The decision of parents who choose not to vaccinate their children is one of great irony. The only reason they are able to even entertain withholding this proven method of reducing suffering — and in many cases, saving lives — is based solely on the fact that most people do vaccinate. The problem arises when the chain is broken, and a gap is created that allows various communicable diseases to spread from person to person. Gossip coupled with a steady diet of internet fallacies lead people to misinformed and misguided information on the safety of immunizations.

Apparently, I’m not the only one that feels this way. Scientists, doctors and Michael D. Shaw, from Healthnewsdigest.com are none too pleased with the onslaught of parents making decisions based on faulty logic and information:

(HealthNewsDigest.com).. One of the greatest triumphs of preventive medicine—not to mention public health policy—is the overwhelming effectiveness of vaccination programs. Tens of millions of children in the United States alone, and even larger numbers of individuals throughout the world, will never know the terror of polio, measles, smallpox, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, and other diseases—all because of regular vaccinations. Despite all of this, a small but increasingly vocal minority of parents and politicians are leading a campaign against the wholesale use of vaccinations. (Michael D. Shaw, Correspondent at Large - HealthNewsDigest.com)

By alleging a dubious—and absolutely unproven—link between vaccines and isolated cases of meningitis and even autism (a claim that stretches credulity), these activists threaten to undo over a half-century of medical progress, exposing children to deadly diseases that, at least in the third world, were only recently vanquished or contained. This course of action is a death sentence for millions and is a clarion call for better education at home and abroad. It also indicates what can happen when people have it too good, have way too much time on their hands, and have very selective memories.

And, it must be said, this is just what can happen when science becomes politicized, and is offered up to a public not well-versed in matters scientific.

This kind of hysteria that was once considered part of a naive society, falling for a “War of the Worlds”, as it were, has been striking England over the last few years as it becomes all too evident that immunizations only work with the commitment of communities. Fear and ignorance envelop their common sense. It isn’t only their children at risk, but babies too young to be immunized yet — it falls out of the realm of personal choice, as these decisions don’t just affect their immediate families, but society as a whole.

Thermisol has long been dismissed by the science community as a cause of autism, yet the media and parents who represent those with a dangerous amount of a little information, has lead a growing population who are not protected from serious diseases.

Mr. Shaw cites more disturbing trends:

Consider measles, not quite the benign childhood affliction some people think it is. Six to 20 percent of the people who contract the disease will get an ear infection, diarrhea, or even pneumonia. One out of 1000 people with measles will develop inflammation of the brain. For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die from it.

Before the measles vaccine became available, there were approximately 450,000 measles cases and an average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year. Widespread use of measles vaccine has led to a greater than 99% reduction in measles cases in the U.S. compared with the pre-vaccine era.

However, once the naysayers grabbed hold of public opinion, measles inoculations lapsed in 1989; 55,000 people got sick and 120 died. Misguided parents, somehow concluding that vaccination is worse than the disease it prevents, arrange “measles parties,” deliberately exposing children to measles so they would get the disease very young and consequently avoid vaccination. Well, no one said you had to be smart to be a parent!

For me, it illustrates a scary trend in which people have a large capacity to disseminate junk science and pass it off as legit. Conspiracy theories about pharmaceutical companies abound, while at the same time a number of the anti-vaccination crowd have their own disingenuous ulterior motives and political reasons behind it. Some agendas just contradict public health and safety and this is an example of that. Parents need to stop thinking they know more about science and health than scientists and health care experts. Being a parent does not automatically give you the license to perform surgery — know your capabilities and get well-rounded and accurate information. Don’t automatically trust political sources and the internet.

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