The toll of the anti-vaccination movement, in one devastating graphic

[Padawanbater2]

Aaron Carroll today offers a graphic depiction of the toll of the anti-vaccination movement. (H/t: Kevin Drum.) It comes from a Council on Foreign Relations interactive map of "vaccine-preventable outbreaks" worldwide 2008-2014.


A couple of manifestations stand out. One is the prevalence of measles in Europe -- especially Britain -- and the U.S. Measles is endemic in the underdeveloped world because of the unavailability of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.


But in the developed world it's an artifact of the anti-vaccination movement, which has associated the vaccine with autism. That connection, promoted by the discredited British physician Andrew Wakefield and the starlet Jenny McCarthy, has been thoroughly debunked. But its effects live on, as the map shows.


Vaccine panic also plays a role in the shocking incidence in the U.S. of whooping cough, also beatable by a common vaccine. Researchers have pointed to the effect of "non-medical exemptions" from legally required whooping cough immunizations -- those premised on personal beliefs rather than medical reasons -- as a factor in a 2010 outbreak of whooping cough in California.


ALSO: The seamy history of the vaccine-autism "link"


These manifestations underscore the folly and irresponsibility of giving credence to anti-vaccination fanatics, as Katie Couric did on her network daytime TV show in December. We examined the ethics of that ratings stunt here and here.


Among other worthwhile examinations of the impact of the anti-vaxxers, see this piece about growing up unvaccinated in Great Britain in the 1970s, and this disturbing piece by Julia Ioffe about her battle with whooping cough, a disease no American should have.


The lesson of all this is that vaccination is not an individual choice to be made by a parent for his or her own offspring. It's a public health issue, because the diseases contracted by unvaccinated children are a threat to the community. That's what public health is all about, and an overly tolerant approach to non-medical exemptions -- and publicity given to anti-vaccination charlatans like Wakefield and McCarthy by heedless promoters like, sadly, Katie Couric, affect us all.


Carroll, who assembles the relevant papers and documents on the MMR/Autism sophistry here, deserves the last word. "Vaccinate your kids," he writes. "Please."




http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-antivaccination-movement-20140120,0,5576371.story#axzz2wH2ANpOV

 

[chewberto]

Fucking liars!

 

[Myles117]

i dont need no vaccinations!!! ill just drink another beer and everything will be okay

 

[racerboy71]

i don't get if why vaccines work they way they claim they do, why is the disease(s) spreading to people(s) who were previously vaccinated?
seems to me the only people who would be getting sick were the ones who never got the vaccines, or am i missing something here??

 

[racerboy71]

i'm not saying vaccines are good nor bad, but i will say it's nice to see people not trusting big pharma for a change of pace..

now if only some of these people would also stop being so willing to try all of these new cure all drugs that a year later we find out makes ones testicles swell up to the size of basketballs, or, my personal favorite, the anti-depression med that causes suicidal thoughts and actions in people who take them..

 

[chewberto]

Phuck pharm! My new brand...

 

[tytheguy111]

i'm not saying vaccines are good nor bad, but i will say it's nice to see people not trusting big pharma for a change of pace..

now if only some of these people would also stop being so willing to try all of these new cure all drugs that a year later we find out makes ones testicles swell up to the size of basketballs, or, my personal favorite, the anti-depression med that causes suicidal thoughts and actions in people who take them..

Its all pretty much sugar pills that they say is bad if you stop taking them the only medicine I trust is good ole Marlene Jhonson ( weed )

 

[racerboy71]

Its all pretty much sugar pills that they say is bad if you stop taking them the only medicine I trust is good ole Marlene Jhonson ( weed )

but seriously, if you're vaccinated, why on earth would you care if your neighbor is, if vaccines do what they claim?? like i said, wouldn't the spread of disease be limited to only to those who haven't been vaccinated? (btw, i'm asking here as i'm not exactly sure).. and i can't see the number of un-vaccinated being nearly as high as the numbers on pada's graph thingy there, or like i said, am i missing something here?
i know this has been all over face book the past day or two..

 

[Unclebaldrick]

but seriously, if you're vaccinated, why on earth would you care if your neighbor is, if vaccines do what they claim?? like i said, wouldn't the spread of disease be limited to only to those who haven't been vaccinated? (btw, i'm asking here as i'm not exactly sure).. and i can't see the number of un-vaccinated being nearly as high as the numbers on pada's graph thingy there, or like i said, am i missing something here?
i know this has been all over face book the past day or two..

Vaccines are seldom 100% effective, also some people cannot take them due to age, medical conditions and allergies. It is a serious public health risk. Jenny McCarthy is a dimwit. But she used to smoke my weed.

 

[chewberto]

McCarthy is trying to fuck with Donnie Wahlburg. My guess is she is trying to get to Marky.

 

[Singlemalt]

Immunology is a complex process. Some bugs mutate at a high rate ex. colds (rhinovirii) so a vaccine isn't effective; in some the immune system needs periodic boosting (polio, rabies); and in some one shot does it

 

[minnesmoker]

Vaccines depend on the herd being vaccinated. A kid with the flu has a compromised immune system. If Johnny Fuckwit sends little typhoid Mary and measles Marvin to school, the disease gets to incubate in the weakened environment, building tolerance to the disease. If this happens multiple times, from multiple sources, in the same herd, the herd's immunity collapses and so does the herd.

Must vaccines are safe.they contain chemicals (aside from the the dead disease being vaccinated against) that we consume on a daily basis.

OP: why do you care? Do you have cattle in the herd? Are you actually shocked? Or is it just a cheap and easy way to get and "the sheeple" bashing going?

And, my use of the word herd is not indicative of my belief that people are sheep or other livestock, it's simply the most accurate way to describe it. (And, I root for the flu every year... 18% of epicenter is my bet on the tipping point.)

 

[srh88]

Phuck pharm! My new brand...

funny pharm would be a good breeder name if chevy chase made seeds

 

[charface]

I would get more involved if I could
inflate Jenny McCarthy with a coffee
straw.

They call me Schwing Blade

 

[Canna Sylvan]

Go mercury poisoning! FTW!

 

[Padawanbater2]

Go mercury poisoning! FTW!

 

[minnesmoker]

Go mercury poisoning! FTW!

That's been debunked. As I said above, aside from the disease itself, there's little or nothing you're exposed to during vaccination. There is no link between vaccinations and mercury poisoning or autism/apserger's.

Uninformed does not equal idiocy. I don't think I can say the same about a single picture response to someone posting up a common misconception..

You never answered my question. Why do you care? Is it trivia, is it just so you can mock people, or do you have and cattle in the herd?

 

[kelly4]

That got me to lol. It's funny enough on it's own, but the fact that you post it about someone else makes it hilarious.

 

[greenlikemoney]

No vaccines for me, not even a flu shot. Closed system. Feck big pharm and feck the NWO. Oh, and feck' Barry, Bucky and Cheezytoes.

 

[racerboy71]

No vaccines for me, not even a flu shot. Closed system. Feck big pharm and feck the NWO. Oh, and feck' Barry, Bucky and Cheezytoes.

my favorite was this chick i went to hs with on facebook saying how she's got the flu and how awful it is and for everyone to make sure they get the flu shot as she and her family did, yet the all had the flu.. the irony was unsettling to say the least..
me, i haven't had the flu shot in, well, probably ever, unless they gave it to me a kid or in school that i'm unaware of, and i haven't had the flu in over 20 plus years, knock on wood..