First it was the flu. Then, it was whooping and mumps. Now (predictably) . . . it’s the shmeasles measles. I know what you’re thinking:
“Gasp! Did she just make a play on words with a horrifying, deadly disease? Doesn’t she know that measles is making a comeback and is at an all-time high?”
Yes, I totally did (but no, it’s actually not). Dealing with dishonest measles propaganda got me like, “whoa.” Am I scared of my child getting measles? Absolutely not. Am I scared of the MMR vaccine . . . you better believe it. I’d be scared to give my child anything that hasn’t been proven safe or effective and has a track record of killing children or leaving them with debilitating neurological conditions. You would be too if you were getting the facts…the real facts.
(Sh)measles Inconsistencies
According to the CDC’s most recent Morbidity and Mortality Report (MMWR) measles is a “highly contagious, acute viral illness that can lead to serious complications and death.” Of course, prior MMWR reports and the CDC’s manual of surveillance leave out that last part; but since we’re trying to scare people into vaccinating their children, this 2014 gem of a report decided to adopt a global view and kick the emotions up a notch to let you know what’s at stake…death.
If you’ve been watching the media, subscribing to anti-vaxxer hate articles, or just so happen to come across the World Health Organization statistics, you’ll see that 122,000 people die from measles globally each year. Scary, right?
Yet, on that same MMWR report the CDC lists the clinical definition for measles as “an illness characterized by a generalized rash lasting ≥3 days, a temperature of ≥101°F [≥38.3°C], and cough, coryza, and/or conjunctivitis.” In other words, a rash, cough, and fever is how measles typically presents at the doctor’s office here in the United States, and this is the clinical definition used on all of their reports and surveillance data. Do you know how many people die each year from measles in this country? About zero.
So which is it? A deadly disease…or a rash? Well, it depends on whether we’re using global statistics. If you’re not, it’s a rash. If you’re trying to sensationalize a disease and fear monger people into vaccinating their kids with one of the most controversial vaccines there is…it’s an earth-shattering, beyond words terrifying, deadly disease. Except that it’s not…not in America anyway, and it’s not hard to see why.
According to the World Health Organization,
“Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases. [..] As high as 10% of measles cases result in death among populations with high levels of malnutrition and a lack of adequate health care. […] More than 95% of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and weak health infrastructures. […] Overcrowding in residential camps greatly increases the risk of infection.”
I hate to point out the obvious here, but we do not live in a third world country. But hey, if I walk out my front door in the morning and step onto a dirt road that’s never seen trash service, or a sewer system, and is crowded with millions of starving people, I’ll let you know.
Seriously, applying global statistics of developing countries to the United States is like doing an obesity campaign in Africa based on U.S statistics. Yes, it’s completely rational to compare the second fattest nation in the world to a starving African country. The three leading causes of death in this country (heart disease, cancer, and our own healthcare system) are not the leading causes of death in third world countries. Actually, in developing countries measles doesn’t even make the “top 10” list. 122,000 people die from measles globally but over a half a million people in low-income countries alone, die from road traffic accidents. Do they make a vaccine for that?
I’m not trying to downplay death here, but I think it’s ironic that we use global statistics when it suits us, chalk up the decline of disease in this country to the vaccine, overlook the comparisons between an industrialized country and a developing one, and completely ignore the fact that the MMR vaccine is associated with severe adverse reactions including death, which is happening at a far higher rate in this country.
The Schmeasle Facts
Here’s how the measles statistics break down over the past few years:
- In 2017 there were 120 cases of measles.
- In 2016, there were 86.
- In 2015, there were 188 cases.
- In 2014 there were 667 cases of measles, no cases of encephalitis, and no death.
- In 2013 there were 189 cases of measles, no encephalitis and no death.
- In 2012 there were 54 cases of measles, no encephalitis, and no death.
- In 2011, there were 220 cases of measles, and you guessed it . . . no encephalitis, and no death.
I could go on, but you get the point. By and large, measles is an unpleasant rash with a fever but it isn’t deadly. The clinical definition doesn’t support that and neither do the facts. By comparison, as of March 1, 2012 there were 842 serious injuries following the MMR vaccine and 140 deaths. Between 1990 and 2014, were more than 6,058 serious adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). That’s significant when you consider that only 1-10% of adverse events are actually reported to this system.
I’d give you some legit 2017 statistics but unfortunately, we don’t keep track of the adverse reactions because the vaccine industry would crumble and we’d be sued for the 1 in 36 autism numbers and for injuring and killing thousands of children if we did. Measles statistics are only important if they will help us scare people into vaccinating:
But measles can cause blindness . . . so can the MMR vaccine.
But measles can cause encephalitis . . . so can the MMR vaccine
But measles can cause pneumonia . . . so can the MMR vaccine.
But if I don’t get vaccinated, I could get measles . . . If you do get vaccinated you could get measles, both from the vaccine, and when your temporary (if any) vaccine immunity disappears.
The CDC says that 5-10 percent of people vaccinated with MMR will develop a fever and rash. This means there are 650,000-1,300,000 cases of vaccine-induced measles in the U.S each year based off of the 13-14 million doses given to one-year-olds.
But if my child gets measles . . . they could die. Given U.S statistics, they’re more likely to die from the MMR vaccine.
Death from various, and in some cases unknown, causes has been reported rarely following vaccination with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines […]. – MMR Vaccine insert
But the measles vaccine has prevented so many deaths. Wrong. Read the chapter on measles from this book. We’ve been duped. Secondly, it’s impossible to test whether a vaccine prevented a death. You’d have to assume that if there were an outbreak of measles, everyone would have gotten it, and you’d have to assume that everyone vaccinated against measles would have had immunity. Vaccinated people get the diseases they’re vaccinated against all . . . the . . . time.
But the measles vaccine has been proven safe and effective. Wrong again. But hey, call me up when someone does a double-blind (saline/inert) placebo controlled study on this vaccine, and let me know when “effective” means “life-time immunity.”
