.
Palomina, do you believe Jenny McCarthy has scientific credibility?
BTW, does anyone remember Gene Tierney, the old-time movie star – She caught rubella at a public event; her daughter was born severely mentally and physically handicapped as a result. Many years later, the fan who had infected her came up to her and said - oh, I broke quarantine to come see you, I’m such a big fan - did you get German measles? I did. Gene Tierney simply replied that she had, as well, and didn’t finish the rest of the story - which was that she had suffered through hell with this young child with such severe problems.
These diseases are dangerous, Palomina. Just because a bunch of people with no scientific, immunological, or biochemical knowledge or experience “feel” differently doesn’t make it so.
I have. I know about the Hannah Polings case, and I’ve looked at the numbers as a professional mathematician and statistician, and I also know how parents are feeling not in autism but in having a kid whose life is directly threatened as I feared a re vaccination could trigger a relapse in my child that would almost certainly lead to death. Not autism, but a terrible, terrible death. So, yes I was afraid, more afraid than you could possibly be, having seen the deaths and suffering first hand. And yet, in looking at the numbers and then seeing the reality of the diseases that these vaccines suppress, I let logic take over, and the pure power of numbers, and knew that the chances overalll of drastic harm, the final harm, mortality was far lower, not just a little but far lower if I shouldered the risk of vaccine. Pure selfishness when you think the risk of your child’s well being is more important and of impact than the very LIVES of many people, and that is what it comes down to. Yes, I did the numbers, And I had the re vax done even as I was scared beyond scared, not of autism or other LDs and conditions (for which the chemo and radiation had larger risks of doing with no disputes among any of the doctors but of a slow, agonizing death of my child. I’d take the autism any day.
Palomina, even Hannah Poling’s father is not anti-vaccine.
This article also makes the point that proving something legally is not the same as proving it scientifically.
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20080306/dad-in-autism-vaccine-case-speaks-out
Pizzagirl, that story is chilling. I don’t think I could live with myself knowing I had done that.
But apparently a lot of people can…again, they don’t care.
It should be right out there that there are risks with vaccines and some people will be adversely affected but that the protection it gives to the population as a whole in terms of MORTALITY rates makes it a requirement. Not that it’s even that much of a requirement. You can’t register for school, so you home school. The unvaccinated are still out there in the libraries, playgrounds, public. You have no idea. In a state that is strict, in schools that check carefully, I would have had no trouble getting exemptions if I wanted them. So it’s not difficult getting out of vaccinating. The issue is that it causes more PERMANENT, damage, DEATH, if these diseases slip out of control, and it’s our most vulnerable population that go first.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/30/health/arizona-measles-vaccination-debate/index.html
Dr Wolfson’s attitude towards the risks he poses by not vaccinating his children (so that they remain “pure”) is typical of the selfishness that non vaxers have about others. And this guy is a doctor.
Even requiring vaccinations for school doesn’t get that risk down, when these unvaccinated kids are all over the place. And there are plenty of doctors that will sign the release.
@Pizzagirl, I think of Gene Tierney often in these discussions. The version I read was that the fan, years later, “gushed” to Gene Tierney that she had broken quarantine to see her, as though that would make Ms. Tierney value her devotion. Ms. Tierney was allegedly so shocked, so enraged, that she couldn’t even respond, and turned and walked away, never confronting that idiot.
I think I would have lunged at that lady’s throat, just full of uncontrollable rage.
I have a question. If antivaxxers believe that vaccines cause autism and autism symptoms are always apparent by, say age three, why then not inoculate your child against these diseases when they reach school age? Certainly nobody believes that the child is going to become autistic at age 5 or 6.
I was just watching Anderson Cooper. They interviewed an anti-vaxxer and said “If your child sickened another child and that child died, could you live with yourself?”
The father answered, “I could live with myself very well. The fact is people die. I’m not going to put my child at risk to save someone else.” That is a close representation of what he said (I tried to rewind to get his exact words, but my cable box is messing up).
Those people don’t care about anyone else. The know the risk is small, but they will not subject their kids to that small risk in order to protect anyone else’s vulnerable child. They just.don’t.give.a.#%$@.
I wonder if he would take his unvaccinated kid to Pakistan where polio is making a comeback? What if their unvaccinated infant is exposed to someone with pertussis? It is also an incredible risk to the unvaccinated kids.
OMG…these people. Check out this rally in which they use their autistic kids as anti-vaccine advocates.
@EPTR - because that is too logical! These people don’t live in logic land they live in paranoid fantasy land.