Ok, I am biting.
I started researching vaccines in great depth with the birth of my first daughter 8 years ago. There is so much wrong when it comes to the subject of vaccines, it is hard to know where to start. Here are some (very well-researched) facts for you:
1) The current US vaccine schedule has never been tested for safety. Vaccines are "tested" only individually, not in combination with others. (And when these safety tests are conducted, the "placebo" is usually an aluminum adjuvant--a potent neurotoxin. Also, the period of reporting is limited to a few days, maybe a couple of weeks at most.) So, when your doctor tells you it is perfectly safe to give your 2-month old infant 6 vaccines at once, he/she is misleading you. We simply do not know if it is safe because that study hasn't been done. And there have been no long-term safety studies on vaccines at all. Why not?
2) Vaccines absolutely CAN cause autism, and the federal vaccine court has been quietly awarding monetary damages to families so affected since the 1990's. As an attorney, I find it fascinating that these cases exist, and yet public health officials can say with a straight face on the evening news that vaccines absolutely do not cause autism. Also, what happened to journalistic integrity? These stories amount to nothing more than propaganda, and an attempt to sway public opinion. (As a side note, everyone should go online and read some personal accounts of families dealing with regressive autism as the result of vaccination--there are tens of thousands of such stories. This is the only way to achieve real informed consent, because most doctors will never admit to the possible negative effects of vaccines.)
3) The impressive decline in disease mortality over the first half of the past century was the result of improved living conditions (clean drinking water and food, modern sewer systems). There are some excellent CDC graphs depicting the decline in disease mortality well before the introduction of vaccines, and no, you do not need to be a doctor to understand them. This is the reason poor populations in third world countries are still dying in great numbers from these diseases. They don't need more shots--they need clean drinking water and better nutrition.
4) Herd immunity is a term that applies to populations with natural immunity to disease. Vaccines are a poor substitute for natural immunity, and the press has thrown this term around so much that people are confused and think it applies to vaccines. It doesn't, and vaccines have never been scientifically proven to work that way.
5) There has never been a study comparing the health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. You should be asking why.
6) The media frenzy over a few measles cases defies common sense. Yes, measles is highly contagious, but no, it is not highly dangerous to the US population. Not so long ago, it was a very common childhood illness that wasn't cause for concern. Even for babies. Why don't we focus on the 20,000+ deaths each year from hospital acquired infections? 100 cases of non-fatal measles is not news. But you should be asking why it is.
7) Parents--you simply cannot rely on a doctor's beliefs to make up your mind on this issue. Doctors spend very little time in medical school learning about vaccinations. And most of what they learn is limited to conclusions like: Vaccines saved the world, and no one suffers reactions to them. You need to recognize that there have been many instances in the not-too-far past when the medical establishment was wrong about the safety and effectiveness of common treatments. Example: It used to be that pregnant women had x-rays of their babies in utero (1950's). We now know how dangerous this is. Another example: Some common morning sickness medications used in the same timeframe caused horrific and well-documented birth defects, as those medications were not adequately tested before widespread use. Bottom line, you NEED to research these issues yourselves. You do not need to be an MD to be able to read, to reason, and to come to your own conclusions. You just need to be curious enough to look into it for yourself. Believe me, it is a fascinating and terrible read.
8) For those of you calling for mandatory vaccinations: When you no longer have the deciding vote about whether a foreign substance is injected into your body (whatever it may be), that would be the point when you are no longer free. Period.
9) For those you engaging in name calling and finger-pointing: You need to go back and read Dr. Seuss' "The Sneeches" (with stars upon thars).
nuff said. Thank You!
