At first I wasn't going to write this post since I believe that a film that appears to be (at least in part) based on thoroughly discredited, fear-mongering nonsense should get as little attention as possible.
Then after browsing several anti-vaccine and conspiracist websites I found as I suspected, that this has already exploded and whatever I write here won't make matters any worse.
The film 'Vaxxed' is directed by Mr Andrew Wakefield, a former physician who lost his medical license after research that he had authored, was found fraudulent (containing as I understand it, both methodological and ethical flaws).
Just watching the trailer for this film elevated my BP into dangerous territory. How is it that this man keeps promoting the same debunked data to this day? Hasn't it caused enough harm already?
It seems that anti-vaccine proponents span the entire spectrum from sadly misinformed to clearly unhinged. However, no matter what their individual motivation happens to be, they are in my opinion dangerous. We have fought a hard battle against diseases that today are vaccine-preventable. Millions of children have died in the past and some still do, to this day. We don't see much of it in first-world countries due to the success of vaccines. Anti-vaccine proponents seem to believe that the "olden days" were better. I think it's deeply worrisome.
In my escapades around the internet, I've found all sorts of scary blogs, clips and opinions relating to childhood vaccines.
This YouTube clip rather amusingly (in a sad way) has 90 likes and zero (!) dislikes (probably because no rational person would even click on it in the first place). (I'm not sure what this says about me)
Anyway this women thinks that nagalese (an enzyme) is added on purpose to vaccines in order to induce autism, cancer and type 2 diabetes in vaccine recipients. And the doctors who discovered this were subsequently murdered to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
(It seems that alpha-N-acetylgalactoseaminidase (referred to as nagalese in the YouTube clip) can deglycosylate vitamin D binding protein (DBP) and DBP plays a role in the immune cascade response. So it seems that alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase can interfere with the immune response. While some cancer cells can release alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase, I've found no proof that injecting them into humans induces cancers, never mind autism and DMII. I will however admit that I didn't spend an inordinate amount of time researching her theory).
I admit that this last video is a bit extreme. But this woman and other "anti-vaxxers" have one thing on common. They are willing to accept something as true, even when there is no supporting evidence available.
Serious questions:
* Why are some people so vulnerable/susceptible to flawed logic and poor research?
* What can we as nurses/healthcare professionals do to ensure that our patients base their decisions on sound evidence-based facts or at least have the opportunity to do so? Or should we just reconcile ourselves with the fact that a portion of the population will base their decisions on questionable or outright false information, misconceptions and fear?
Funded by SafeMinds, this study concluded : "This study does not support the hypothesis that thimerosal-containing vaccines and/or the MMR vaccine play a role in the etiology of autism."
Gadad, B. S., Li, W., Yazdani, U., Grady, S., Johnson, T., Hammond, J., ... & Ferrier, C. (2015). Administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines to infant rhesus macaques does not result in autism-like behavior or neuropathology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(40), 12498-12503.
Since you apparently think you are "all knowing", and you "know" everything that I've seen or not seen, I guess I should pray to you, as the "Goddess", eh?
But seriously, you have obviously never met parents of autistic children who believe/know/saw their children go from normal to autistic, almost literally overnight.
If someone gets run over by a car, would you say--oh, it was just their time--they must have had a heart attack at the same time that the car hit them? Sure that's possible, but not likely in all cases of cars killing people.
No. But I wouldn't blame the flu vaccine they got that morning, either.
I totally agree, however not standing up to them results in children's lives being put in danger, they seem to forget these vaccines prevent potentially DEADLY DISEASES!!!!!! Thanks Robert DeNiro...you're an actor, not a scientist!!!
Some posters think that ganging up (feeling safer when they are part of a mob), will prove that their points are correct.
However, their angry mob behavior often makes their points even less believable.
It would be amusing, (and yes, some of it is--all in good fun), if it weren't so unscientific, closed-minded, and childish.
I can see stamping one's feet, refusing to watch "VAXXED", as their "scientific" refutation of what none of us know is actually in the film. Or, has anyone actually seen the entire film, yet?
Nurses should be open to learning new information, and some are, so I hope fear of the unknown (the film) will take a back seat to scientific curiosity, in those more mature souls in this thread.
