A few weeks ago I saw an infographic making the rounds about vaccines. It claimed that vaccines work and promised to give you the facts, but as I was reading through the long list of so-called “facts,” I found myself knee-high in misinformation.
This infographic claimed that we owe our disease-free lives to vaccines — a great medical advancement. It gave a one-sided history of the creation of the first vaccine, an inaccurate account of the smallpox campaign, hailed the ineffective flu shot, misinterpreted the Lancet study, smeared Wakefield, blamed Jenny McCarthy for the “anti-vaccine movement” that has been around since the 1800s, attributed autism to anything but vaccines, dishonestly claimed that neurotoxins and hazardous wastes are safe, and said we shouldn’t have a choice whether or not to vaccinate because we disrupt the herd immunity that isn’t even applicable to vaccines.
Like what!? I hope nobody rushed out and vaccinated their kids based on that infographic without doing a little fact-checking first. Despite what you may have heard, you are allowed to ask questions and form your own opinion . . . no special credentials required, and if you are going to vaccinate your child, you deserve the (real) facts.
Allow me . . .
This comment section has gone from legitimate facts to opinions to religion to conspiracy theories. I have seen some people be beautifully roasted and I have seen lawyers be unable to adequately defend their opinions. As a med studies student currently studying immunity I came to this website expecting to find information for my research project on how some vaccines aren’t always 100% effective. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed to find that there was nothing at all on that specific topic. I did however, have an awesome time with my med studies class reading these comments and hearing what people really think about vaccination. I personally support vaccination and think it is very important to the health of the human race as a whole.
Dear “N” – I think it’s great that you and your fellow indoctrinees, who haven’t had an original thought in several years nor are doing any original research, are having an awesome time. What’s sad is that you’re studying medicine and currently immunology but can’t even locate the section on this page which contains all of the citations for the infographic, including the information you’d need to bolster your supposed project on vaccine inefficacy. Puzzling you’d find this website as a medical student, versus selecting any of the multitude of results you’d find on this topic using Google Scholar or PubMed. What medical school are you in anyway?
One sentence you’ve written gives you away, the “human race as a whole”. The US’ VICP program had paid out almost $4 billion dollars (almost as much as the CDC spends on buying vaccines from the pharmaceutical industry annually) to vaccine injuries, you appear to have a callous disregard for these individuals – I wonder if you’ll remember them when you take your oath?
In spite of the citations for this infographic being clearly listed in the early comments, as a “research student” you could also have verified any of them yourself with a modicum of, you know, research…but given you’re already doing a research project and this is what you came up with, is it any surprise?
Here’s a couple resources to help you if you’re generally interested in immunology and not just what your extremely biased professors (not their fault, their curriculum is dictated by the millions of dollars your institute receives from the pharmaceutical industry, you probably haven’t studied conflicts of interest yet) are ‘teaching’ you to think.
Dr Tetyana Obukhanych, PhD in immunology – http://www.tetyanaobukhanych.com/
Physicians for Informed Consent – https://physiciansforinformedconsent.org/
RichCoulter,
What’s sadly impressive is your ability to take a relatively harmless comment and attack the poster without any knowledge of him/her. Your first sentence gives YOU away. You sure seem to know an awful lot about “N” and his/her “fellow indoctrinees.”
Your comment hardly reflects the attitude of a good scientific skeptic. We’re all after the truth, regardless of our current understanding or opinions. Keep the conversation professional rather than letting your emotions get the best of you.
“…scientific skeptic.”
That’s an oxyMORON.
I’m in high school taking a med studies course.
Everything of the best with your studies, N. Good to know that the children of the world will have much needed science-backed support in the fight against infectious diseases. We experienced a recent resurgence in the incidence of poliomyelitis here in Namibia and if it wasn’t for vaccines we would be in terrible trouble. I have to shake my head at the so-called science driving the non-vaccination argument and I wonder if Megan and her colleagues would walk the talk and bring their families to visit my country or eastern Nigeria (another country facing polio outbreaks) without prior vaccination. Of course they would not. It is so very easy to espouse grand and dangerous things from a safe distance.
Thanks for your comment Katrina. I actually ran a non-profit organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo and adopted two children from there. When I asked the people from the villages and the orphanage directors what THEIR needs were … vaccines didn’t even make the list. You know what did? Clean water. We drilled in a remote region of Congo and then provided hygiene training to thousands of villagers. Clean water coupled with hygiene training reduces the prevalence of these diseases by 85% without putting anyone at risk. As you know, these infectious diseases can be easily prevented by proper hygiene and adequate nutrition. While I was there, I also saw orphans vaccinated. Nobody stuck around to deal with the adverse reactions (or the fact that immunocompromised/malnourished children shouldn’t be vaccinated in the first place). I held a little boy who almost died after being given his MMR vaccine – that was given when he was 6 months below the recommended age. I think we agree that these health epidemics need to be addressed, but we disagree that vaccines are the solution.
So although I greatly respect your opinion, it is a well known fact that the “resurgence” of polio is caused by the live polio vaccine. You’ll find emotional arguments on both sides, but that doesn’t change the fact that vaccines are neither safe, nor effective. You’re right, it is easy to espouse grand and dangerous things from a safe distance, just like it’s easy for one to make assumptions. <3
Megan:
I appreciate your attitude when responding to objections. I also agree with a lot of what you’re saying. However, I think we need to differentiate the argument that some vaccination can potentially be harmful from the idea that “[all] vaccines are neither safe, nor effective.” We could dig deeper into each one of the items in your infographic, and we should be careful not to make assumptions on either side of the argument. Still, I wish more anti-vaxxer’s had your openness to discussion. Thank you 🙂
Katrina:
I agree with the sentiment. There is plenty of evidence in favor of vaccination (though perhaps not in all specific cases). If we could get less pseudo-science from the anti side and more quality research, then we would be able to get down to the truth that probably exists on both sides.
Dear N, much of your disappointment seems to arise from finding your preconceptions not met. Join the club. You started with a very reasonable position that vaccines may not be 100% effective and 100% safe but that overall they probably offer more benefit that harm to mankind generally. When I started my training I was of much the same opinion. I won’t tell you what my area is, as I do not wish to claim to be speaking for my colleagues. However 20 years of study later I am of the view that vaccines are of very little benefit and huge risk. What really did it for me in the end was realising I had suffered various reactions to vaccines in the past that have put a considerable drain on my well-being, and that alone is dismaying. To realise that I was in fact cynically missold toxic and unproven concoctions on the promise of safety and health is what makes me angry. And seeing how a great many innocent people continue to be harmed by this while trying to do the right thing is what makes me now determined to fight against this misguided approach. The middle-ground seems evidence-based, scientific and reasonable until you start to question the assumptions upon which it is based. Then it becomes clear that vaccinology is a house of cards,. In short, antivaxxers are not just people with an antisocial streak who decide one day to fight against the good in the world for the sake of it. We are EX-VAXXERS who have learned the hard way that we have been lied to, and in many cases harmed How else is one supposed to react to the realisation that one has been deliberately abused in this way? Far too many stories of ‘my child was fine, then he was vaccinated, now he’s not fine’ and the experience of patients and parents can no longer be dismissed as irrelevant to the subject. I won’t bother trying to make a watertight case for you, and besides, I think if you keep on your search you will probably in time come to the same conclusions. Good luck with your studies, and please please please, continue to question everything (including this).
This article is completely compiled of baseless claims and a timeline, maybe you should do a little more research
Actually it’s not. The original that this one was written in response to is the version that includes ZERO citations. You’ll find the very long list of credible citations used to create this infographic in the comments of this post. Feel free to research. 🙂
I do not see any list of citations, if you had real sources why not clearly post them in your articular. Saying there are citations but you have to search for them and do research is to me the wrong way to address concerns about an articles accuracy.
