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- StanDevia, on 05/13/2008, -25/+230There is no proven link between MMR and autism but of course vaccines can have other side effects. But the small risk of an adverse event from vaccinating is overwhelmingly outweighed, by several orders of magnitude, by the benefits. Unfortunately nothing in life is risk free. You have to play the odds.
- inactive, on 05/13/2008, -24/+162And you are basing that on your extensive medical education?
Next time read the article.
They point out where your theory falls apart.
But yeah, you are probably right to just not protect your kids against fatal diseases. - inactive, on 05/13/2008, -41/+163The anti-vaccination movement is only a subset of the larger anti-rational-thinking movement. Nobody thinks anymore, they just act on gut feelings, whether those gut feelings correspond in any way to reality or not.
- minoss, on 05/13/2008, -24/+147Pretty sure this anti-vaccination movement is the reason we've been seeing many more cases of measles recently. Just in my area alone there has been 4 confirmed cases in the last few months. This is a disease that was pretty much wiped out entirely with vaccines. Oh well, once these parents actually see the truly devastating effects of these diseases I have a feeling they will change their tune.
http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2749 - BadAstronomer, on 05/13/2008, -7/+118Nothing. But my site is about skepticism, critical thinking, and science in general as well. You may want to read my disclaimer on the site: http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/07/15/poli ...
- snotrokit, on 05/13/2008, -5/+109I struggled with this with my kids. They are both still young, under 5. I went with the vaccines for a few reasons. First, not finding a real link between MMR and autism. There is plenty of hype, and conjecture, but no hard facts. I opted for protecting my kids from disease vs. a hyped link between vaccines and autism. Granted, I could be wrong, and I am one of the last people to trust big pharma, but this one just didn't pan out.
- MattB123, on 05/13/2008, -8/+83Especially when the autism chances are the same whether you vaccinate or not!
- nicksauce, on 05/13/2008, -17/+83Your comment is disinformation.
- SammyJr, on 05/13/2008, -7/+71Even if the vaccines did cause it, that level of complication is exceedingly rare and would probably occur had he acquired the measles/mumps/whatever naturally.
As a counterpoint to your antidote, everyone I know has been vaccinated and I have never met a person with full blown autism in real life. Additionally, a mother that my wife knows on a parenting board had a child vaccinated who "became autistic from the vaccines". This woman had another baby, didn't vaccinate, and he's autistic, too. - bitrot, on 05/13/2008, -4/+57The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'.
- BrickTamaland, on 05/13/2008, -6/+61Some real science
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/290/13/1 ...
467,000 children examined, no link between thimerosol and autism - Logicexe, on 05/13/2008, -7/+60Can you point me to a vaccine currently in use that contains mercury? The mercury based preservative Thimerosal hasn't been used since 1999. Don't you find it a little coincidental that the skyrocketing rate of autism just happens to occur at the exact same time we changed how we diagnosed autism? With current evidence we have every reason to believe that the rise in autism is just an artifact of expanding the definition of autism as well as increased awareness amongst parents.
- phenix, on 05/13/2008, -7/+55Dinsy, it is people like you that make these kinds of articles so important. You seem to have a strong opinion on the matter of vaccines and autism, and yet you are clearly ignorant. The article spends a great deal of time on the subject of thimerosal, the very compound that contains mercury! If you're going to have what seems like a strong opinion on something, you should at least know the issue!
- inactive, on 05/13/2008, -14/+57I'm not sure that pointing out scientific facts will stop people from believing stupid things, but good luck trying. Some people still believe that Saddam Hussein was some sort of threat to the USA. Reality just doesn't impress some people.
- macaddct1984, on 05/13/2008, -2/+42Not to mention the risks of getting whooping cough, measles, or meningitis during early development put you at great risk of becoming mentally retarded.