But if you don’t vaccinate, my baby who is too young to be vaccinated will be at risk. You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it:
“Unvaccinated people put themselves and others at risk — particularly infants too young to be vaccinated, who can have the most severe complications.” – Anne Schuchat, MD
Absolutely not true. What puts our babies at risk is the waning immunity that comes from a highly vaccinated population. You know what would give your baby a good dose of protection for the first year of their life? You guessed it, a mother whose been exposed to wild measles who then passes on these antibodies to protect her baby for the first year of life. Actually, medical literature suggests this protection could last up to 10 years. Imagine that.
The Benefits of Natural Exposure to Wild Measles
Nobody wants their child to get sick . . . ever . . . from a vaccine or a virus, but the truth of the matter is that natural exposure to these viruses are incredibly important for the development of our immune systems and for disease protection in years to come.
A measles rash as a child could yield protection against cancer as an adult (The Lancet, Bluming 1971, Pasquinucci 1971, Taqi 1981) and may provide protection against degenerative diseases of bone and cartilage, sebaceous skin diseases, immunoreactive diseases and certain tumours.
And, if you believe the hype about the measles vaccine that can treat cancer, then you have to acknowledge the fact that the real virus can do the same – and without the need to inoculate the equivalent of 10 million people with a genetically engineered teenage mutant ninja measles virus.
The Risks v. the “Benefits”
So we have measles, which is associated with a red, itchy, rash, a runny nose, and a cough, that gives lifetime immunity, protection against more serious diseases as adults, and allows a mother to pass these antibodies to her baby for protection during their first year of life . . . or you have the MMR vaccine, which only provides temporary (if any) immunity, and could cause the following possible adverse reactions:
Panniculitis, atypical measles, fever, syncope, headache, dizziness, malaise, irritability, vasculitis, pancreatitis, diarrhea, vomiting, parotitis; nausea, diabetes, thrombocytopenia, purpura, regional lymphadenopathy, leukocytosis, anaphylaxis, arthritis, arthralgia, myalgia, encephalitis, encephalopathy, measles inclusion body encephalitis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, seizures, convulsions, polyneuritis, polyneuropathy, ocular palsies, paresthesia, aseptic meningitis, pneumonia, pneumonitis, sore throat, cough, rhinitis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, erythema multiforme, urticaria, measles-like rash, pruritus, nerve deafness, otitis media, retinitis, optic neuritis (i.e. blindness), papillitis, retrobulbar neuritis, conjunctivitis, epididymitis, orchitis, and death.
Yeah, but didn’t you see that scary picture of the child who had measles used to scare everyone into vaccinating?
Yeah . . . I did, and I wanted to congratulate this kid’s immune system. You see, the measles virus doesn’t cause the rash. This rash is physical evidence of cellular immunity destroying virus-containing cells and it’s extremely important. In other words, this scary rash is a byproduct of T-cells neutralizing the measles virus. Without it our children could die or be exposed to far worse diseases as adults.
Here’s a picture of a child post MMR vaccine who also developed a rash.
Unfortunately this child will not get lifetime immunity, will not have antibodies to pass on to their own children, and will be at risk for developing measles as an adult (which is much more serious) as well as a whole host of other diseases, including cancer. Knowing what I just told you about the significance of the rash, this is clear evidence that this child’s body is trying to neutralize an infection caused by the vaccine.
Here are pictures of two other children post MMR vaccine.
What? You didn’t see this on the news? Me neither. Seriously, the vaccine you get to protect your children from measles . . . did that. The MMR vaccine has also left children disabled, paralyzed, chronically diseased, and dead both here and in third-world countries.
But what about children in third-world countries?
The reason children in third world countries die from measles is because they are malnourished or have impaired cellular immunity and cannot neutralize the virus (via a rash), because they are vitamin A deficient (which according to the WHO can reduce the number of deaths from measles by 50%); or because we’re vaccinating small children with MMR while they have measles protective antibodies from their mother still in their bodies.
But, what about the mmr vaccine and autism?
The big argument is that (a) MMR isn’t associated with autism, and (b) it could be, but the deadly threat of measles is more dangerous than a lifetime of autism . . . so for the sake of everyone we should all vaccinate.
Whether you believe in the connection between MMR and autism, or not, if there is even the slightest chance that the MMR vaccine triggers any disease, we should not be injecting any child with this vaccine. A mild, unpleasant measles rash pales in comparison to ALL of the possible adverse MMR reactions . . . including autism.
Schmeasles Propaganda
Measles propaganda is not a new phenomenon. In 1996, 2008, and 2011, measles was at an “all-time-high” and the unvaccinated were to blame (as usual). But yearly statistics fluctuate and the majority of outbreaks regardless of the year occur in travelers who come from other countries.
Each year measles also occurs in the vaccinated, and outbreaks overall are highest in the most vaccinated states including New York, California, and Ohio; states that all “theoretically” should be protected by “vaccine-induced” herd immunity. Oh yeah . . . that. If you look at the statistics, you’ll see that the majority of people who get measles today are older. You can thank vaccines for shifting people into susceptibility groups where these diseases are typically much more severe.
I don’t want my child to ever get sick, but you can’t convince me that the faulty, temporary immunity cooked up in Dexter’s laboratory which shifts exposure of measles to the youngest and the older most at-risk populations, causes serious vaccine adverse reactions, contains viruses, residual tissue, cells, and DNA from aborted babies, and toxic ingredients that would put a parent in jail if they made their kids ingest them individually, and yields nothing short of junk protection, is superior to natural immunity.
I’m all for evidence-based medicine, but I draw the line at “bad evidence.”
I opted out of the MMR vaccine and I’m not scared of the shmeasle measles. But don’t take my word for it: Talk to generations older than you who actually had measles, look at how measles was portrayed in the media before marketing and money got involved, and research this vaccine for yourself.
Great stats, except when you said Africa was a starving country. Maybe do some research on that…
Thank you so much for this article.
You have said everything that I have always thought.
I have been receiving so much abuse in Ireland from neighbors, friends, about not vaccinating my 4 year old that now no one speaks to me,
What a brainwashed country we are,
I will still never put those vaccines in my son.