Because it’s an infographic. They were posted in the comments on multiple occasions. However, the original infographic this one was written in response to listed ZERO citations.
Check any newspaper article – zero references. Any physiology, physics , chemistry or history text – as often as not zero or next to zero citations. Sometimes you just got to tell the story, and the reader – if genuinely interested – can check the facts for themselves. If they need spoon-feeding then they may as well believe in santa claus, because you only know for sure what you have checked out for yourself. I could pull the wool over most peoples eyes by manipulative citation, it doesn’t prove a thing. I used to try and make watertight cases in my writing and videos, but I have long since adopted the ‘take it or leave it approach’. I no longer care if people believe my story or not, it is there for those who want it. Megan’s infographic is bang on, but you gotta test it out for yourself.
Wow, that is a seriously inelegant response Optimus Prime. The sort that would be expected to stream out on Trump’s Twitter account attacking ‘fake news’. Not from a group promoting a particularly significant medical standpoint to an intelligent audience. Megan, you need to review and manage your foot soldiers. They are doing you a world of PR hurt.
PL I don’t belong to a group, I speak for myself. Seriously, I did my own research, I didn’t expect anybody to spoonfeed me, because when they did, they just as often fed me lies. The least you could do is say ‘Thanks’ to Megan for drawing your attention to a big politically inconvenient problem and check it out for yourself so you are really really sure. If all you want to do is disagree but refuse to do any study on this yourself then you are being inelegant yourself.
Talk about a contrast. To read today about Stephen Hawking’s passing and reflect on what a brilliant mind can do despite being fettered to ALS and a life which others would have long given up on. Then to come across this blog in all its mundane and ill-informed glory, with no support in science and driven by a selfish and emotive agenda. Surely you can do better with your lives and your energies ?
I don’t think we should ever compare the gifts, purpose, and minds of one to that of another. This blog may be ill and mundane, but it is not driven by any selfish or emotive agenda and has made and will continue to make a huge impact in the lives of millions of people. I’m not interested in black holes. I’m interested in the health, safety, and welfare of my children and ensuring that they grow up in a world that allows them the freedom to make similar advances (which in my opinion, is a valid and noble cause). Hawking’s discoveries began by questioning the science that was already in existence. Lest we forget that is how most great scientists and physicists make their discoveries.
What does the life or death of Stephen Hawking have to do with this (bless him)? Truth is truth, fighting for it to be heard and recognised is totally worthwhile. Making truth accessible was completely Hawking’s style, so don’t knock it here.
Paul E has forgotten the oft-touted refrain from the vaccine apologist/zealot community – ad hominem attacks (one of two fallacious arguments Paul used in within just two sentences) are what you engage in when you don’t have a leg to stand on. There is a plethora of well-researched, scientifically-sound information on this site, a massive amount just in this article alone; talk about a contrast indeed.
For anyone who is on here looking to decide whether or not they should vaccinate your children, please visit other sites than this for overwhelming evidence that vaccines do work and do NOT cause autism and other diseases. On the internet, you can find anything to support your beliefs, but that doesn’t make them true. I’m sure if you look, you’ll be able to find hundreds of websites that support horrendous organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS. I am a college student and have studied extensively on the Biology behind vaccines, and the reasoning behind their invention. I have also read up on many supposedly valid studies that link vaccines to autism and other illnesses, and have found loopholes in them. Real reasons for increases in the rate of autism over time are not attributes to the rising prevalence of vaccines. This is an article from one of the most reputed journals as to reasons why cases of autism have increased in recent years: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-real-reasons-autism-rates-are-up-in-the-u-s/. Please, for your children, and their children, and everyone’s children around you, vaccinate your own. It is for your own protection as well as society’s.
How can an unvaccinated child be a danger to a vaccinated one? If they have “immunity”;True immunity means you wont get the disease again. All you are doing is spreading propaganda. There is not one single study that proves if a child receives vaccinations they will be healthier than a child that does not. They have never even tested to see how healthy children can be without vaccinations. The CDC just wants to make sure that vaccinations are still being used. They don’t care about the well being of children, they care about the well being of their pockets. If they did even one complaint about mandatory vaccinations would start serious testing or at least a change in the vaccination schedule.
Hi! While reading this, I’ve been silently disproving most of them in my head, but I haven’t found any research for some of them. Could you point to the parts you think are the most good points and give me the links to the studies? I’m perfectly open to this idea, but there is a lot of wrong information circling around and I have found far more convincing evidence for the pro-vaccine side, especially when looking into the science and ingredients. Hope to hear back from you! ))
(I apologize for my poor English if it’s hard to read, it isn’t my first language)
Citations are in the comments.
I saw that. It’s a bit of a chore to go through all citation for something I only care minimal about. Could you point out your best points, in your eyes, so that I could at least research those?
A non-vaccinated kid can get a deadly disease and die.
A vaccinated kid can get poisoned (because of the conditions of the syringe or how it is applied to the child) and die.
Nothing is perfect. No theory has been completely made truth. It is just how life works. Each time, every theory is proven wrong more and more, but it is proven true more and more. Its an endless cycle of theories becoming true or false, and those who end up being true, are actually false.
Gallina P – key point? There are a huge number of very credible witnesses in many fields and walks of life to the fact that vaccines are not very safe, not very effective and not very necessary. And if as much effort were spent checking out their testimony as to keeping them out of the witness box, then the world might look very different. You can take my word for it that those witnesses exist and that is what they say. Or you can look them up and take their word for it about vaccines. Or you can look up what they looked up and use the source information. Or you can choose not to believe a word. It’s up to you, not sure what else to suggest. The volume of evidence is huge, you have to find your own way to sift it.
Love
Here’s some inconvenient facts for the “pro-vaccine side”
1) “Vaccinating results in overall healthier adults” – WRONG, no study has ever compared (IOM, 2013 Report) overall health outcomes between only fully vaccinated and never vaccinated individuals, therefore it’s scientifically dishonest to say following the CDC’s recommended schedule results in healthier overall individuals in the long-term vs. avoiding it altogether.
2) “Vaccines don’t cause autism” – WRONG, no study has ever compared rates of ASDs between only fully vaccinated and never vaccinated groups. The Danish MMR study compares rates between groups receiving and not receiving MMR which isn’t the only vaccine on the schedule and KIGGS lumps all the vaccinated individuals together vs. unvaccinated which means someone with a single flu shot at 2 years old is in the same group as someone who has had 40 doses of 14 vaccines by age 2 – without the original data we cannot compare the statistics for only the fully vaccinated group thus KIGGS is scientifically useless.
I’m not going to bother spending significant time debunking your claims, but I will point out that the study that “proved” the MMR vaccine causes autism was not only hilariously incorrect it was also fraudulent and the doctor who published it had his medical license revoked.
Please, educate yourself: http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4026.pdf
Many scientists have long maintained that the earth is facing huge challenges from overpopulation and that rapid disease progression will be nature’s way of rebalancing the system. This will be desirable and necessary and I have to say that reading this science-deficit article has given me hope for that process to be really effective. Keep up the disinformation flow folks – you are doing the planet a tremendous service.
I’m sorry you feel that way “PL,” but I can see where you’re coming from with the manipulation of viruses scientists are currently engaged in. Feel free to read the very long list of science-based citations (in the comments) by which this post was derived.
With respect,
Megan
Could you tell me where those cites are, because I am not seeing any.
