Thursday, February 5, 2015

Anti-Vaxxers - The New Conscientious Objectors?

In the war against infectious diseases, vaccines have been indispensable.

In April of 2014, UNICEF provided some significant statistics concerning the impact of vaccinations worldwide. Regarding polio: “In 1988, there were 350,000 cases of polio around the world. Today there are fewer than 500. This year, India eradicated the disease- one of the world’s great public health achievements.”

UNICEF provided startling numbers of annual worldwide deaths due to diseases easily prevented by vaccines:
  • whooping cough- 195,000
  • measles- 118,000
  • rotavirus- 453,000
  • pneumococcal disease- 476,000
  • tetanus- 60,000
  • haemophilus influenzae type B- 199,000

From an article in the Houston Chronicle, September 19, 2014:

“Vaccine fact: Vaccines save lives. We're not saying vaccines are risk-free, but the ratio of serious adverse reactions to beneficial effect is about 1 to 40,000.

“Before pertussis (whooping cough) vaccines were available in the 1940s, an estimated 200,000 children were infected annually, and 9,000 died. Before there was a measles vaccine, up to 4 million Americans a year were infected; 1,000 suffered brain damage or hearing loss, and 450 died. Diphtheria killed 15,000 Americans in one year (1921) before there was a vaccine. During a pre-vaccine rubella (German measles) outbreak in the 1960s, 2,000 babies died and 11,000 pregnant women had miscarriages.”

In the American Journal of Public Health, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing researcher Alison M. Buttenheim, PhD, MBA had the following to say:

“Vaccines are one of the great public health achievements of the last couple of centuries… They protect us from diseases that used to routinely kill hundreds of thousands of children in the United States and still kill hundreds of thousands globally. It's not just important for a child to be vaccinated, it's important at a population level to have high rates of coverage.

“People who cannot get immunizations because of allergies or compromised immune systems rely on ‘herd immunity,’ the protection they get from a disease when the rest of the population is immunized or immune, explained Dr. Buttenheim. If a high number of children go intentionally unvaccinated because of personal belief exemptions, herd immunity is compromised, she said, giving a disease the chance to spread rapidly.’

Parents choose to not vaccinate their children for a myriad of reasons. Last month, Dr. Vincent Iannelli, M.D. provided a guide to fifty common myths about vaccinations, all which have been disproven. The article is in the About Health website.

Obtaining exemptions have not been that difficult to get. Nineteen states offer essentially “just say no” personal exemptions, and 29 more offer religious exemptions with varying requirements. Mississippi and West Virginia have stricter “medical reasons only” exemptions, and haven’t had an outbreak in the last seven years.

With the current outbreak of measles originating from Disneyland, there is beginning to be a re-examination of the vaccination exemption. There is a questioning of whether a person’s rights or beliefs in this case can be allowed to put others at risk.

In the military, in times of conscription, people had the option to claim conscientious objector status. During World War II, all registrants were sent a questionnaire covering basic facts about their identification, physical condition, history and also provided a checkoff to indicate opposition to military service because of religious training or belief. Men marking the latter option received a detailed form in which they had to explain the basis for their objection.

Currently in the U.S., military personnel who come to a conviction of conscientious objection during their tour of duty must appear in front of a panel of experts, which consists of psychiatrists, military chaplains and officers. They must submit to questions, in order for the panel to determine the validity of the claims.

In my view, those opposed to vaccinations are not unlike conscientious objectors. They are choosing not to participate in the war against preventable infectious diseases. They are refusing to use a weapon that has been proven safe and effective. The basis for their beliefs should be vigorously challenged. They should not be simply allowed to opt out.


D. Norman

7 comments:

  1. Do you believe that vaccines should be preserved in toxic mercury as many are now?

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  2. If I was William Jennings Bryan I would say I will not be crucified on the cross of science.

    http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/gardasil-vaccine-one-more-girl-dead/

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  3. The last time a doctor tried to vaccine me I had to sign a legal refusal form with a third party witness. Even than somewhat civil right will vanish before the omnipotent government/corporate/science complex. It’s certainly an effective scam when the government can force you to consume a deadly product.

    http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/how-vaccine-hysteria-could-spark-totalitarian-nightmare/

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    Replies
    1. The good doctor in the article was a past president of the AAPS. She claims that nobody died from measles since 2005, without giving credit to the fact that people had been getting vaccinated against it and the disease was virtually eliminated! No wonder the World Net Daily site published her.

      Oh, and the 5,000 member AAPS (AMA- 200,000+) also claims that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS, and that there is a link between abortion and breast cancer. And let’s not forget that their expressed aim is to “fight socialized medicine”.

      Her claim about MMR deaths comes from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which does not exist to track specific and proved adverse reactions to vaccines. They have a disclaimer that reads:
      “When evaluating data from VAERS, it is important to note that for any reported event, no cause-and-effect relationship has been established. Reports of all possible associations between vaccines and adverse events (possible side effects) are filed in VAERS. Therefore, VAERS collects data on any adverse event following vaccination, be it coincidental or truly caused by a vaccine. The report of an adverse event to VAERS is not documentation that a vaccine caused the event.”

      And it looks like the “totalitarianism” is already happening - LOL:
      https://www.yahoo.com/health/states-move-for-tougher-vaccine-exemptions-as-110249980202.html

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  4. Please, go have all the vaccinations you want and for entertainment while you are waiting for the doctor you can enjoy watching these parents cry about their vaccine victim children:
    http://www.ageofautism.com/2014/04/lighthouse-pictures-announces-autism-documentary-trace-amounts-to-premiere-at-newport-beach-film-festival.html

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  5. Here’s an article about another vaccine death and how the data was doctored:

    http://www.naturalnews.com/048530_flu_shot_CDC_vaccine_death.html

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