Thank you for putting the time into this article,
Kind regards
Thank you Ava. I am glad you liked it.
Thank you so much for this article. It was well written and you are so professional in your responses to both those that agreed but most importantly disagreed with you. I respect the research you have done. I will continue to follow you. Thank you!
Thanks Ashley! Glad you liked it and are following. 🙂
Sorry to reply to your comment but I can’t seem to find out how to post one of my own 🤔 I read your article with so much interest Megan! I chose not to vaccinate with MMR but now that in my daughter’s class there is measles I get worried. Mostly because I wonder if her 3 year old sister is too young because I read under 5 chances of complications are higher but also for us as parents. We were vaccinated as children so probably no immunity there anymore and a higher risk for complications in adults. How do you deal with those risks? It doesn’t help that the papers just reported a 37 year old dead from measles 😓 I’m confused whether to use a mono vaccine for the kids to protect ourselves or get vaxxed ourselves or nothing.
I love this article. I know it was written years ago but I enjoyed reading the honestesty when I’m feeling pressure to give my 2 year old the mmr vaccine. I have refused it but she has had all the others so far. I must say this makes totally sense and I’m not crazy for questioning it!! Thank you for writing this made my day to see someone has common sense.
Please read some unaltered evidence based medicine from the source and not from people with alternative motives.
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr6204a1.htm
You do realize I cited the CDC extensively in this post, right?
Side Note: The CDC has an agenda. Everyone knows that. 😉 I however, do not.
You really need to research the CDC before quoting them as a trustable source for information. The conflicts of interest existing at the CDC are too numerous to mention, but let’s say: they buy and sell $4 billion worth of vaccines every year. They have FIRM ties with pharmaceutical companies. One of their top research scientists has come out and admitted that they altered safety data on the MMR and hid negative effects (autism actually) that they were aware of. There is a revolving door of CDC executives who then go on to work for pharmaceutical companies, none of this hidden, all out in plain view.
Great read. Stuff I already knew but love hearing it in your words and seeing you ‘shout it from the roof tops’. It’s refreshing. Thank you 🙂
So, if your child got the measles, how would you recommend treating it holistically at home? The fever I would just let it do it’s job, keep hydrated, treat the cough and sniffles like any other time, but what about the rash?
I’ve had experience with this actually. Treated it just like any other illness. Waited until it ran it’s course, lots of rest, hydration, and vitamin A (specifically for measles). You don’t have to do anything for a rash – a rash with measles is a good sign and you don’t suppress that. It goes away on it’s own. 😉 Just my personal opinion.
My whole generation and those before had this childhood “illness” along with chicken Pox, Mumps, etc. For my generation, here in the USA, Measles was and is nothing more than a rash and a fever and soon forgotten. That’s all there is too it.
Saying this is just as dishonest as pro-vaxxers saying that vaccinations are 100% safe and effective.
No, measles can be deadly. Even for healthy children. It can cause disabilities. That is a fact. It’s very rare, yes, but it can happen. It did happen, even in the USA. Stating that it’s always just a rash and a fever is dishonest.
This is the CDC’s clinical definition of measles ^. Anything can be deadly – including water … but water isn’t inherently deadly and neither is measles.
That’s not a definition of measles any more than a black eye is a definition of bullying. A rash, fever, etc are presenting symptoms. Measles is a specific virus — an enveloped, ribonucleic acid virus of the genus Morbillivirus. You get tested specifically for that virus.
“Clinical disease: A disease that has recognizable clinical signs and symptoms, as distinct from a subclinical illness, which lacks detectable signs and symptoms. Diabetes, for example, can be a subclinical disease for some years before becoming a clinical disease.” – Medicine Net
I used the clinical definition given by the CDC and it is hyperlinked in this post. Yes, there is a measles virus. Yes, you are tested for this virus. I’m not sure how that negates the clinical definition but I guess you can take it up with the CDC.
easles inclusion body encephalitis, or severe brain swelling caused by the measles virus, is a complication of getting infected with the wild-type measles virus. While rare, this disorder almost always happens in patients with weakened immune systems. The illness usually develops within 1 year after initial measles infection and has a high death rate. There have been three published reports of this complication happening to vaccinated people. In these cases, encephalitis developed between 4 and 9 months after MMR vaccination. In one case, the measles vaccine strain was identified as the cause.
Megan, I read your articles out loud to my husband all the time, your words are great. Thank you for your continual outcry against the sheeple! Love ya!!!
Lol. Glad you could find it entertaining.
Thank you for a truthful and common sense article! The fear mongering is huge on this typical and benign disease! Most people over 30 have actually had the disease and GASP–wait for it—LIVED! We are not a third world country (and even if we were I still wouldn’t trust vaccines anymore!) Wake up Everyone! Vaccine Damage Is Real! Learn the Real Risks!
Many people who would be over 30 also have had measles, but they can’t tell you about it because they GASP — wait for it — DIED!
Megan, excellent article! You covered all the issues of the MMR. As a fellow “thinker” and grandmother who is seeing this generation decimated by faulty science and bad medicine, I’ve been studying this issue for 13 years. My recent fight alongside parents of vaccine damaged children in our communist state of California has only deepened my resolve to get the truth out to those who have ears to hear. Medicine should be based on science, GOOD honest science. IT IS NOT A RELIGION! I do believe we may have reached the tipping point where parents are not wholesale buying the lies anymore.
Thank you soooo much Meagan for this article. I live in NY, NY. I am in the process now of writing an religious exemption letter for my 7 year old son. He was kicked out of his school. I will use the guidelines of your article. I will keep you posted on what happens. Hopefully, one day you can be a guest on my new radio show.
Hi Angela, so glad you liked it. Good luck on getting your daughters exemption (and with the launch of your new show). 😉
You are literally the most short sighted, ignorant, and obtuse person in the world. You are everything that is wrong with this country and human kind in general. I can’t wait for you and your kids to die of a preventable disease so their shitty genes are not passed on .
I am so sorry you feel that way Sean. I personally think what’s wrong with the world is that people think it’s their business to tell other parents how to raise their children and then call them names and wish death upon their family when they come to an informed decision that doesn’t align up with their own subjective viewpoint. If you intend to comment further, exercise respect.