Contrary to the writer’s opinion that injecting toxins and heavy metals into the frail bodies of the very young and very old will result in an increased life span, there is another opinion that vaccines are part of what has been termed a “Genomicidal Agenda” — an intent to rapidly reduce the human population. Here is one example of that viewpoint: http://www.opensourcetruth.com/new-plague-update-mad-science-genomicidal-genomicists/
If you want to avoid being sacrificed to the “good of humanity” you need to avoid vaccination. If you want to assert your right to refuse all vaccines, you can obtain an Advance Vaccine Directive card here: http://tinyurl.com/AVDcard
The overpopulation myth remains even as most countries of the world have a fertility rate of well below 2 children per couple. How can that possibly lead to population growth? It doesn’t. What is happening is a big increase in life-expectancy since WW2, meaning that there has been a temporary dip in death-rates – temporary because nobody lives forever, but many deaths have effectively been ‘deferred’. We are actually on the brink of a worldwide population crash, and the ramifications of that are very worrying indeed. Working age populations have already long-since crashed, and hence the economic strife since 2008, and it isn’t about to get better. What is more worrying even is that this has been planned. Depopulation is intentional, and we ain’t seen nothin’ yet, as they say. As for why, well, that touches on some huge subjects about what is really happening in the world and who really runs it. But the ‘how’… OMG, I am not saying vaccines have been designed to kill us off, but it certainly suits some very influential people if there are a lot of dangerous and ineffective vaccines on the market and nothing is done about it. That’s just part of it. By all means accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist. Frankly I don’t care any more. I don’t need to make up conspiracy theories, there are plenty of conspiracy facts to keep us all busy. The fake reality of the 20th century has burst, it is gone. If we care about the future there is work to be done…
Nobody says vaccines are totally safe, what the people are trying to say is that not vaccinate your childrens is totally unsafe the principles which rule vaccines are scientifically proven, and about dangerous substance, all substances are dangerous are hazard in the wrong concentration, the water you drink even the bottled one is treated with a form of Chloride in the wrong concentration can be dangerous, but the people who design the proccess made the calculation who assures the substance will be not dangerous, you don’t have to believe me, you can just read a biochemistry book
Elkin, please explain to the Black family how not vaccinating is totally unsafe, I’m sure you can quote from a biochemistry book.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/health-family/article11620775.html
The principles by which vaccines work are totally NOT proven. The process involves taking a sample of tissue from somebody who may or may not have a disease, filtering it, taking what comes through the filter, culturing it on mashed up monkey kidney or whatever, injecting it back into some poor creature, extracting more morbid tissue from them,a nd repeating the process many times. This process of ‘purification’ actually produces a cocktail of in fact who really knows what. They test they have the target virus by injecting it into the brain of a monkey and seeing if it gets sick. By this ‘scientific’ process, nobody even knows if the original pathogen was even entered into the process, let alone what the myriad unwanted pathogens and other unwanted contaminants are in the final soup that is mixed with formaldehyde, MSG, aluminium salts, possibly mercury etc etc and called a vaccine. The science is so grossly bent that nobody really knows if it is safe, effective or even necessary either. I call it complete voodoo. (source: Fear of the Invisible, by Janine Roberts – a stunning read, if this subject interest you)
http://howdovaccinescauseautism.com/
For all people wondering, here’s a site about how vaccines do (not) cause autism.
It includes studies and research.
Please vaccinate your childeren.
Really?
It is IMPOSSIBLE to prove that something does not exist. You can’t prove unicorns don’t exist somewhere on this world. That’s the missconcept about this vaccines-do-cause-autism-because-no-study-proves-this-statement-wrong. But most studies about this topic could not find a link between autism and vaccines. Also the ONE paper that states that there may be a link between autism and vaccines was later debunked to be wrong.
And herd immunity is a thing! There are children out there who CAN NOT get vaccinated because of an illness (forgot the name sorry). They rely on herd immunity.
There are no vaccines (you get regulary) that are still active diseases.
And last. Vaccination is no 100% protection. It’s like driving with or without an seatbelt. If you have an accident with 50 km/h you may die without a seatbelt but may survive with one. If you are vaccinated you may get the disease (from others) or you are save, but you chances are better with an vaccination. And the more people are vaccinated the less likely you get sick.
Really? Because a study just came out at the end of November linking autism to aluminum (actually there are many studies that support this). Hey guess what’s also in vaccines? This aside from the fact that autism was listed in the package inserts AND billions have been awarded to compensate for vaccine injury … many of whom have proven that vaccines caused their child’s autism. As for your seatbelt analysis, I don’t even have time to go there.
P.S – The Lancet study was NOT retracted because the results were incorrect. Twelve other world-reknowned scientists have corroborated these results. You should actually read* the retraction, as well as Wakefield’s book. Exposing yourself to both sides will give you the most accurate viewpoint.
Do you know what else contains Aluminum? Most food products as Aluminum is the fifth most abundant element on Earth. You would get more aluminum from a cheeseburger at McDonald’s than from an MMR vaccine.
Hey, do you know how the aluminum from food enters and is excreted from the body? Via the digestive tract … not the kidneys (which aren’t even fully developed in a child under the age of 2 and are compromised in 50% of the U.S population). BIG difference. 😉
The ingested aluminum does go through the Kidneys though. All the extra wastes from your blood stream (used nutrients from food) go straight to the kidneys then to the Bladder through the Ureters. In fact babies get more Aluminum from breast milk (10mg) Formula (40mg) and Soy based Formula (120mg) then they could from a single vaccine (4mg).
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://media.chop.edu/data/files/pdfs/vaccine-education-center-aluminum.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjY25GUke3ZAhVG62MKHTFDC3sQFggmMAE&usg=AOvVaw3-2KHTCxbqC5ctN0t2ms8S
If you believe that vaccines cause autism, then you’re autistic.
The Wakefield paper published in 1998 was flawed for two reasons:
About 90 percent of children in England received MMR at the time this paper was written. Because MMR is administered at a time when many children are diagnosed with autism, it would be expected that most children with autism would have received an MMR vaccine and that many would have received the vaccine recently. The observation that some children with autism recently received MMR is, therefore, expected. However, determination of whether MMR causes autism is best made by studying the incidence of autism in both vaccinated and unvaccinated children. This wasn’t done.
Although the authors claim that autism is a consequence of intestinal inflammation, intestinal symptoms were observed after, not before, symptoms of autism in all eight cases.
Lmao still waiting for Megan to reply with her “facts”
Something about Aluminum : Breastmilk is ingested. Anything and everything ingested is subject to the gastrointestinal tract before it is absorbed into the bloodstream and ends up in other vital organs and tissues. The GI tract is an excellent barrier (when healthy) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) states that only 0.1-0.4% of aluminum ingested is actually absorbed.
Therefore, up to 99.9% of aluminum is not absorbed when ingested (through breastmilk or food), and is eliminated/removed from the body before it ever reaches the bloodstream.
Some math (using 10mg aluminum in breastmilk, and 0.4% for absorption rate):
(10mg aluminum) x (0.004 absorption rate) = 0.04mg
Conversion from mg to mcg = 40mcg total absorbed aluminum.
In contrast of course, most vaccines are injected.
The contents of an injected vaccine are not subject to the gastrointestinal tract. Aluminum, along with other ingredients, are injected intramuscularly in order to intentionally bypass the natural barriers of the body (skin, mucus membranes, etc. which exist to help to prevent absorption). Blood flows to and from our muscles, so the contents of a vaccine can enter the bloodstream rapidly. Therefore, absorption of aluminum via vaccine is 100%.
Now we can make an accurate comparison between absorbed aluminum via breastmilk vs vaccines, in the first 6 months of life:
Breastmilk: 40mcg (0.04mg) | Vaccines: 4000mcg (4mg)
http://theconversation.com/toxins-in-vaccines-a-potentially-deadly-misunderstanding-11010
have a look at this link, it goes more in depth about toxins in vaccines.
there are a lot of misunderstanding in your facts but i definatly can see why you would doubt vaccines, but they are mostly safe unless you have a disabled immune system (which is the main problems with vaccines).
