Vaccines did not save us...

[SR1419]

Hi Mick-

what do you make of this??


http://preventdisease.com/news/10/102510_vaccines_did_not_save_us.shtml

 

[Mick West]

It looks like the type of article you'd expect on a commercial alternative medicine site.

It's more lying with statistics. They concentrate only on the mortality rate which is obviously going to go down as people get generally healthier, as they have over the past 100 years. They note the MMR vaccine did not (in their opinion) significantly change the mortality rate from measles in the US. But that's not what it was designed to to. It was to prevent your from getting it in the first place. See Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMR_vaccine

The benefit of measles vaccination in preventing illness, disability, and death has been well-documented. The first 20 years of licensed measles vaccination in the U.S. prevented an estimated 52 million cases of the disease, 17,400 cases of mental retardation, and 5,200 deaths.[10] During 1999–2004, a strategy led by the World Health Organization and UNICEF led to improvements in measles vaccination coverage that averted an estimated 1.4 million measles deaths worldwide.

Nobody can deny that vaccines save lives. Their real argument is that they think vaccines are harmful. An ancient conspiracy theory:


For a detailed discussion of the topic of vaccine denialism, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccine_controversy

 

[MikeC]

This blog and the replies on a local news site might provide some comfort that "ordinary people" are not all being fooled by the anti-vaccination folly

 

[Mick West]

Yes, I think that actually with the recent media focus on the subject, the scientific point of view has actually managed quite well. Especially with the Wakefield thing being exposed in some detail.

Still a small percentage of the population is still millions of children.

 

[MikeC]

60 Minutes Australia have done a segment on anti-vaccination lobby that showed here in NZ last Sunday - not as harsh as many might like, but it did provoke a walkout -

YT video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD2O0sGir3o

Transcript: http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/8259732/getting-the-point

 

[Steve]

Mike Murphy himself on the dangers of vaccines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjThxzbeAqQ

 

[Jay Reynolds]

An article bemoaning a possible CIA use of vaccine program to seek out OBL, but also discussing anti-vaccine hysteria in the 3rd world:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/wtf-fake-vaccination/