Comments on: Kids and Vaccinations

By: Brian R

Brian R — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:32:20 +0000

My mother works as a public health nurse in Wisconsin. They recently had an unvaccinated child come down with measles. They then spent several weeks tracking down everyone that came into contact with that child before he was quarantined, and also try to backtrack the source of the infection. It ended up that several hundred children had potentially been exposed, and the source was probably in Pennsylvania. My point being that these diseases are still around in the USA, and they can indeed travel very fast, particularly with rapid interstate travel. Incidentally, the unvaccinated child fell through the cracks. He missed the well-baby checkup where he was supposed to be vaccinated, and nobody thought to check after that. That mistake could've cost him his life.

By: Jeff Nolan

Jeff Nolan — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:54:02 +0000

I once told a vet that I was going to have my dog's tail docked just a 1/4 inch at a time until it got to the right length… yeah I can have fun with people like that.

By: Jeff Nolan

Jeff Nolan — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:50:49 +0000

A few years ago the CDC looked at the dramatic rise in autism diagnosis rates and concluded, rather ironically, that "…what has triggered substantial social policy changes in autism appears to have little connection with the state of the science." Put another way, diagnosis rates for autism have expanded as the definition of autism has expanded to include Asperger Syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder. Claims that mercury in vaccines, which is rarely found in modern vaccines, have no credible scientific study, and neither do other environmental conditions. Occam's Razor suggests rather convincingly that the reason we are seeing rises in autism rates is primarily because the disorder is being diagnosed more frequently. Occam's Razor further suggests that the one certain consequence of children not being vaccinated for measles, mumps, and rubella is that children will be more prone to getting measles, mumps, and rubella.

By: PaulSweeney

PaulSweeney — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:20:22 +0000

The same thing is happening in the UK and Ireland. More and more autism was being diagnosed, and it got into the popular consiousness that it was related to the vaccine, ergo…. it's like blackbag opps; the first big bad story you get out, gets believed, and remembered.

By: Paul Ritchie

Paul Ritchie — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:09:43 +0000

Jeff, I'm sure that you won't be surprised that the power of post-hoc reasoning has spread to veterinary medicine. My wife just came back crying from a new "earthy and crunchy" vet practice we tried for the first time. She was dressed down for asking about the Lyme vaccine and the vet started on a rant about vaccines. They also said that they wouldn't vaccinate for rabies if it weren't illegal to not do so. Of course, they couldn't fix our dog's allergies, which was the whole reason for the trip. Though the canine acupuncture apparently was pretty cool.

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Sat, 10 May 2008 10:58:11 +0000

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By: Chris Yeh

Chris Yeh — Sat, 10 May 2008 05:03:30 +0000

It drives me nuts when folks who claim to be pro-reason turn into superstitious cargo cult members on issues other than evolution. The spurious autism/vaccination connection is right up there with ignorance of basic economics and the moronic prejudice against genetically-modified crops.

By: Jeff Nolan

Jeff Nolan — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:05:57 +0000

thanks for setting me straight on that… while I will refrain from commenting on Ms. McCarthy's credentials, I will say that she is a remarkably good spokesperson for the curing autism organization and she seems to be an extraordinary parent of a child with autism. But on the science, she is wrong.

By: Jackie Danicki

Jackie Danicki — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:33:38 +0000

But Jeff, Jenny McCarthy says there must be a connection between vaccinations and autism. Pretty conclusive, I think you'll agree.

By: Jeff Nolan

Jeff Nolan — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:31:57 +0000

yes they are vaccinated. What link between autism and vaccinations? Every credible scientific study has debunked that theory. The 1998 study that sparked much of the debate was limited in scope and in 2004 the bulk of the scientists who authored that study retracted it.