Dear Megan, Thank you for your articles. They are like my “wikipedia”- an outline, overview of the subject. I make sure to read the links you have attached as well so I can formulate my own words. And read other similar blogs to find their sources as well.
Hi Kyt, So glad you like them! 🙂
I believe that we are at a break point right now: there are the pro and the anti vaccines.
Lets start by agreeing on the fact that nobody has absolute truth about anything.
From an observant standpoint I will use the Black Swan theory to based some of the comments that will follow, but for all of us to be on the same page please find a brief description of what we mean about Black Swan: just because an event or thing has not been witnessed or discovered till date doesn’t prove its non-existence. Such a thing or event might exist and once spotted it’s called a Black Swan.
From that perspective, lets think about the following:
1- Its true that mortality rates got lower with vaccines but vaccines have not been the only contributing factor: other strategies like quarantine, homeopathic medicine and variables like better living conditions of many populations.
2- Today we suffer from stuff that we didn’t have occurring at the rates that we have today like allergies, cancer, auto immune desease, any sort of palsy and of course the controversial topic of autism. There might be no official, widely accepted proof that correlates vaccines or modern medicine as having any sort of responsibility in the matter but I don’t think it can be denied either.
3- Countries like India and Cuba have used alternative mechanisms to fight against desease with great results. In India, is known that homeo and naturopathy work side by side the modern medicine and take the best from each other. I believe that we could adopt this type of collaboration instead of taking sides, for the best of each other.
4- As a parent, you automatically become an expert pediatrician as you spend countless hours with your children and are always learning and observing. There have been cases of parents noticing a undeniable before and after the vaccine reaction in their children. Maybe there is not a specific study or statement about that yet but, can you deny their statement and what they are going through? Are you 100% certain and have all proofs that vaccines could be the cause? If you cant provide certainty you can definitely have understandable concerns.
5- From what Ive been able to research, when the US Federal Government states that “vaccines are unavoidably unsafe” its quite a statement: like any other treatment or procedure there is inherent risk and the adverse effects should be discussed and evaluated. What I believe is wrong is to market something totally safe or force people to believe that its the only choice. It might be the one where more effort and attention has dedicated to.
6- It is also fair to say that the pharma industry being so lucrative as it is, there might be conflicting interests involved in all this (like in anything else in the world in which power, grieve and corruption are the bread and butter of every day).
7- Looking at the pro and anti vaccine movements today, the option of doing something (vaccines) vs. not doing anything at all (no vaccines) still puts vaccines on top since today there is not a widely known and widely available immunization mechanism or process that can provide piece of minds to parents and governments all over the world that we are doing the best we can to stay healthy and avoid desease and illness.
To summarize I believe that there is enough observable evidence that tells us that something is off about vaccines, the industry, governments and immunization. This doesn’t mean that the effort is not appreciated but it does means that we should continue working on collaboration to look for better and less riskier alternatives and continue questioning the status quo of things. The fact that one is not a scientist, engineer (which I am) or a lawyer doesn’t take your right of asking and questioning things that common sense and observation bring to your attention.
Thank you and have a great day!
There is already a great, safe, very effective, inexpensive natural or synthic version of Vit C that can be used in just about any health illness to fanastic results. There is a lot of info about using it instead of vaccines and you can listen to Dr Susan Humphreys who explains in detail all about it. Many of us have been using it successfully for decades but drs are not allowed to offer anything but pharma or risk being arrested for using unrecognized by Pharma natural ingredients.
I’ll just address #1: It’s true that mortality rates got lower with vaccines…
Not really. In the years leading up to the advent of most of the vaccines, the total number of annual deaths in the U.S. from measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio combined was less than 1,100. There are currently more than 3,500 cases of SIDS each year, but there’s adequate evidence that the label of SIDS is in essence a euphemism for vaccine fatality. We’re losing more infants alone to vaccines each year than we lost kids of all ages, to all the childhood illnesses combined, before vaccines.
bull crap NO proof that SIDS has ANYTHING to do w/ vacc you are full of BS thats right vaccines are safe this article is boguss and false full of lies ! I’ve already had my vacc I’m like near 70 I had a cousin, his son didn’t get the spinal meningitis vacc and DIED ! it happens to young people like college students and they are dead in less than 24 hrs ! it CAN BE totally prevented w/ a vaccine please get your vacc don’t die ! don’t do that to your parents ! we love our kids !
Please cite a single study that compares rates of SIDS between only fully vaccinated and never vaccinated individuals that shows rates of SIDS are the same. Tick, tock, tick, tock…
Oh and if you’re 70 it took 2 doses of 2 vaccines to be fully vaccinated, today it’s 69 doses+ of 16+ vaccines.
Wtf. We’ve been losing babies for unknown reasons since the dawn of time. Just cause vaccines are more prevalent now doesn’t mean there’s a correlation between that and Sids
love this article, check out my article in Wake Up World, called Raising the Child From Hell, very informative about autistic behavior and the history behind the political push for vaccinations…thank you for this research..
That’s pretty insulting to all autistic children. Most and not all of us are from hell and I’d rather live with autism then die of Polio
What if you didn’t have to choose between polio and autism? There is an alternative.
That’s kind of like admitting that autism is the price to pay for vaccination. Good for you, if that is your choice. But I don’t think when a child is involved we can be so careless as to base important medical choices on such a bogus dichotomy as polio vs. autism. As for insults, many of us think hiding the truth is also deeply offensive, and would rather hear the truth even if it is painful. In the long run the pain and offence will be worse if we do not.
There has been no confirmed link between Autism and Vaccines. If you could provide any examples from credible source I’d love to hear them!
Megan,
I am trying to sort all of this out while making a decision for our family. I have some honest questions that I would like your response to, please!
1. People who are generally against vaccines often post graphs that show the decreased mortality rates declining before certain vaccines were ever introduced. These graphs are convincing because certainly better medicine, hygiene, and living situations have contributed to this decline! That is great! However, when I look at the MORBIDITY graphs, it seems that vaccines truly did cause a decline in the number of cases.
It seems like Morbidity is the meter we should be using, not mortality. Because of course I am glad the likelihood of my children dying has decreased, but I’m more worried about them even having the diseases in the first place!
What do you think?
Okay and question number 2 is:
Every time I read someone talk about how Herd Immunity is a myth, they always say the same thing. “Herd immunity only applies to natural immunity.” But they never explain why that is. Why CAN’T it apply to artificial active immunity as well? Im not so convinced about this one because I can’t find any compelling arguments!
Well that was long but I really hope you answer!
Thanks,
Rachel
Rachel, the vaccine industry has turned the rather incredible process we call infectious illness on its head. When a child is sick, it’s in response to an infection that developed anywhere from three days two three weeks earlier, and the symptoms are literally purposed not to harm, but to eliminate infection, cleanse and return the body to homeostasis, or wellness. Complications arise when there are already serious existing immune problems, or perhaps if treatment rendered is inappropriate. What we call disease is in reality a natural, recuperative process, and the fear of it so rampant in our society is an industry construct. It’s true that in mid-20th century America, before the fear-mongering began, many parents would send their kids out to be exposed to one of the various childhood illnesses when someone in the neighborhood developed it. Obviously, the illnesses were viewed as benign, and no reason for fear.