I am surprised that you allow abusive shills to even have a say Megan.Don’t waste your breath.
Based on your very abusive, callous, mindless remarks, it is you who is the ignorant one Sean. To believe that the church of western medicine is the “only” medicine and is “the way”, very clearly shows how brain washed you are by all the dogma. And, there’s no such thing as a preventable disease although your church tells you that its really “holy water”in those vaccine viles that have saved the world from extinction from normal human infectious diseases such as measles, mumps, and chicken pox(GASP!). You wanna inject toxic poison into your veins,or the veins of your children, knock yourself out. Otherwise, go spew your venom at someone who cares.
The same could quite easily be said of you sir… It’s all just a matter of opinion.
Sounds to me like someone is issuing you a death threat? I think that’s a crime the last time I looked. At the least its Cyber Bullying by someone who won’t even share their “real” name.
But maybe they had an adverse reaction and are taking it out on you, for telling them the truth?
Yashi
Here we go! The lazy trolls, armed with a mouth full of venom, but an empty brain. Get lost, please. We have thinking people here evaluating what is best for our children.
Thank you for writing this! Beautifully written and brave you! Kudos for sharing TRUTH. Love.
You know if you’re going to use the SIDE EFFECTS of medicines as a factor, you’ve got to look at the SIDE EFFECTS of the DISEASE TOO. It’ll be listed under complications.
That’s a good point. I still think that there is enough science now days that it’s possible to protect our children from diseases such as measles without vaccines that are not safe. Homeo prophylaxis for one and better nutrition without chemical pesticides. Antibiotics and or other medications plus vaccinations equals autism or other gut/brain conditions.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=vaccine+safety
My husband almost died of the measles at age 2. He wasn’t vaccinated. He was hospitalized. He was a normal, well-fed middle-class child and he almost died, so it does happen.
I have a good friend (she’s in her 60’s) that had polio as a child and is paralyzed from the waist down. She married, but was never able to have children because the disease also destroyed her uterus/ovaries. She was able to walk with braces for years, but now has post-polio syndrome so she’s in a wheelchair all of the time.
I know people, young healthy people, who have died from the flu. When I was 14 I was in bed for a month with the flu. It wasn’t pretty.
I remember my brother and I having chicken pox as children. He was so ill he was on the verge of being hospitalized.
These are not “mild” diseases. That’s why vaccines were created. Vaccines save lives and they also save from life-long complications. If we stopped vaccinating, within 10-20 years everyone would be scared out of their minds because all of these diseases would make huge comebacks, not the small outbreaks we see now. Vaccines work. I’ve done months of research myself and I vaccinated my children and myself. Tetanus anyone?
April, I am so sorry to hear about your husband and good friend. Unfortunately, there are emotional accounts on both sides of the spectrum – that’s why billions of dollars have been awarded to children damaged by vaccines. I know a 31 year old who wears diapers and cannot function because she was injured by a DPT vaccine. I have a friend who was paralyzed by the polio she got from her live polio vaccine (that was supposed to protect her against polio). For almost 30 years in this country the only cases of polio were caused by the vaccine. Why do you think they took OPV off the schedule? I have a client who went blind from an MMR vaccine. Have you heard of Hannah Polling? I know several elderly people who got cancer from SV40 contaminated polio vaccines. Several stories were on the news just this last flu season regarding people who were paralyzed by the flu shot. Thousands of children have been neurologically damaged by a vaccine to prevent them from what is in most cases, a mild, childhood illness that yields lifetime immunity and protection against more serious diseases as adults. Please check out hearthiswell.org or nvic.org for more testimonies from children injured by vaccines.
Vaccines do not save lives. Vaccines do not provide lifetime immunity. Vaccines contain viruses and bacteria, animal parts, heavy metals, neurotoxins, carcinogens, hazardous wastes, and aborted baby ingredients, all of which are proven harmful for us and our children. Vaccines kill, disable, harm, and shift everyone into an age group of susceptibility where the severity of these diseases are greater.
If these diseases make a “comeback” it will be because everyone’s temporary junk immunity (if any) they recieved as children wore off and mothers no longer have the protection that natural exposure to a disease provides to pass on to their children to protect them for their first year of life.
You are entitled to your opinion and you have the right to vaccinate. Just remember that emotional stories go both ways. At the end of the day, emotional stories are important but this decision needs to be an informed one based on science and common sense and the science that supports vaccines as safe and effective is severely lacking.
Respectfully,
Megan
Vaccines do not save lives? Seriously? I’m just thinking of all of the diseases I would have had if not for vaccines, as well as everyone else. Killer diseases, diseases that can leave you permanently disabled. So you’re saying that vaccines don’t work? Either they work and they save lives or they don’t work and don’t save lives. Look at the disease rates plummeting for each disease as each vaccine was introduced. A coincidence, I think not. Yes, some people have reactions, but it’s a much smaller percentage than those that would have died or been affected by catching the diseases that these vaccines protect against.
A lot of people who think that vaccines caused their symptoms or reactions really don’t know for sure. It can’t be proven and it’s speculation. But, people who catch the diseases that these vaccines protect against definitely know if they have that disease or not. Just because a court decides that a vaccine caused a side effect doesn’t make it so.
So…”A lot of people who think that vaccines caused their symptoms or reactions really don’t know for sure. It can’t be proven and it’s speculation.” Yet, you’re sure vaccines have saved lives? This is pure speculation at best. Where is your proof? This assumes that EVERYONE would have gotten the disease and died from it. This assumes these diseases were deadly in the United States prior to vaccine licensure. This assumes the disease prevalence did not decrease from other causes. This assumes vaccines are both safe, effective, and provide lifetime immunity (they don’t). What you’re saying is that you are in 100% denial that vaccines have side-effects despite the high burden of proof one must meet for the court to declare that the vaccine caused “x” condition? The court declared that Hannah Polling’s autism was caused by the DPT vaccine. Her father is a neurologist who believed in vaccines (as most parents with vaccine-injured children did). You don’t think he’s smart enough to connect the dots?
