Since Andrew Wakefield’s, now thoroughly discredited, Lancet publication regarding so-called links between the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism was released in 1998, the fervor surrounding mandatory vaccinations has swelled to a fevered pitch.
Indeed, mandatory vaccinations have become a key point in the Republican primaries — specifically between Texas Governor Rick Perry and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MI).
Perry has been criticized by the Right for requiring middle school girls to be vaccinated against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which has been known to cause cervical cancer.
The Texas legislature overturned this order despite a simple opt-out procedure that allowed parents who disagreed with the vaccination on moral grounds to prevent their daughters from being vaccinated.
Bachmann capitalized on the HPV vaccine issue at the Republican debate last month decrying government injections, despite there being no evidence that the HPV vaccine Gardasil has any harmful side effects.
In the wake of the debate, Bachmann claimed she had heard anecdotal evidence from an anonymous woman who said that her daughter had developed mental retardation after administration of the vaccine. It should be pointed out to Bachmann that the plural of anecdote is not “anec-data”.
Bioethicists Dr. Steven Miles and Dr. Arthur Caplan have offered $11,000 to charity if Bachmann can produce this woman, along with any medical records or other evidence demonstrating a link between the Gardasil vaccine and intellectual disabilities. Thus far, she has remained unsurprisingly silent regarding this challenge, but has justified her earlier statements by clarifying that she is not a physician or scientist. Let us hope that in the future she will remember this before giving irresponsible medical advice.
In Europe, Wakefield’s study on the MMR vaccine is still wreaking havoc on children’s health. So far this year, almost 30,000 cases of measles and 8 deaths have been reported.
Immunization rates have nose-dived since Wakefield’s 1998 study. Many parents are now either unaware or unwilling to accept that the study has been deemed fraudulent and there is no medical evidence for any link between the MMR vaccine and autism. As a result, measles rates have skyrocketed, and children have suffered and died.
Wakefield’s article was deemed fraudulent after multiple researchers attempted to duplicate his results and failed. Following several allegations of misconduct, including accusations of abuse of disabled children, Wakefield has been stricken from the medical register in Britain – the equivalent of having one’s medical license revoked in the US. Despite this, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that nearly 40 percent of Americans have declined or delayed vaccinations due to completely unfounded concerns.
However, the resistance to Gardasil is largely based in the fear that less risky sex will cause teen girls to behave promiscuously. The same concerns were leveled against antibiotics effective against syphilis, hormonal birth control, and educating couples as to what acts will result in conception; yet such fears have been consistently unrealized.
I have no doubt that protection against only two cervical cancer causing strains of HPV out of the over 100 strains that result in warts will not make young people forget all about pregnancy, herpes, or HIV.
It is clear that neither the MMR or Gardasil vaccines pose a risk to the health of children. In fact, it is exactly the opposite that is true: vaccines have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
Skeptic philosopher David Hume once said, “A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.”
It seems today that most prefer to do the opposite and proportion evidence (or the absence thereof) to their beliefs.
When parents refuse to vaccinate their children against infectious diseases like measles, their children’s lives are being put at great risk for no reason other than allegiance to a debunked ideology. Is a child’s life truly worth so little?
Emily Brooks is a senior economics major and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com.
And now, on to Gardasil. You wrote that there is "no evidence that the HPV vaccine Gardasil has any harmful side effects". There have been numerous reports of extremely harmful side effects. See: http://truthaboutgardasil.org/injuries/ http://truthaboutgardasil.org/injuries-continued/ http://truthaboutgardasil.org/memorial/ http://www.judicialwatch.org/gardasil
A lead researcher for Gardasil, Diane Harper, has expressed doubt about whether the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/19/cbsnews…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-g-yerman/an-…
“Recent reports state that Gardasil may have triggered MS (Multiple Sclerosis) in some girls receiving the vaccine. What are your thoughts on this?
“‘Neurologists at the American Neurological Association have indeed concluded that Gardasil is temporally associated with autoimmune attacks on the neurologic system. The range of neurologic disorders is unknown.’”
http://www.ahrp.org/cms/content/view/503/27/ http://offtheradar.co.nz/vaccines/53-researcher-d… http://sanevax.org/dr-diane-harper-tells-the-trut…
See this is why elderly people are never anti-vaccine. They remember measles. They remember polio. They remember small pox. Not to mention the other diseases we got rid of in this country in other "unnatural ways" like malaria and scarlet fever.
Oh, and if you don't get your kid vaccinated and they get measles, they can get an immune compromised kid sick and kill him. Good job. Vaccines are not for fun. They aren't so the government can put a chip in your arm to make 911 an inside job or whatever else you people swallow wholesale.
Vaccines are to prevent diseases that killed millions of people you twits. Just because you haven't seen a child turn purple choking from pertussis or a child in wheelchair from polio. OH NOES! The vaccines you got when you were a kid that are the reason that you are ALIVE right now that never made you or your generation autistic must be evil cause Jenny McCarthy says so. Really? We're all going to jump in line behind the Candies bimbo who now claims her kid GOT BETTER from autism. Anyone who has ever worked with autistic children know just how ridiculous that is. That idiot is an insult to every family with an autistic child.
Grow up. I spent 6 years in Africa working with kids that are dying of these diseases you spoiled American idiots don't even know exist. People Are DYING while you're stroking your ego on the internet. Immune systems don't develop on their own to fight polio! Why do you think Franklin Roosevelt was in a goddamn wheelchair? His feet were tired?
Oh and as far as trusting yourself over a physician…. Well you just let me know how that at-home appendectomy goes for you. In fact -everyone more educated than you is just lying! Who needs air traffic controllers? You guys can see other planes out the window! Who needs professors? Lets just spout bullshit with no backing evidence other than the truthiness of your gut feelings. Lets see how long it takes for society to devolve. That seems to be you peoples goal.
I'm glad Ms. Brooks put herself out there on this. More people need to speak up against willful ignorance and baseless paranoia. Clearly no one is listening.
Mumps was gone for christ's sakes now people are getting it again, jesus we are going to have polio back if it is up to people like you, and there is nothing wrong with a mandate with a free opt-out. pseudo-intellectuals? oh lord..
"Since Andrew Wakefield’s, now thoroughly discredited"
The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons would not agree with you. In fact, Dr. Wakefield has very recently done a presentation for them; exposing the fraud against him, and discussing some of the safety concerns surrounding certain vaccines.
"Since Andrew Wakefield’s, now thoroughly discredited"
The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons would not agree with you. In fact, Dr. Wakefield has very recently done a presentation for them; exposing the fraud against him, and discussing some of the safety concerns surrounding certain vaccines.