Herd immunity doesn’t apply to vaccines because vaccines don’t immunize – they bastardize. They interfere with proper immune response after subsequent exposure to the respective diseases. A good example is what we were told in a 2013 FDA study: if you’re vaccinated for whooping cough and then exposed (and exposure can take place anywhere there are other people), you’re prone to developing an asymptomatic infection, and surreptitiously infecting all those around you for six weeks. From another perspective, there’s polio. The public’s not aware that as soon as the Salk polio vaccine was introduced in the ’50’s, the government radically changed the diagnostic parameters of the disease, literally automatically wiping out 90% of polio diagnoses going forward – 30,000 cases a year we were then told were eliminated by the vaccine.
Vaccination is an abomination, established and maintained through consistent statistical manipulation and misinformation, and the CDC’s powerful hold on public perception. Keep your kids well fed, adequately rested, and know that their resulting, robust immune systems will minimize the number of times they get sick, and assure efficient, thorough recovery when they do.
Great resource: MD Dr. Robert Mendelsohn’s book, How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor.
That’s true. My friend Shawn didn’t vaccinate against the Flu last year cause he said it wasn’t necessary and didn’t want chemicals in his blood. He was an athletic guy; ate well and overall was pretty social and popular. When he got sick he didn’t go to the doctor but stayed home to get rest. He died a week later. Vaccinate
Rachel,
No. Mortality graphs are much more reliable than Morbidity graphs for the very simple reason that, when someone dies, the fact is almost always (unless a criminal wanted to hide a murder) recorded by the authorities, whereas when someone falls ill, especialy for minor illnesses like measles, very often no entry of this fact is made in the official records. Period.
My mother and husband were not vaccinated against chicken pox, and both contracted chicken pox as young children. My mother has suffered from Shingles because of this, and we are expecting the same to happen to my husband. Luckily my mom caught it early, and did not suffer much.
By the time I was born, the chicken pox vaccine was released, and I was vaccinated. I never contracted chicken pox, and because of this, I will never contract Shingles.
God created the people who created vaccines. So many people have been saved from life-threatening illnesses because of the beautiful minds that God has given the scientists and doctors who created vaccines.
I’m choosing to trust scientists and doctors who have spent 8+ years studying vaccinations more than I trust a mom blog.
You do realise that they claim that the vaccine prevents shingles later in life, but if you read the packet, they also state that you’ll need to get a booster vaccine later in life.
A bit like claiming my car can drive 1000km on a single tank of petrol*
* the tank will have to be re-filled at least once on the way.
That’s cause your immune system weakens as you get older. Why do you think old people get sick so easily?
Hello, loved the pictograph and I think that the parents should have the choice to choose. Everyone else can think what they want but vaccines don’t really do anything but sometimes for some people make it worse. I should know, I’m not vaccinated but when I was young I got the measles, after that I got no vaccine and then I was so much more immune to The flu an other sicknesses. I’m still fine and live a life. There’s no such thing as normal if that’s what you think you are, everyone’s different and can choose to do different things.
Your graph distorts information to fit your own narrative, especially in the case of Edward Jenner. His vaccine was really more of an inoculation, and the first recipient of the vaccine, James Phipps, died at the age of 65, over 5 decades AFTER he got the “vaccine.” The fact that you try to claim he died as the side effect of a result of a vaccine he got as a 12-year-old is mind boggling. Many anti-vaccine blogs make the claim that Phipps died at the age of 20 of tuberculosis along with Jenner’s youngest son at a similar age, but a glance at Wikipedia and a simple subtraction will get you the truth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Phipps
Wikipedia …
I don’t understand why current medical treatments seem to always be “anti” … I’m not a Doctor or medical professional by any means, but why can’t modern medical treatments be “pro-health”. Could we not just enhance our gut bacteria to be superior and thus be able to fight off any illness?
actually funny enough that you say that, I have noticed that science is finally moving away from germ theory and more into terrain theory, and lets face it, there is nothing more exciting then the microbiome and how critical it is to prevention of just about everything.
naturally the big problem that the future holds for us is industries trying to get us to be dependent on their genetically modified microbes. We as a species need to move away from this “dependency on medicine” which just about every medical business model relies on for profits, even the healthier variants
I know right. Does anyone know that ANY person can add info into that site? Schools will not let you use Wikipedia as a reference for writing papers because anyone can add any kind of info into it.
It is really sad that there are people like you have gained popularity online (and profiting) from the spread of misinformation. I suggest take some time to reflect on your beliefs and try to look at your claims as objectively as possible. Are you a scientist? no. You are law student turned “naturopath” – which is complete non-sense in itself. Are you also a flat-earther? Do you deny climate change? Why do non-experts such as yourself feel that they are absolutely qualified to provide “facts” on subjects where real experts have spent decades of empirical research? There is no amount of internet research you can do that will make you qualified. Forgo your narcissistic tendencies and realize the damage you cause by spreading this false information.
Hi Wes,
As you’ll notice by the date on this post, my posts on vaccines were published long before I made anything from my site. I just implemented ads in the past few months actually. However, you don’t work for free so why would I be expected to work for free? And do you not think I could write about vaccines (pro-vax) and make money? I could but I don’t let $ dictate my opinions.
Secondly, I’m not a law student … I have a law degree, but even if I didn’t, I am certainly capable of reading and processing information just like you are. Never claimed to be a scientist, but we all make choices every single day for ourselves and our families – no request expertise required. That’s the beauty of being parents. I think we could both come up with quite an impressive list of what qualified scientists have been wrong about over the years … especially as it pertains to medicine.
Doesn’t take a scientist to know injecting carcinogens and heavy metals of your the blood stream is foolish. Ray Charles can see that. All it does is proves scientist and the “educated” have been educated out of their common sense.
What a strange comment. You say it doesn’t take a scientist to know that injecting heavy meals is bad for you. Quite obviously and incredibly won’t statement. The ONLY reason we know that some very specific metals in very specific conditions are harmful is because of…SCIENCE. Did you think Adam and Eve for that knowledge at creation? Bet you think chlorine is bad for you. However, we know that we will die I’d we don’t eat some salt. We also will die without oxygen. But combine oxygen with salt in a very specific way, and you get bleach. It’s bad for you. And the only reason we know any of this is…science. But for some reason you ignore science in favor your emotions, except when the science supports your emotions.
Ok, can you please link to any studies that tell us the safe levels of the various types of mercury and aluminium injected into people’s bodies in vaccines?
How about this for a link:
https://healthcareinamerica.us/did-chinese-scientists-find-autisms-missing-puzzle-piece-2d50be5b9122
Don’t tell me:
1. You don’t trust the source;
2. The study hasn’t been peer reviewed;
3. It’s just China trying to make America look bad; and
4. You’re clasping at straws and won’t accept any new information.
I think the bigger point to take away here is that it took a NON-American group to even study any kind of link, because the CDC and vaccine companies have been actively suppressing any studies that might come out against them.
The autism rate is climbing higher with every year that passes, yet the government is doing nothing, proposing nothing and nothing is being done about it. At least “anti-vaxxers” as you people call them are looking into things. This problem won’t go away by itself and it also won’t go away by pretending that vaccines “7absolutely can’t be a cause” like so many like to claim.
I’d be curious to know what you think are the top three potential causes of the sharp increase in autism rates in the last 30 years. Please keep in mind that “we’re better at diagnosing” is NOT an acceptable reason, it’s an attempt to muddy the waters.
Thimerosal prevents the growth of dangerous microbes in vaccines. Furthermore, all modern childhood vaccines do not contain Thimerosal
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/patient-ed/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-thimerosal-color-office.pdf
Those under 2 are still given influenza vaccines at 6 months and 18 months which can contain thimerosal in varying amounts depending on how the MDV is stored and how it’s administered.
This despite the product noting “those under 2 years of age” as a contraindication for receiving the shot.