I wish you the best. The saddest thing to me is not that you hold a differing viewpoint, it’s that you aren’t open to evaluating your opinion in an informed and objective manner. Bests, – Megan
Vaccines DO save lives. Ever see an iron lung in use? Ever hear of someone getting Polio? Smallpox? It is clever to focus on one of the less deadly diseases and extrapolate to all vaccine preventable illnesses, but utterly foolish (or evil if you are doing it on purpose). Vaccines work. Deaths by vaccine are lower, so much that they are nearly gone… making it possible for people to doubt the existence or severity of vaccine preventable illness at all.
https://www.livingwhole.org/vaccines-dont-work-here-are-the-facts/
Polio shmolio! Watch the youtube video by Dr Suzanne Humphries called Smoke, Mirrors and the Disappearance of Polio.
I wonder how many people have had polio without even realizing that they had it?
If they really cared about people not getting diseases or not having adverse effects from the diseases why don’t they research nutritional aspects related to disease? Like how vitamin A helps with measles. Vitamin C helps pertussis.
Oh, right! No great ROI! Less profit to be made. Now we as a society suffer because we lack real immunity.
How did we all manage to survive before all the vaccines children now get?! I have come to the conclusion that the original vaccinated generation is having children who are more susceptible to vaccine damages. Or the manufacturers are deliberately making vaccines that cause harm.
Something is definitely wrong and someone who knows how and is brave enough to investigate needs to do so.
Just came across this and couldn’t hold my tongue. I understand your concerns regarding the rare side effects, but I don’t think you are qualified to judge the effectiveness of vaccines solely based on what you read on the internet. If you want your children to have to suffer through preventable and devastating diseases, by all means, exercise your right to do so. But please don’t try to scare people with falsified information.
Whether something is effective, is based on whether studies that comprise the standards for evidence-based medicine were conducted. The gold standard is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study using an inert substance like saline as a placebo. Vaccines are tested against adjuvants already contained in the vaccine for safety, and effectiveness is based on whether it introduces an antibody … but that antibody may or may not incite an immune response and if it does, provides only temporary immunity at best. Vaccines are not research or clinically effective and one does not have to meet your subjective standards as a “qualified judge” to make an informed decision on this issue.
Respectfully,
Megan
I could not agree with you more, Mary.
I found numerous flaws throughout the article that those may easily be able to read over but I cannot.
This quote you use from the WHO:
“Severe measles is more likely among poorly nourished young children, especially those with insufficient vitamin A, or whose immune systems have been weakened by HIV/AIDS or other diseases. [..] As high as 10% of measles cases result in death among populations with high levels of malnutrition and a lack of adequate health care. […] More than 95% of measles deaths occur in countries with low per capita incomes and weak health infrastructures. […] Overcrowding in residential camps greatly increases the risk of infection.”
Do you know why this is? Because unlike those in the USA, those blessed enough to be in America, us extremely privilege folk living in the land of the free have EASY access to vaccines until those in underprivileged countries where they would do anything for their children to be given even the chance we are given.
SO this quote doesn’t prove our children don’t need vaccines…if goes to show that BY vaccines we in the United States limited the recurrence of the diseases.
By this big movement of “anti-vaccine” it’s not just your family being effected. Have you done your research on “herd immunity”?
Those unvacc are directly effecting more and more children/adults around you who chose to have vaccines to now be at risk of deadly diseases. You don’t see them as deadly (lets look back in hx to the iron lung [btw polio was eradicated {go vaccines!}])? Try working in a hospital seeing tens-hundred of kids die from deadly risk factors from something so simply avoided.
Hi Haley, Thanks for the comment. No … that quote shows you the difference that good hygiene and living conditions can make on disease susceptibility. Yes, I have researched A.W Hedrich and herd immunity and it does not apply to vaccinations. Polio was not eradicated by vaccines. Emotional arguments run both ways … tens of hundreds of children are living with chronic disease, brain damage, or have died in an attempt to avoid something as benign as measles. Emotional anecdotes do not change the fact that vaccines in their current state are not safe or effective. We should make informed decisions, not emotional ones, regardless of whether we vaccinate or not.
Bests,
Megan
All these could be lessened by better nutriton and medical care. Antibiotics and phyciatric drugs seem to be the go to drugs when doctors don’t have a clue how to treat something.
I spent 4 months studying vaccines and writing a 40 page paper on their safety profile, fears, and reality: After researching the FACTS: the good, the bad, the fears, the rumors, the TRUE data over 50 different research articles and books, I WILL VACCINATE MY CHILDREN GLADLY! (all 3 of them)
Vaccines were created after the smallpox epidemic, small pox killed 1/3 of those affected by it… imagine (if Ebola was a local threat). 50 years ago Polio was feared by all mothers, they were overjoyed when there was a vaccine to prevent their children from handicap. The rush for vaccines was appreciated by most all because they saw the horrific effects of these diseases. Now there is no “fear” of the disease, but fear of Jenny McCarthy’s story that her son got autism due to vaccine (she immunized her child after thimerisol was taken out of vaccines, but claims thimerisol caused her son’s autism….SMART…NOT, and fear of Dr. Wakefield’s FALSIFIED study that vaccines cause autism – he has his medical license taken away for causing this horrible medical falicy.
As for today, we do have modern medicine that would ease these infections if contracted, And you are right MOST of the time people are ill for a week and resolve! HOWEVER, NOT everyone. Had a friend’s baby (9 month old) who nearly died from Mumps 2 months ago thanks to the NON-vaccinators. I’ve been working in medical for 7 years seen 2 babies DIE from Pertussis. Thanks non-vaccinators.
Sure, where the measles might not be too harmful to your 5 year old, that is NOT the case to infants, those who are immunosuppressed, and several otherwise healthy individuals. Also, in the MMR there is the Rubella vaccine— Where it is just a rash for a 5 year old….Do you really want to see the damage rubella can do to an unborn infant whose mom gets rubella during pregnancy?? What guilt would that cause… damaging your unborn infant for life…
I had seen another non-vaccinator’s 10 year old get HiB Meningitis and DIE… which could have been prevented. Imagine the guilt of the parents in that situation…
NON VACCINATORS WANT TO PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN, AND THAT IS WHY THEY DO NOT VACCINATE. AS A MOTHER I RESPECT THAT!!!