It's never a good thing, when some nurses cover their ears, essentially shouting "La, la, la, I can't heeeear you!"
But I have hope, for those intellectually curious nurses, who either haven't posted, or, who have bravely shown a willingness to learn from more research into this contentious vaccination issue--and who show a willingness to LISTEN to parents of autistic or otherwise vaccine injured children.
I know of many parents whose children were harmed (autism, etc.) by vaccine ingredients, plus predisposing conditions (genetic, etc.)
I won't subject those parents, at this time, to the ignorant and sadistic ridicule, that they might face, if they came onto this thread. They have suffered enough, learning the hard lesson of why they won't ever subject the rest of their children to dangerous vaccines.
What might change some stubborn minds here, is when one or more children of nurses posting here, are harmed by vaccines, and I really hate to see that happen, as a terrible wake up call. And, in some cases, there would be "denial" that it was vaccines, that harmed their children. This is unfortunate, but is sometimes a natural reaction.
I'll never forget seeing a doctor on a TV show, several years ago, whose son was made autistic by vaccines, administered by the doctor (dad). The doctor's wife said to her husband: "You broke him. You fix him!" Her words were chilling.
Let's compare impressions, when we each see the film "VAXXED". I hope you're brave enough to view the film. I may or may not agree with what's in the film, but I'm willing to see it.
Like I have stated before, I can not pass judgment on the film, since I have not seen it.
I know there are adverse effects to vaccines, but it is rare. There have been several studies done inside and outside the United States, which shows no correlation between the MMR vaccine and Autism. BostonFNP posted several earlier in this thread.
I am sorry to hear what those families are going through. One of my grandchildren has Down's.
If you are talking about a cascade effect from long term vaccinations, I don't know. I have not seen any study that has looked at that hypothesis. It would have to be a long range study, and there would be too many variables to keep track of.
What I worry about, is if we are not vaccinating, are we willing to live with the millions of deaths that the vaccines have prevented?
And during this transition period going to not vaccinating, who will be responsible for the deaths?
I realize some of my previous posts have been strong, and I still believe that a parent has the right to make an informed decision about their children, but they should be willing to accept responsibility when their decision turns bad. Yes, I still believe if their child dies or is patient zero, the parents of the non-vaccinated child should be put in prison for involuntary manslaughter. With choice comes responsibility for the consequences.
Will it happen? No. There is not a DA who would dare risk his job on that one. Should it happen? Absolutely.
The doctor, whose wife told him, referring to their son who was made autistic by vaccines, is Dr. Jerry J. Kartzinel, pediatrician (his website, that I haven't yet visited, is Pediatric Partners of Ponte Vedra )
Dr. Kartzinel wrote the introduction to a book by Jenny McCarthy (who is no longer a "bimbo", by the way), and Jenny's book is entitled: "Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism", a book that sounds inspirational (haven't read it yet).
The TV show, years ago, where Dr. Kartzinel, Jenny, and others talked about autism, vaccines, etc., was the Larry King Show.
You wrote a nice, thoughtful response, to my post, and I appreciate that!
Studies so far that you reference, may not yet show what future studies might show, that is, that what was previously thought to be rare (adverse vaccine effects) may actually be not so rare, after all!
As more is learned, cause and effect relationships become more widely recognized.
I too don't want to pay to see the film, but if I have to, I will. I'm glad you're interested in seeing the "VAXXED" film!
Risks to both unvaccinated and vaccinated people, from recently vaccinated children and adults "shedding" (sharing organisms that were in their vaccines), may prove to be a higher risk than formerly thought--including risks to pregnant moms.
In order to keep this thread open, please stick to the content of the original post and keep the debate about the issue not the person. Further off-topic posts will be deleted and/or the thread will have run its course and be closed.
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to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
BostonFNP, APRN
2 Articles; 5,584 Posts
Funded by SafeMinds, this study concluded : "This study does not support the hypothesis that thimerosal-containing vaccines and/or the MMR vaccine play a role in the etiology of autism."
Gadad, B. S., Li, W., Yazdani, U., Grady, S., Johnson, T., Hammond, J., ... & Ferrier, C. (2015). Administration of thimerosal-containing vaccines to infant rhesus macaques does not result in autism-like behavior or neuropathology.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(40), 12498-12503.