- DrDigg, on 05/13/2008, -4/+43Aseptic meningitis is different than autism (I am guessing that is what happened since he went into a coma). Sorry to hear about your brother that does suck. Unfortunately there are people hurt by vaccines, they pale in comparison to the number of people helped by vaccines. I know that is of little solace to you and your family.
- mc4_a, on 05/13/2008, -1/+43My child does have Autism, but it didn't make me throw away my rationality.
- chrisgaijiin, on 05/13/2008, -4/+40that would be an ALLERGIC reaction, which is completely separate to the issue here. While links to autism and vaccines are completely unproven it is definitely true that allergic reations can occur. Nobody is debating that here
- MacEnvy, on 05/13/2008, -6/+41Oh come on. You don't like him because you're a creationist and he's a rationalist. That doesn't make the site "misinformation", that just makes you "wrong".
- greenlight2001, on 05/13/2008, -15/+52Exactly, and I'd rather risk getting an autistic child than a dead child.
- trickyt, on 05/13/2008, -4/+37No, only a small percentage of the population is susceptible -- the same percentage that is susceptible to getting autism without mercury.
- SammyJr, on 05/13/2008, -4/+38Absolutely. I had to fight with my wife over this stupid vaccine-autism conspiracy *****. I won. The kids are vaccinated and have no developmental problems and are healthy as can be.
- SammyJr, on 05/13/2008, -4/+34Correlation does not equal causation. Autism starts to manifest symptoms at around 18 months, the same age as the MMR is typically given.
- lornefs, on 05/13/2008, -2/+33There isn't any Mercury (Thimerosal) in childhood vaccinations anymore (RTFA) and Autism rates continued to climb for years.
By the way saying Thimerosal is dangerous because it comes from Mercury is like saying Salt is dangerous because it has Chlorine in it. - scottfarner, on 05/13/2008, -10/+40You are retarded. Vaccines are one of the less profitable divisions of pharmaceutical companies. When you combine the fact that most are out of patent and they require a lot of QC checks before they go out makes them less profitable.
- ano327, on 05/13/2008, -4/+34This argument fails to take into account the increase in diagnosis as autism has become more recognized and defined as a disorder. It fails to look at all aspects of the statistics involved.
- Logicexe, on 05/13/2008, -7/+36His opinion is based on the consensus of the medical community. That is not a consensus to be taken lightly.
- edebolt, on 05/13/2008, -6/+37Ethyl Mercury was phased out 8 years ago. Autism rates are growing sharply. How can these two contradictory trends be reconciled? Maybe its something other environmental cause. Would it not make sense to try to find the real cause instead of just banning something which does not seem to be correlated? is that too commonsense for people?
- Gutterpunk, on 05/13/2008, -1/+27My oldest daughter is autistic. I can guarantee that I find all those idiots with the vaccine fear mongering quite idiotic.
/Spend your time trying to teach your autist kid to be part of a "normal" society instead of running after a reason! - ArtCrazy, on 05/13/2008, -2/+30Autism starts showing symptoms about the same time as the vaccines are taken, so might be a coincidence.
- Grogtron, on 05/13/2008, -2/+28I think that is pretty much the crux of it. A handful of kids have a bad reaction so... we go back to tens of thousands of deaths annually?
- Envark, on 05/13/2008, -1/+27[citation needed]
- Jimgress, on 05/13/2008, -5/+31(citation needed)
- trickyt, on 05/13/2008, -2/+27Vaccines are only effective 95% of the time. The other 5% are covered by herd immunity, i.e. can't catch a disease no one else has.
- BuddingMonkey, on 05/13/2008, -5/+29Wow you're a troll and a truther... Who would have guessed?
- jayhawk88, on 05/13/2008, -2/+26Fact: Global temperatures have risen steadily over the past 200 years.
Fact: The number of buggy whip makers has steadily declined over the past 200 years.
Conclusion: Buggy whip makers were preventing global warming. - DrDigg, on 05/13/2008, -3/+30Alright I'll bite. This is my strong suit and vaccines are probably the biggest medical development in the history of man. Getting rid of smallpox, almost eradicating polio, and in the next twenty years hepatitis B (just to name a few).