Thimerosol prevents the growth of anything anywhere because it is lethally toxic to all living things. If you put it on your kid’s cornflakes you’d go to prison
And as a matter of fact ‘traces’ of mercury in ‘mercury free’ vaccines still constitute an alarming quantity. And it accumulates. And aluminium. And countless other concerns…
There’s more Mercury in tuna than in any case furthermore your body produces more Thimerosol every minute than any vaccine could
Different type of mercury, injection verses ingestion, and we should still avoid tuna high in mercury … or at least that’s what physicians advise pregnant women to do. 😉
while it is healthy to keep a skeptic or vigilant attitude towards new medical treatments, getting actual facts from properly accredited institutions and trained health proffesionals is the way to go.
To assume all vaccines should require the same boost scedule is inaccurate. The flu and polio viruses have completely different life cycles. each year, the flu virus usually mutates into a one or more new variations before the next flu season begins. For that reason last years shot might not protect you for this season. The polio virus does not mutate as readily therefore the vaccines you take as a child last for years before you need another boost. That does not means doctors are trying to trick you into doing something useless. Far from it.
In fact vaccination against polio worldwide has been so successful that it might be completely eradicated from the world by 2018 as per the world health organization. If proper vaccination was a scam or a barely understood prevention procedure there would not be such clear, direct success. Polio used to be one of the most feared diseases of the 20th century. Every year new cases everywhere. Vaccines have thankfully made this a thing of the past. This is a fact.
Smallpox was the first viral disease to be completely eradicated from the world. This was achieved through a systematic worldwide vaccination program the world health organization executed for ten years beginning in 1967. Hygiene and proper living conditions did not make this happen. Vaccines did. It has all been meticulously documented too. The eradication of smallpox by use of vaccines worldwide officially declared as of 1980 is not a matter of opinion or subject to interpretation, it is a fact.
I understand you are exhorting others not to vaccinate based on your belief that vaccines are dangerous and useless. Therefore your intention is to keep others from harm ,which in principle is great.
The problem is that your information on this subject is far from accurate. That means that while meaning well, you are unintentionally spreading misinformation.
Anyone reading your statements could potentially make dangerous health decisions for themselves and those in their charge, if they decide to take your statements as facts. By doing so, in the end you could put in risk those you wish to protect.
All the right information is out there if you really want to know the truth. There are subjects people can have their own opinions on because they are ideas or are a matter of personal taste, choice or interpretation. This is not one of them.
You say with such confidence that vaccines have almost irradicated some diseases like polio and smallpox……but I see no facts here except you making that statement. There are tons of facts out there showing you how it hasn’t but that it actually irradicated on it’s own. The vaccine industry manipulates their stats – for example they say HPV virus will help prevent cancer by 50% when the truth is that it was 50% of 1% that it helped. HUGE difference! Some countries where polio wasn’t even present, became much more prevalent after they had introduce the polio vaccine. They are in fact leading society to believe that vaccines are actually helping when they are not.
Vaccines in theory is great, but one simple research anyone can do is look at the ingredients because the science and explanation of these ingredients will tell you so much. Mercury (the levels now would need a baby to be 550lbs to be safe administration – not that I would even consider a drop for that matter), Formaldehyde, Aluminum, Thimerosal……and like Megan states, even if these are naturally occurring in the body, that doesn’t mean it safe to get it synthetically. That’s like saying formula is like breastmilk. It gives good nutrients. It is far from equalling breastmilk for sure. As a parent, we need to be educated scientifically and that doesn’t mean I need to be a scientist. I would love to rely on professional people that have researched and tested things for years……the truth is and it’s evident that many cannot be trusted. Where do their values and standards lie? Some are ruled by money and care not about consequences. And the few that do care, lose their jobs over it, and expose the lies that were put out there but people seem to ignore them.
This article states to go out there and do research. It is a fact that there is no evidence to say vaccines are safe. NONE! And they’ve been around for how long?
Simple definitions of ingredients and talking to those who have seen first hand that their child was perfectly fine, then right after a vaccination was completely different is evidence enough to question, research and get the facts as stated in this article.
Just like you stated at the end, “All the right information is out there if you really want to know the truth”. This does not sound just merely opinionated, or an idea or just a matter of personal choice but rather an article saying here is something to really think about and go out there and check it out for yourselves because I have and this is what I found out.
Just cause you read the ingredients doesn’t mean you know how they work. If I drop sodium in water then the sodium and water react in order to create an explosion. If I ingest Chloride then I’ll die. Mixed together you create Sodium Chloride (Salt). Things like this make me question our education system in America. This is 10th grade chemistry. Also not all Mercury is bad, Tuna has a lot.
Only 10% were vaccinated against smallpox. To say the vaccine eliminated the disease is preposterous!
Well, it seems you are just cherry picking your results from various sources and that you are very close minded to the fact that you may be wrong, if I were you I would seriously reconsider my priorities and learn to take criticism before just outright rejecting the claim of any other person that differs from your own opinion or your supporters opinion, you are not better than anyone else and just thinking that you are does not give you any right to spread misinformation.
~an opened minded individual
Hi NunYa,
I’m not sure I understand your comment. I will say though that this response (infographic) is limited to the original, which by the way – included zero sources.
Regards,
Megan
although Megan you did not present one single piece of evidence in your whole article?
Incorrect, my references are listed in the comments (because you can’t link in an infographic). It’s the author of the original that listed ZERO citations.
Bests,
Megan
what about scholarly articles? Research articles that have used the scientific method without biases to prove what you seem to believe in? FACTS. i do not see a list of references other than this “infographic”. Please, go do some research and you will find PLENTY of research articles with DATA that proves that vaccines work. And what about the CDC? They have plenty of resources and research. They also give a very detailed timeline of how a vaccine goes through approval.
Hi Marina, Do check the comments for the citations … all scholarly sources. In all fairness, the original post in which this infographic was written in response to lists zero citations, so I hope for the sake of bias you have left comments on his page also. 😉
Hello, I may have missed it but I would like to see a list of your references. 🙂
The US Government has done studies. If you look at the official U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website, it discusses this very issue.
https://www.vaccines.gov/basics/effectiveness/
I personally am happy that i know my children won’t get the measles, polio, rubella, etc because they have been vaccinated.
Vaccines.gov … really? No conflict of interest there.
“I personally am happy that i know my children won’t get the measles”
I wonder if the Black family are happy they traded in the measles (couple of days in your room with a rash and fever), chickenpox (couple of days of itching), mumps (couple of days with swollen glands, although vaccine not very effective anyway), etc., for permanent brain damage at the hands of their daughter’s 3 month vaccinations?
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/health-family/article11620775.html
Your children won’t get polio because we stopped spraying DDT from head to toe, not because they have been vaccinated.
You are very naive if you trust the government for ANYTHING!
Good for you Ellen M, and i pray you and your children are well. Off hand i would say you have done your research using a reputable source of information regarding vaccination/disease tracking & reporting. The CDC (centers for disease control and prevention,) WHO(world health organization,) UNICEF (united nation children fund) are the gold standard of disease tracking/reporting throughout occurrence to some elimination of all pestilences/diseases worldwide(which includes the United States.) Very recently in north Texas there was an outbreak of mumps (which some of the media was calling an epidemic.) Some people were saying the disease/mumps was present because of the schools were not keeping good sanitary conditions. There was a small (although i’m not sure how fair it for me to quantify the “small” labeling of this disease) outbreak of fifty some. Not sure of the exact number. This outbreak was very recent. But some of the cases, and i would wonder if not all, were not vaccinated! So i would say you made the right choice having your children vaccinated. It’s rare, around one in a million, have some degree of complication. I hope none of your children has suffered any bad reaction or complication. I worked in surgery as a physician assistant, and always hated statistics in the sense that if you turn out to be that one-in-a-million, who cares about the statistic!) Hope your family is well.
