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?
I doubt that very many here were even involved in any clinical research, so let me clarify some things...
The plural of anecdote is NOT data.
BUT...
Absence of proof is NOT proof of absence.
You can NOT prove a negative (example, vaccines do not cause autism), you can only prove a positive (example, vaccines do cause autism). Unless you can observe the visible effect, what constitutes proving†is a extremely high confidence level in your observations, measurements, etc. supporting your theory.
Most studies do not find cause and effect, what they find is a statical correlation.
Exactly what part of religion is nonsense? Is it all religions or do you pick and choose which religions to attack?
I find your comments extremely offensive to human dignity and especially people of faith. Statements such this are dangerous and lead to another form of extremism.
I liked his comments, and I agree with them, but yes, this isn't a religious thread, so I won't go there, and I can see why it bothers you.
The religious exemption is one of the opting out that states give for avoid vaccination.
For NY you need documentation from Churches or what have you. For medical exemption, you need a signed and stamped MD notes. Because of this, NY is one of the strictest states as far as school immunizations. The schools enforce these with their students every year.
I have an awesome compliance rate, with even newly displaced immigrants getting their vaccines on an abbreviated timetable.
My own thoughts? I wonder how many families in CA claim religious exemption when there is none? Or, do they even need to claim anything? Isn't there a personal choice option in some states? I am hoping I'm wrong about that.
I liked his comments, and I agree with them, but yes, this isn't a religious thread, so I won't go there, and I can see why it bothers you.
The religious exemption is one of the opting out that states give for avoid vaccination.
For NY you need documentation from Churches or what have you. For medical exemption, you need a signed and stamped MD notes. Because of this, NY is one of the strictest states as far as school immunizations. The schools enforce these with their students every year.
I have an awesome compliance rate, with even newly displaced immigrants getting their vaccines on an abbreviated timetable.
My own thoughts? I wonder how many families in CA claim religious exemption when there is none? Or, do they even need to claim anything? Isn't there a personal choice option in some states? I am hoping I'm wrong about that.
New law in CA . . . fortunately one thing California has done correctly. However, we are the ones who had a disease outbreak at Disneyland.
Doesn't the first bullet point state that parents can no longer use personal belief?
There, clearly, is a religious concern for some people regarding some vaccines, and MMR is one, regarding cell line use. Most major religions have "Ok'd" their use. I do understand that there are families which morally object on those grounds and I do think it is a valid objection.
This is also a minority of cases of those that refuse vaccines.
Regarding Vaxxed, I think it is incredibly interesting that a major part of the movie regarding Thomspon and the CDC yet didn't even have an interview with Thompson and only used voice from telephone calls where he was unaware he was being recorded. Strange.
You can NOT prove a negative (example, vaccines do not cause autism), you can only prove a positive (example, vaccines do cause autism). Unless you can observe the visible effect, what constitutes proving†is a extremely high confidence level in your observations, measurements, etc. supporting your theory.
Most studies do not find cause and effect, what they find is a statical correlation.
It's true that you can't prove a negative. However, few medical issues have been as extensively studied as the MMR vaccine and after hundreds of millions adminstered doses, the lack of finding the hypothesized link between the vaccine and autism, in my view strongly suggests a "verdict" of nullus resultarum and that it amounts to an objectively negative result.
I doubt that very many here were even involved in any clinical research, so let me clarify some things...
Doesn't the first bullet point state that parents can no longer use personal belief?
There, clearly, is a religious concern for some people regarding some vaccines, and MMR is one, regarding cell line use. Most major religions have "Ok'd" their use. I do understand that there are families which morally object on those grounds and I do think it is a valid objection.
This is also a minority of cases of those that refuse vaccines.
Does the 4th bullet point down contradict the first?
Also interesting that the producers stated in interviews after the premiere that they want everyone to be vaccinated just with single vaccines not the triple MMR.
)
to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
AlphaM
516 Posts
Let's be cautious and leave religious discussion out of this...... (Grabs popcorn)