BUT ASK YOURSELVES…PROTECT THEM FROM WHAT REAL THREATS… PLEASE EDUCATE YOURSELVES WITH REAL RESEARCH. NOT OPINION!!!!!!! THIS IS OPINION.
WHAT IS THE REAL THREAT? IS YOUR NON VACCINATED CHILD WHO CAN TOLERATE PERTUSSIS, GOING TO INFECT AND KILL MY BABY? IS THAT THE IDEA OF PROTECTION…? It is a personal decision, until your personal decision puts my newborn baby at risk, or a friend on Chemotherapy. THINK ABOUT IT – EDUCATE YOURSELVES WITH GOOD RESEARCH. I HAVE… And I will advocate for vaccination. Because I know the real data.
If the trend continues, perhaps when your granddaughter, child, or friend has a complication of illness, you will think differently.
If you have any questions, I am sure I can provide you with TRUE DATA. I would be happy to help. I KNOW YOU ARE TRYING TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD. SO AM I!!!!
Lindsey, I am so glad you have done your research. Despite the fact that your conclusion differs from mine, I think it’s important that we make informed decisions. I too, have a 40 page dissertation on this subject and have written many posts (under the vaccines tab above), most of which, are comprised of at least 9 pages single-spaced in a Word document. All are fully cited. I would be totally open to sending anyone who requests more information your paper; however, in the name of objectivity and fairness, I would have to send them mine also. 😉
I admire your passion and dedication to this issue. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Respectfully,
Megan
If vaccines work then your newborn baby would be safe from my unvaccinated child correct?
Will you think differently if “your granddaughter, child, or friend” is damaged by vaccines?
If your child is vaccinated then they should be protected from the “non vaccinators” your post screams the fact that your vaccines don’t work. If they worked then your vaccine should have protected you and you would never get it. Why would a “non vaccinator” harm your perfectly vaccinated. If it’s vaccinated. Because the vaccine didn’t work….. and then you say “why protect your baby and not vaccinate them and in danger all the others” because my kid is not a shield for the heard! I’m not going to let a vaccine kill my kid so the heard can “feel protected”. Point. If your vaccines work then you should never have to worry about a non vaccinated. Can I repeat 12 more times. Does it make sense yet?
No, look up “herd immunity” the more unvaccinated, the more those who vaccinate’s response goes down. Because diseases are constantly changing and mutating. It’s not the vaccines limitation but the nonvac fault at large.
Lola, citation?
Actually I don’t believe you did ANY research at all–anyone who knows the history behind polio would NEVER use that as a reference for safe and effective vaccines. Yeah, TRY AGAIN!
I like this post and I wonder if you noticed that the number of people who get wild measles is getting bigger every year. ….last year 288 vs. 55 the first year you talked about. I wish i could get lifetime immunity to measles but my parents were adamant about vaccinating. … sucks to be me…I guess i will go hide under a rock….of course I am dying to get of this rock called earth. ..
The number of people getting measles is increasing because the number of people not getting vaccinated is also increasing. The great majority of people do get lifetime immunity to measles following measles vaccination. Yes, this is not the case for mumps or pertussis, but it is for measles.
And it is true that some individuals still become infected after being vaccinated for measles, but these numbers are small, and there are many nuances related to this (immune deficiency, vaccine failure due to improper storage, timing of vaccination, etc.). Research indicates the measles vaccine is around 85-92% effective with a single dose, and 98.5% effective for two doses, which is why 2 are recommended.
The # of people getting measles in the U.S is not increasing. The CDC statistics are sited in this post. You can’t believe everything you see in the media. And we will definitely differ on what the term “effective” means. The CDC’s definition of effective does not equal lifetime immunity. A vaccine is “effective” if it initiates a response that creates antibodies … that doesn’t mean anyone gets actual immunity and if they do, it wears off leaving people susceptible when they are much older and measles is much more severe.
Your articles are well written and thoroughly thought out. No hyperbole. I am a health science/pharmacology instructor to students in the medical field. When we get to the pediatrics chapters, I lecture on the importance of informed consent and the right to refuse vaccinations. I teach them that it is not their job to assert their opinion nor judge a parent who declines vaccines.
I was dismissed from a nursing program last year. I was 20 weeks from graduation. I had instructors teaching us to lie about vaccines to gain compliance and even using threats against those with state medical. I refused because this went against my moral compass and the ANA guidelines of ethics. I now have a 2.7 million lawsuit against this nursing school.
We are to teach, but ultimately respect the patients right to refuse.
I vaccinated my three boys. I feel shame and guilt. My youngest little girl started the schedule but I decided to delay/refuse. She began having seizures. All idiopathic after all the tests ( MRI, 24 hour EEG etc) All vaccinating stopped and she is now five and seizure free for three years. She had only received 3 single dose vaccines in a 6 month period beginning at 9 months. Thankfully, MMR, Varicella, Polio, and HepB weren’t the ones she received. She is a brilliant little one with a plethora of allergies. She is now my bubble baby and I can’t say that these few she received were the cause of this.
Keep educating!!!
Oh my goodness Nichole. I am speechless. Thank you so much for having the courage to share and I hope you win.
Thanks for sharing. We live in a world of toxins and added stress that our children have to deal with. Vaccines used to be only a small source of immune stress, but now it’s compounded by processed foods (denatured), over use of antibiotics, and chemical laden everything.
We need more people like you!