If you think that current vaccines are a waist look up the rates of Haemophilus influenzae type B since the vaccines came out. This was the number one cause of childhood meningitis when I was training, and now it is almost non-existent.
"Due to routine use of the Hib vaccine in the U.S. from 1980 to 1990, the incidence of invasive Hib disease has decreased from 40-100 per 100,000 children down to 1.3 per 100"
Now I'm no fan of pharmaceutical companies, but don't criticize vaccines - they have saved more lives then you could comprehend. - lornefs, on 05/13/2008, -6/+31No doubt, people should have to show vaccination certificates before their kids are allowed into the public school system.
My kids shouldn't suffer because of the ignorance of other parents. - noahhoward, on 05/13/2008, -2/+24The entire premise of the anti-vaccine movement is that Mercury or Thimerasol in vaccines causes Autism, not the vaccines themselves. Therefore he has just proven conclusively that they are wrong. Even after the removal of those elements Autism continued to increase.
- Jimgress, on 05/13/2008, -2/+24FACT: Bears eat beets
FACT: BEARS. BEETS. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. - priegog, on 05/13/2008, -1/+22You made the right choice, but the conspiracy theory... come on!
I'll be dugg down to oblivion for using a TV reference, but as Dr. House said, and I'm paraphrasing: "There is a way to stop big pharma from profiting so shamelessly from vaccines, but for the government to do that, a few kids would have to die. Would you sacrifice your kids for the cause?" - quill, on 05/13/2008, -2/+24My godson is autistic.
I'm highly invested in finding a cause and a cure. However, I have maintained my ability to stay reasoned and balanced. I am following the vaccination claims closely, but there has so far lacked any convincing *scientific* evidence to believe that vaccines are to blame.
People naturally mistrust things they don't understand, and vaccines have been blamed for lots of things over the years which have proven false. Furthermore, people (including myself) naturally mistrust big business and government, making it easy to believe in the profit-motivated conspiracy argument.
And this mistrust is GOOD. We must constantly look over the shoulders of corporations and government, and we must constantly re-check medical procedures to ensure that they are as safe and effective as possible. However, we must not allow emotional, anecdotal stories to overthrow the scientific process. - urbangeek, on 05/13/2008, -5/+27Some parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders find the Vaccination explanation somewhat rational, often because the first observed symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders can occur around the same time as the vaccinations. However, correlated events are in no way causal events. At present, no one knows what causes Autism Spectrum Disorders, and anyone who claims to better have a stack of research a foot thick to back it up before suggesting a causal relationship.
- nicksauce, on 05/13/2008, -3/+24Sorry about your cousin, but have you ever considered that this is because vaccinations occur at around the same time in a child's life that autism becomes apparent? Study after study after study has shown no link between vaccinations and autism.
- inactive, on 05/13/2008, -3/+24Scientific evidence isn't half as convincing as anecdotal stories? Well actually, yes, that's true. People always take unproven anecdotes over proven science.
- rblancarte, on 05/13/2008, -2/+26Ok, even if Vaccines were linked to Autism (and they aren't) - we are talking slim to non vs diseases that KILL. No, this is an easy decision. Get vaccinated.
- BrickTamaland, on 05/13/2008, -17/+40Research money is tight and it saddens me that the public is demanding more large, expensive studies examining this link when previous studies have shown there is no link. These dollars would be much better spent going in different research directions and not chasing disproved theories just because Jenny McCarthy says so on Oprah.
- forgiste, on 05/13/2008, -7/+31I think the article that says that vaccines cause autism is itself disinformation. Why they'd want to scare children away from vaccines, I have no idea.
- chanop, on 05/13/2008, -4/+24Most vaccines no longer have mercury in them. The ones that do have mercury-free alternatives available anywhere
- thcobbs, on 05/13/2008, -1/+20By that point its too late.
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