Chuck Staats considers the CDC to be a reputable source of information on vaccines, ignoring that they spend $5 billion annually buying vaccines AND are tasked with ensuring vaccine uptake – seems like Chuck Staats likes to ignore stats that anyone with even a modicum of capacity for critical thought would consider evidence of glaring conflicts of interest.
And the government holds vaccine patents…
http://www.opensourcetruth.com/yes-its-true-cdc-owns-vaccine-patents-and-profits-from-the-jab/
Ignorance is bliss.
Happy! Happy! Happy! La-la-la-lala…….
The reason why it is suggested that you get a flu vaccination every year is because, like all diseases, the flu virus mutates which means that the original flu vaccine cannot protect you from the new strain. These mutations cause a change in the antigens which means that your body no longer knows how to produce the antibodies which kill the disease. The reason why the flu vaccine is more prominent is that the disease is a virus which means that it cannot be cured by antibiotics as these only work on bacteria. Due to flu being airborne, washing your hands regularly and being clean won’t necessarily prevent the disease, but people with asthma (for example) need all they can get to prevent the disease as it could cause more severe health problems then just the flu, and injecting an inactive version of a disease into their body is more likely to be life saving than not.
I appreciate you making this post, but not all the facts you have posted are necessarily accurate. For example, your autism fact. Yes there has been an increase in autism diagnosis but this is more probably due to the better medical diagnosis rather than the introduction of vaccines. The reason why people disagreed with Wakefield is due to many reasons, and so people naturally doubt many other scientists – especially as it appears that many of the experiments trying to link autism to vaccines cannot be reproduced. Reproductions is a huge thing in the science community – if you cannot replicate it then it’s more likely to be an anomaly than not. Reasons why people discredit Wakefield; his study included just 12 participants and the smaller the study group the more likely for artificial findings; due to vaccines and autism both occurring at a young age, it is easy to create an artificial link; and they had ethical misconduct because their scientific study was selective due to them being paid by lawyers who wanted to win court cases for parents (they wanted to sue companies due to vaccines and needed proof) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136032/ . In addition to this, recent studies have proven that autism develops in utero.
Due to parents refusing to vaccinate their children, in 2010, California saw 9,120 cases of whooping cough, more than any year since the whooping cough vaccine was introduced in the 1940s. Reseachers credit this towards the parents refusing to vaccinate their children. In addition to this, the Hib disease shows, according to CDC data, that the incidence rate for this malady plummeted from 20,000 in 1990 to around 1,500 in 1993, following the introduction of the vaccine. This shows that vaccines work because there was very little change in personal hygiene in these years.
I can understand the concern of vaccinating children when it could possibly cause them harm, but as a child myself (16), I appreciate being vaccinated as a child because I have a much reduced risk of catching serious diseases that could easily kill me. If you don’t want to vaccinate them against their will, wait until they are old enough to make a decision for themselves, but show them both sides of the data, since deciding for them not to have the vaccine is also against their will.
Saying most doctors haven’t read the instructions is not true. You’re not a doctor – you’re a stay at home mom. Doctors have to know the side effects of tablets so that they can tell the patients to return if they experience any of the side effects. I know that when I had my school vaccines I was given the list of ingredients and common side effects, so even I know what can occur due to my vaccines. Nurses, especially, give these vaccines all the time and have to know the signs of rare reactions like swelling of the throat. Yes some can have adverse reactions, but it is actually more likely for you to die in a car crash on the way to the doctor than to die from having the vaccine.
I would never advise not giving a child a vaccine – there is being cautious but then there is subjecting your child to the increased possibility of polio.
Thank God! A sane person! Thank. You.
Attributing California’s 2010 pertussis outbreak to decreased inoculation denies the fact that most of these victims had been vaccinated for pertussis. Independent U.S. vaccine research is nonexistent.
Only a handful of people die of the flu each year – people who are not healthy for other reasons. Healthy people do not die of the flu – EVER. And to call it a “disease” is something the Big Pharma marketers did strategically over the past 7 years. On the other hand, many people have been harmed by the flu vaccine, which is also given to pregnant women without a single study being done as to whether or not it is safe for the fetus – and it is linked to SIDS. To suggest that there is no such thing as vaccine injury simply because it didn’t happen to is sad – say that to the thousands of children and their families suffering from very real and very devastating vaccine injuries. I’d suggest you look at this Facebook page dedicated to those families with pictures of their dead/injured babies and children and the stories of how it happened. Please, we all love the children in our lives and want to protect them in every way possible – but we MUST be sure we are basing our choices on truth, not opinion or unfounded and untested information.
Terri (and whoever else doing the same,) if you want to base your choices on truth, bases it on reputable information sites such as the CDC, WHO, UNICEF who all have domestic and international medically educated staff, instead of Facebook (which is just a social shareworking-networking website.)
Terri, in case you didn’t know 36000 people die from the flu in the US alone each year. So next time you disregard the flu as not being a disease, please look up some facts, because that is a massive number. Maybe if people like you weren’t spouting unproven conspiracy theories, there would be less deaths from this disease since more people would get themselves vaccinated from it. Don’t try to trivialize the flu, or the importance of vaccines. Get your children vaccinated.
That’s actually not true. The statistics for flu also include pneumonia (which can be caused by all sorts of things), all people who are vaccinated but still acquire the flu, AND all strains of influenza that aren’t even included in the flu vaccine. 😉
The old ‘dead people equals vaccines are safe and effective’ argument…
True, the official stats on flu deaths have been falsified outrageously for the irresponsible purpose of frightening people into getting vaccinated. Frankly, the true figures could be 300,000 or 3 million – it is irrelevant. What matters is whether the vaccine is safe and effective. Or if it is the only strategy for keeping well (spoiler: it isn’t).
Knowing what I know about flu vaccine I will still take my chances with the flu.
There is no worthwhile debate to be had here, my friend. When folk get affected by a combination of conspiracy theory coupled to a shaky grasp of science you are in the same territory occupied by religious nuts and political hotheads. Best to just observe and be entertained from a distance and hope they don’t do too much harm to themselves or vulnerable others.
If you don’t think the debate is worthwhile, move over. I think it is very worthwhile. I am sorry you are not aware of the huge volume of solid scientific evidence giving good cause to doubt vaccine safety and effectiveness, you’ll just have to try harder until you find it.
Dear Optimus Prime,
You are awesome.
– Megan
Thank you! I was starting to go slightly insane reading that thing.
So glad to hear sane people still exist! Thank You!!!
Yes D, and making world news right now is the marked increase in the incidence of measles in Europe. The cause ? A substantial drop in vaccination rates due to vaccine shortage as well as resistance from parents to vaccinate kids. The outbreaks hit 15 European countries — with especially large ones hammering Romania with 5,562 infections, Italy with 5,006, and Ukraine with 4,767. The WHO is calling it “a tragedy we simply cannot accept.” Anti-vaxxers have bought lock stock and barrel into the thoroughly debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. For my part I’ll go with the findings of the WHO before that of a poorly-informed fringe group with a murky agenda. That way I won’t be burying any of my children or trying to explain to them why they’re blind or deaf or worse.
Hi PL, let’s examine your statement using just facts.
1) marked increase in incidence of measles in Europe.