Megan,
I’m a doc who practices ER and urgent care, and I must say that reading your articles truly is a breath of fresh air. I’ve refused all vaccines for my children the last 10 years or so. I started researching many years ago after my first daughter had a seizure at 24 months (not sure if it was vaccine related–she’s never had one since), and later my first son had a terrible reaction to his MMR vaccine, he developed diarrhea that began 2 weeks after the shot and lasted 6 months. He cried and cried all the time. We kept taking him to his pediatrician at the time who said, “he’s just drinking too much juice”. Long story short, we ended up taking him to a more “holistic” M.D. who put him on some supplements, and after a year he was well. Thankfully he’s now a very intelligent and athletic 12 year old. I have embraced ‘nutritional medicine’ for many years, and have attended conferences on nutritional and “alternative” medicine. I try to preach it to my patients both in the ER and the urgent care clinic.
I love the fact that your husband is also an M.D., and I hope and pray he does well in his practice.
I just wanted to say that I think you are doing a terrific job with your blog. I have just recently found it and am using and sharing a lot of your material. I admire the way you respond to the pro-vaxxers.
My wife and I have 6 children, and we try to live as organically as we can, and NO one will convince me that vaccines are safe. When patients ask me about vaccines, I give them both sides as honestly as I can, and let them make the decision.
I especially want to commend you on the blog on “God Does Not Support Vaccines” I agree 100% with that one. I cannot condone the use of vaccines that use aborted fetal cells. Not only is it appalling if you think about it, but scientifically it makes perfect sense that these foreign DNA particles could be doing something to our immune systems.
Keep up the good work. I admire your spirit. I’m praying you, your husband and your beautiful children.
God Bless,
James
Hi James, Thanks so much for the message. It sounds like you are a great physician – able to incorporate both natural and modern medicine into your practice. I am sorry your children suffered from adverse reactions but I applaud you for doing your research objectively. I know many who would simply dismiss vaccines as a cause.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and I am glad you find my posts informative and useful!
Blessings to you also,
Megan
James, you are a breath of fresh air! Bless your heart for daring greatly to speak your mind and not cave into the status quo of compliance. MDs like yourself and the hundreds of others who are finally speaking up and speaking out will help to change the tide.
It is so hard for parents who go against popular belief. Recently a dad kept his down syndrome baby and the mother was chastised for giving it away. In her mind she was doing what her society wanted. She did what was right and normal and majority for her culture. The dad choose to go with the unpopular vote and do what he thought was right in his heart. In their culture she did what anybody would do, what the doctors thought she should do. This is what I think anti-vaxers are doing. We are going with our heart not what works best for society. We don’t expect people to understand. Years from now if we find out that vaccinations do cause harm will we start hating on people who do continue to choose to vaccinate?
Thank you for this, Megan.
The way I see it is this- people don’t like to be labeled. Usually. In this case, I don’t believe the vast majority of us that aren’t loving the MMR vaccine- amongst others- appreciate being blanketly referred to as “anti- vaccination” & here’s why: it’s about ingredients. Not concept. Clean up the ingredients & “they” may find themselves dealing with agreeable soldiers. Until then, I’m not putting unnecessary poison in my child’s body. Period. While I find it prudent & kind to try to do what’s best for the world… I was given the direct responsibility first & foremost to care for my child. Mine. First & foremost. Just as I wouldn’t give my son 10 years worth of Twinkies & Ding Dongs. It’s.Not.Good.For.His.Body. It’s repulsive at best. Now- would I be more agreeable if they were organic, Non-GMO 3 ingredient pastries… yes. Thrilled? Absolutely not. 10 years worth of pastries is 10 years worth of pastries. That’s not lost on me. I get it. However, if be much more willing to go there. Willing to even have this debate. Why? Because of the ingredients. it’s just that simple.
So, please don’t tell me I’m anti vaccine mama. I’m not. Just as I’m not anti-pastry. I’m just anti $h!/ storm-list-of-ingredients mama. Come on already with this. Is it that difficult? We should all be mindful of what we put in our bodies. Personally, I’d like my child to reflect back & understand I took his body seriously, his future seriously & was passionate about giving him the healthiest overall self that I could, with all the power I had, to move on from his home & into his adult life. A nice, clean 18 year old slate to go off into the world with. Clean up that chemical bath & inject away. Done. Next?
That’s great if you or a few choose not to vaccinate, but what if EVERYONE chose not to? It is highly contagious and our hospitals would be way overwhelmed, parents couldn’t work because they are sick as well or taking care of their kids. Your article focuses too much on the individual *you. It is just not realistic as a society to let people go unvaccinated with this disease.
I am incredulous. We have become a society that is too ignorant for words. In the year 2014, we are scared of the measles. Think about that for a second. We fly supersonic jets, can data-stream videos through thin air, we have sent machines to multiple planets in space, and yet, we are scared of the measles. Somehow the measles have become the equivalent of the disease that killed off all the aliens in The War of the Worlds.
If you have not seen Tom Cruise’s rendition of the classic film, I will ruin it for you. The movie is one long scene of alien war machines laying waste to humanity. Nothing can stop them. Then out of the blue, right before our heroes are going to die, the alien machines all stop in their tracks, their occupants decimated by common airborne bacteria.
In their pathetic attempt to make money from generating hysteria, the mainstream media has declared that the measles is our modern American version of alien-virus-death. If the aliens in the death machines of War of the Worlds were replaced by VACCINATED Americans, then the VACCINATED-American-piloted-alien-machines would be stopped in their tracks by the measles.
The fear-mongering by the media is reaching such epic proportions, that people cannot be blamed for thinking that the end of the world is upon us. If the evil, freedom-loving, home-schooling, God-fearing, large-family promoting, NON-vaccinated people aren’t locked up ASAP or force-injected the pharmaceutical “antidote”, the measles-ridden bodies of VACCINATED Americans will start piling up in the streets. In fact, it will be so bad, that the measles epidemic of 2015 will probably rack up a death count worse than that of the Spanish Flu, the Medieval plagues, Aids, Cancer, and tobacco combined.
Of course, according to the media, the 100% death rate won’t be the end of it. No, it will get worse. After 99% of “good” Americans die from the measles; Mother Earth will judge the “bad” NON-vaccinated Americans with hoards of VACCINATED zombies who will exact their vengeance by eating their brains. Then, if the NON-vaccinated people were lucky enough to survive the zombie attacks, anyone left alive will happily embrace vaccines and start a pro-vaccine utopia that will never again question the efficacy of the magic needles.
