Yeah, it's another anti-anti-vax diary. But I have a problem with people that are impervious to logic and common sense and the vast preponderance of medical, scientific, and historical evidence. At the end of the day, the anti-vax religion (because that's really what it comes down to, at the end of the day -- zealotry not based upon actual facts) is more dangerous to the world than ISIS, because of it's potential to cause undiscriminate death of innocents worldwide that's far beyond the wildest dreams of the most insane religious extremist.
For the anti-vaxxers out there, if the above statement pisses you off...tough. I am totally unapologetic about it.
Let's take a look below the cheese curl at some of the illogical anti-vax idiocy I came across today on Teh Internets.
Claim 1. The vaccine has killed more people in the last ten years than measles.
A couple of problems with this statement. First of all, it absolutely, totally ignores the fact that the simple reason that people haven't been dying of measles is because the vaccines friggin' work.
It's a particularly stunning piece of nonlogic, in that the very fact that vaccines work as well as the do is perversely used as proof of how dangerous they are. Presumably if vaccines were less effective so that a couple thousand people were dying a year of the diseases they protect against, the anti-vaxxers would be totally cool with them.
The second issue is the claim of the number of deaths. The claims I've seen are based on shaky data at best, and deaths are credited to the vaccine simply due to proximity in time with no proof that the vaccine had anything to do with the death.
Correlation doesn't equal causation, folks. It's the same kind of faulty logic that would claim that eating ice cream causes rape because ice cream and reports of rape both increase during the summer.
Claim 2. zOMG! Mercury! zOMG!
This zombie just won't die no matter how many times it's shot in the head. First of all, it's a friggin' moot point! Thimerisol, the mercury compound people were in a tizzy about in the 90's, is only used...well, hell, let's let the CDC handle this:
Numerous studies have found no association between thimerosal exposure and autism. However, since 2001, no new vaccine licensed by FDA for use in children has contained thimerosal as a preservative and all vaccines routinely recommended by CDC for children younger than 6 years of age have been thimerosal-free, or contain only trace amounts of thimerosal, except for some formulations of influenza vaccine.
Only the multi-dose flu vaccine has anything beyond a trace of thimerisol. If you look at the link above, the reduction in the vaccines containing thimerisol has led to...no reduction in autism diagnoses in children. Gee, what a surprise.
Let's let the CDC get on with 'splainin' a little more about thimerisol:
What is the difference between ethylmercury and methylmercury? How are they different?
When learning about thimerosal and mercury it is important to understand the difference between two different compounds that contain mercury: ethylmercury and methylmercury. They are totally different materials.
Methylmercury is formed in the environment when mercury metal is present. If this material is found in the body, it is usually the result of eating some types of fish or other food. High amounts of methylmercury can harm the nervous system. This has been found in studies of some populations that have long-term exposure to methylmercury in foods at levels that are far higher than the U.S. population. In the United States, federal guidelines keep as much methylmercury as possible out of the environment and food, but over a lifetime, everyone is exposed to some methylmercury.
Ethylmercury is formed when the body breaks down thimerosal. The body uses ethylmercury differently than methylmercury; ethylmercury is broken down and clears out of the blood more quickly. Low-level ethylmercury exposures from vaccines are very different from long-term methylmercury exposures, since the ethylmercury does not stay in the body.
Does thimerosal cause autism?
No. Research does not show any link between thimerosal and autism.
Is thimerosal safe for people?
Yes. Thimerosal has been used safely in vaccines for a long time (since the 1930s) and has a proven track record of being safe. A variety of scientists have been studying the use of vaccines that have thimerosal in them for many years. They haven't found any actual evidence that thimerosal causes harm.
Claim 3. Measles isn't dangerous, anyway, so why take the risk, right?
Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
1 in 10 measles patients will experience secondary ear infections, with a risk of permanent hearing loss.
1 in 20 measles patients will contract pneumonia as a secondary infection. Find me the doctor that will tell you pneumonia is nothing to worry about, especially when stacked on top of another illness.
1 or 2 in 1,000 measles victims will die. Let me repeat that for the hard of thinking. 1 or 2 in 1,000 measles victims will die.
1 in 1,000 will experience brain swelling that can lead to cognitive impairment, deafness, blindness (or combination thereof), or death.
4 to 11 out of 10,000 survivors of measles are at risk of an often fatal central nervous system disorder called Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). It often manifests itself years after recovering from the measles.
Tell me again how measles isn't dangerous?
4. But all those vaccines will overwhelm my kids immune system!!!
Only if your kid lives in a plastic bubble and doesn't have a functioning immune system, in which case he probably isn't in the recommended group for vaccinations anyway.
Still more from the CDC:
Can so many vaccines, given so early in life, overwhelm a child's immune system, suppressing it so it does not function correctly?
No evidence suggests that the recommended childhood vaccines can “overload” the immune system. In contrast, from the moment babies are born, they are exposed to numerous bacteria and viruses on a daily basis. Eating food introduces new bacteria into the body; numerous bacteria live in the mouth and nose; and an infant places his or her hands or other objects in his or her mouth hundreds of times every hour, exposing the immune system to still more antigens. When a child has a cold they are exposed to at least 4 to 10 antigens and exposure to “strep throat” is about 25 to 50 antigens.
Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines, a 1994 report from the Institute of Medicine, states: “In the face of these normal events, it seems unlikely that the number of separate antigens contained in childhood vaccines ...would represent an appreciable added burden on the immune system that would be immunosuppressive
.”
Your kid is exposed to more viruses and bacteria in a five minute romp on the floor with the dog than you can count. Get over it, vaccines aren't an issue.
5. The outbreak at Disney was because of vaccinated kids! They shed the virus!
Yeah, it's total coincidence that the outbreak coincides with a sharp drop in vaccination rates [eyeroll].
Look, if shedding was a problem, outbreaks would be happening constantly, at daycares, schools, amusement parks, etc, all over the country. Shedding is not a thing. There is a very slight (as in, vanishingly small) risk of exposing immunocompromised people to recently immunized children, but no risk to healthy individuals, and "shedding" had abso-freaking-lutely nothing to do with the Disney outbreak.
Out of time, so that's enough ranting/education for now. 'Night kids!