The biggest drop in coverage was in the early 00s seeing the results of the Wakefield press conference. In the past 20 years there have been over 100,000 reported cases of measles with zero deaths in the 0-9 year age group, if you have even a cursory grasp of mathematics I’m sure you can calculate just how impossibly small the risk of burying your children from measles is, now reduce that percentage risk by an additional two decimal places if you regularly give them cod liver oil which is high in vitamin A and massively reduces the risk of complications from measles (in the third world, the main reason after starvation they’re pushing GMO rice is vitamin a deficiency)
2) “thoroughly debunked theory that vaccines cause autism”
Hear this well, not ONE SINGLE STUDY has ever compared rates of ASDs between only fully vaccinated and never vaccinated groups. You cannot cite KIGGS as they don’t provide raw data and lump those with a single dose of a monovalent vaccine in with those having received 50+ doses of 16+ multivalent vaccines. You cannot cite the Danish MMR study because MMR isn’t the only vaccine on the schedule and most kids will have had multiple doses of multivalent vaccines including DTaP/IPV-Hib before they are 12 months old (and an influenza shot at 6 months despite the product monograph advising that being under 2 years is a contraindication to administration)
3) seriousness of measles before vaccine
Using CDC data, not sure if you consider them a poorly informed fringe group or not but we’ll use their data here, from their Vital Statistics – Mortality reports for 1904 and 1962, deaths from measles per 100,000 people.
1904 – 11.0
1962 – 0.2
That’s a 98%+ drop in deaths in just 58 years. Why is this important?
First measles vaccine administered in the US – 1963.
So big, bad deadly measles that only a fool wouldn’t vaccinate against because of how terrible and scary it is, saw a 98% reduction in mortality in just 58 years without the number one solution we’re constantly fear-mongered against to accept is the only way forward. Yeah, that’s not really a great argument.
What I’d like to see argued is in what bizarre other dimension you think that phenomenon (declining mortality rates) was suddently going to reverse course and climb again had we not introduced the vaccine?
Measles, in over 99.9998% of cases, is benign. It would be even higher if organizations like WHO bothered to tell people what to do to lessen the risks of complications, such as vitamin A supplementation.
Agreed with all Rich brings forth here, but would also hasten to add that we are now, for the first time in history, to my knowledge, seeing more serious measles cases (and I think even fatalities), and the culprit appears to be… Wait for it…
The vaccine strain of measles virus! Which is shed easily by, you guessed it, vaccinated kids. Might this, in fact, be why the rate of measles is climbing?
It sure was no big deal when I and my kid buddies went through it in the 50’s and 60’s.
And apparently rates of burglary have gone up in my town, according to a new home security firm that has just opened up here. They showed me some undeniable stats and told me it’s all the fault of complacent homeowners not getting burglar alarms.
In other words, if profiteers cry wolf too many times they only have themselves to blame when people don’t believe a single thing that comes out of their lying mouths. One day there really will be an unstoppable outbreak of something genuinely serious (measles – ha!), and the public will ignore it completely.
This sort of alarmist news is TOTALLY irresponsible.
Thank you so much for creating this info graphic! I would love to share it, but I’m not sure about the claim that the CDC says that the immunocompromised shouldn’t be be around the recently vaccinated. I know there was a statement to that effect that was retracted by John Hopkins hospital, but I’m unable to find any info about such a statement from the CDC. Do you have a reference for this? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Janna, All of the references I used in this graphic are listed below in the comments. 😉
Glad you liked it!
Megan
Lovely piece of work. Thanks!
I have tried to find the references in the comments but they don’t leap out. Never mind, I probably have all that info on my hard drive in other forms. Great to have it organised this way!
Thanks Larry. 😉
Citations:
1. http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/
2. Durbach, Nadia. “Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in England. 1853 to 1907.” Duke University Press. 2005. p. 25.
3. http://www.whale.to/vaccines/creighton_b.html
4. http://www.whale.to/v/hadwen.html
5. Dr. Tom Mack, of USC, CDC meeting June 20, 2002, transcript of the meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
6. http://www.ajicjournal.org/article/0196-6553(82)90003-7/abstract
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16989262
8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12851224
9. http://www.immunize.org/packageinserts/
10. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf
11. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/patient-ed/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-understand-color-office.pdf
12. http://www.amazon.com/Dissolving-Illusions…/dp/1480216895
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twch-T-n8Ns
15. Hearings Before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives, 87th Congress, 2nd Session on HR 10541. May 1962:94–112.
16. Neil Z Miller: The polio vaccine: a critical assessment of its arcane history, efficacy, and long term health related consequences, 2004
17. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004879.pub4/abstract
18. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/UCM294307.pdf
19. http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p1204-flu-season.html
20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170075/
21. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1415136/
22. http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(97)11096-0.pdf
23. http://www.amazon.com/Callous-Disregard-Autism-Vaccines-Tragedy/dp/B0085SCM4G
24. https://www.vaccineshoppe.com/assets/pdf/tripedia.pdf
25. http://www.morganverkamp.com/blog/
26. http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1164046
27. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/resdev/test-approve.htm#approval
28. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde
29. http://www.epa.gov/teach/chem_summ/Formaldehyde_summary.pdf
30. http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/cicad/en/cicad40.pdf
31. http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp22.pdf
32. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6115a1.htm
33. http://www.pnas.org/content/111/2/787.abstract
34. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2013/02/08/whooping-cough-may-be-becoming-resistant-to-vaccines/1903439/
35. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2013/02/researchers-find-first-us-evidence-vaccine-resistant-pertussis
36. http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/surv-reporting/cases-by-year.html
37. http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/47/11/1458.full
38. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/18/304155213/why-mumps-and-measles-can-spread-even-when-were-vaccinated
39. http://www.forbes.com/sites/gerganakoleva/2012/06/27/merck-whistleblower-suit-a-boon-to-anti-vaccination-advocates-though-it-stresses-importance-of-vaccines/
40. http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/industrynews/2014/merck-mumps-vax-efficacy-trial-moves-forward/
41. http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/3332
42. http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/3/613.extract
43. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X01002882
44. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/02/25/peds.2013-2365
45. https://vaers.hhs.gov/data/data
46. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-independent-are-vaccine-defenders/
47. http://paul-offit.com/about/
OMG thanks so much. You must get fed-up with repeating this info, and I really appreciate it
Only two of those don’t link to anywhere: http://morganverkamp.com/blog/ and https://www.epa.gov/teach/chem_summ/Formaldehyde_summary.pdf
Just as a precaution I always keep screenshots of any web pages I want to keep
This article was written awhile ago. And yes, I do too for this very reason.
Fantastic info-graphic – it supports everything I’ve researched about vaccines! Hoping those who currently believe that vaccinations are good for you will set aside all judgement and research the issue first.
I believe the formaldehyde pdf has been moved to the EPA’s archive, take a look (Megan) and see if this is the same one and you can update your refs accordingly. 🙂
https://archive.epa.gov/region5/teach/web/pdf/formaldehyde_summary.pdf
Thanks Rich!
After long review of your references, which is difficult because of your lack of reference in your facts, it seems to me that you are cherry picking information. You seem to be distorting the information from certain site and warping it to suit your needs. You also contradict yourself in you own pictograph, example; why do I need booster shot / influenza mutates rapidly. As someone who claims to be educated, you should know the implications of this highly unethical practice. I feel deep concern for any naive readers that you are influencing.
Here is a real article written by a journalist who uses cited references without rhetoric. http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5258
Brian Deer has fabricated information and misrepresented himself to individuals, he has been captured on camera grossly misdiagnosing conditions based on gastrointestinal x-rays (see the documentary Selective Hearing) and none of his articles in the BMJ have been independently peer-reviewed. Brian Deer is a gun for hire, his article in the BMJ on Wakefield was funded by The Sunday Times whose owner at the time, James Murdoch, sat on the board of UK MMR makers GlaxoSmithKline.
I can see now why you didn’t claim to be educated, but I do have deep concern for any naive readers that your rebuttal may be influencing.