Seriously folks. It’s the measles. You catch it, you get sick, and you look like a freckled Irish kid for a few days. Then, after rest and some chicken soup, you return to life as normal.
I know, I know, I’m not an MD. I shouldn’t make fun of a disease I’m not “medically trained” to understand. But does that line of thinking hold water? Do you really have to be medically trained to understand the dangers of a disease? Think about it. Do you have to be a doctor to know if you are bleeding or have a headache? Do you have to be an electrician to know if the lights in your home will turn on? Do you have to be a chef to make a peanut butter sandwich? Do these analogies seem moronic? No more so than the folks who claims that only a “health professional” can understand the measles.
Surely we now have the medical facilities, supplements, and knowledge for a parent to help with symptoms if an unvaccinated child contract measles. Thankfully there is now heard immunity throughout communities in the country to stop the viral infection from spreading… Nonetheless, how ethical is it to let your child contract the virus and suffer the symptoms rather than creating immunity in your child’s immune system? Rubeola is one of the leading causes of child death in the world… It is not just preventing measles, however. Vaccines have aided against smallpox, polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, typhoid, pneumococcus, mumps, rubella, etc,… It is fair to say that the more common vaccinations become, the more people take them for granted. Like anything, there are risks with vaccinations as our immune systems and bodies can vary, although the benefits of preventing serious illness and death from infectious diseases greatly outweigh the risks of rare side effects following immunization.
Then maybe we as a society need to acknowledge that people have children who get sick. Who need to be taken care of by the parents.
This should be a normal thing by now. Employers should be understanding of that fact.
The dilemma is that this particular issue can directly impact others’ health. Where you go to school, what clothing style you wear, etc. may influence someone’s choices, but if your child comes down with measles and it they infect another child who dies from the disease (even if it is unlikely), then to me it is tantamount to negligent homicide. Yes, people should have the right to make their own decisions in our society – to smoke, eat fatty foods and be overweight or obese, and to not have their child vaccinated. But when their choice negatively impacts me through higher healthcare costs or social welfare payments because they can’t afford to pay for the end results of their poor choices, then I have a problem with that. People seem to want their freedoms but don’t want accountability for the choices they make under the umbrella of that freedom. Accusers of government based public healthcare mandates site the ‘herd mentality’ that they claim the government endorses. What about the herd mentality towards copies public welfare entitlements that those who have worked hard and have reaped the benefits from working hard will pay for other’s poor choices (health choices in this case)? Or the smaller herd mentality that they have the right to not vaccinate and if something goes bad and affects other innocents, that it is merely a cost of having our freedoms and it is a price we should be willing to pay. Sorry – even though medicine isn’t 100% foolproof, history has proven the overwhelming positive contribution of medicine. It is not right to expose others to the results of your bad choice. There is accountability in our society for other examples of poor choices, such as driving under the influence, but not for refusing to vaccinate. So, if you choose not to vaccinate, and I am a victim of your choice, or your child incurs medical expenses because of it, then you should pay out of your pocket to make things right, and not cause me to pay directly or indirectly because of your choice. But I doubt many people would be willing to take on this accountability, because even though they feel so strongly about not vaccinating, they want society’s protection if something doesn’t work out like they thought it would…..
Hi Bruce, that’s the problem with an edited clip. It leaves things out. You should read my new post on this issue: https://www.livingwhole.org/to-the-parent-of-an-immunocompromised-child-who-thinks-my-kid-is-a-threat/
Yes, because all of the vaccinated children who have chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma, autism, allergies, autoimmune disease, epilepsy, any plethora of learning disabilities, chronic un-health, and other chronic illnesses are absolutely no burden to taxpayers and the state. I have needed state assistance on occasion, but we visit the doctor maybe once a year for an injury (except for when THEY request regular well-baby visits for my youngest) . Any illnesses are treated and monitored closely at home. If a complication happens, I will utilize medical treatment as it was intended for, but usually it’s not necessary. Let’s start taking into account the general health of the vaccinated vs unvaccinated, then tally up the medical costs and see who is using the majority of the taxpayer money…those who are constantly using medical resources for chronic unhealth and therapies, or those who use them once in a while on urgent basis only.
Your comment genuinely confuses me. How can you believe that our knowledge in the fields of aviation, space travel and computers have any affect on the biological risks of measles? They are completely separate fields of study. We could invent a spaceship that travels at the speed of light and it would have exactly zero effect on the risk of measles here on earth.
I’m going to ignore the ramblings in the middle as they are blatant hyperbole and a complete mockery of the situation, but I will respond to your nonsense at the end. You ask if you need to be a doctor to discuss the measles, and the answer is of course not. HOWEVER, the Doctor does have training specific to the subject matter and is therefore more qualified to answer than you are. Just like my understanding that the lights are out in my house doesn’t mean I’m qualified to mess with the wiring, the same goes for your assessment on human health. Being able to have an opinion doesn’t give you the same clout as someone who has an opinion, data supporting it, and specific training in the field. Just because you’re not scared of the measles doesn’t mean that they aren’t a threat. In fact it’s laughable that you believe your opinion to be of more importance than those of millions of scientists and researchers and doctors and politicians. Sometimes the little voice in your head is wrong and people need to understand that.
What specific training do doctors actually receive regarding vaccinations? 1 chapter? What book?
Isn’t this just an assumption on your part? I have been told that they learn very little about vaccinations besides the recommended schedule.
They receive very little training on vaccinations, most of it propaganda, 90% of it false.
Hi Cindy,
I can tell you that the only information I learned about vaccines was that I needed to master the schedule and that they were “safe and effective” . That is basically the same rhetoric I’ve heard repeated for the last 20 years I’ve been in pediatric practice. Our academy spends its time training us to coerce parents into giving them and not tolerating their concerns
Yes Bruce, there is accountability in our country unless you are an MD or medical professional who injects and injures or kills a child with a vaccine. Then in that case you are above the law. Same goes for pharma companies. They are above the law too.