(paraphrased) The truth is that vaccines are one of our greatest public health achievements, and one of the most important things you can do to protect your child. They say that vaccines haven’t been rigorously tested for safety; however, vaccines are subjected to a higher level of scrutiny than any other medicine. They will say that doctors won’t admit there are any side effects to vaccines; however, the side effects are well known, and except in very rare cases quite mild. They say that the MMR vaccine causes autism. It doesn’t. (The question of whether vaccines cause autism has been investigated in study after study, and they all show overwhelming evidence that they don’t.) They say that thimerosal in vaccines causes autism; it doesn’t, and thimerosal hasn’t been in most vaccines since 2001. They say that the aluminum in vaccines (an adjuvant, or component of the vaccine designed to enhance the body’s immune response) is harmful to children; however, children consume more aluminum in natural breast milk than they do in vaccines, and far higher levels of aluminum are needed to cause harm. They say that vaccines aren’t that effective at preventing disease; however, 3 million children’s lives are saved every year by vaccination, and 2 million die every year from vaccine-preventable illnesses. They say that if other people’s children are vaccinated, there’s no need for their children to get vaccinated. This is one of the most despicable arguments I’ve ever heard. First of all, vaccines aren’t always 100% effective, so it is possible for a vaccinated child to still become infected if exposed to a disease. Worse, there are some people who can’t receive vaccinations, because they are immune deficient, or because they are allergic to some component. Those people depend upon herd immunity to protect them. People who choose not to vaccinate their children against infectious diseases are putting not only their own children at risk, but also other people’s children.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 21:19:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015