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?
Look at the FAQ section . . . it can get confusing. We had to be "schooled" in what was what.
Personal Beliefs Exemptions Ending
7. In the new law on immunization requirements, are religious beliefs distinguished from other personal beliefs?
No distinction is made between exemptions based on religious beliefs and other personal beliefs. Starting in 2016, exemptions for religious or other personal beliefs will no longer be an option for the vaccines that are currently required for entry into school or child care in California.
Look at the FAQ section . . . it can get confusing. We had to be "schooled" in what was what.
Personal Beliefs Exemptions Ending
7. In the new law on immunization requirements, are religious beliefs distinguished from other personal beliefs?
No distinction is made between exemptions based on religious beliefs and other personal beliefs. Starting in 2016, exemptions for religious or other personal beliefs will no longer be an option for the vaccines that are currently required for entry into school or child care in California.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
If vaccines are not 100% effective, what is the use of getting them? 'Cause then you have to get a booster, then another booster when they run out. I just don't get the logic: You shouldn't not vaccinate your kids, because they might get sick or someone else sick, but if you vaccinate your kids, it is not always effective so they still may get sick or get someone else sick?!?!
Seatbelt don't always prevent people from being injured/killed in car accidents. I guess you should stop using seat belts, too.
Your comment is too harsh on the folk who do not hold your belief for what ever reason, sure we believe in vaccine but this belittling - comments like 'come on use your brain' is arrogant. Nothing but nothing is 100 percent foolproof please allow the small majority their voice.
Your comment is too harsh on the folk who do not hold your belief for what ever reason, sure we believe in vaccine but this belittling - comments like 'come on use your brain' is arrogant. Nothing but nothing is 100 percent foolproof please allow the small majority their voice.
I just spent a lovely afternoon with my autistic nephew and several of his peers who are also on the spectrum. The subject of vaccines came up. Not one of the parents believes that vaccines caused their child's condition. Several stated that they did consider not immunizing their subsequent children, but did their research and felt risks of not vaccinating far outweighed any alleged benefits. It was gratifying to see that people are educating themselves and are not letting hype and drama govern their choices.
I believe that the only allowed exemptions for immunizations should be medical. I respect someone's religious beliefs, but their beliefs should not be allowed to endanger others. I suggest homeschooling for all children not vaccinated.
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.
A verdict is NOT suggested because the studies are FLAWED. The studies look at the correlation of ONLY the MMR vaccine and autism. (The studies do not look for the causes of autism.) The other 13 vaccines children receive have never been studied for a link to autism.
Other studies have looked at thimerosal and its connection to autism. These studies are flawed as well because they only looked at children receiving different amounts of thimerosal, rather than comparing children who have received thimerosal to those who have not. That is like comparing people who smoke 1 pack a day and people who smoke 2 packs a day, finding no difference in lung cancer rates, and declaring that smoking doesn't lead to lung cancer.
No studies have ever been done comparing vaccinated children to unvaccinated children OR looking at unvaccinated children. On reasons often cited is that it would be unethical to withhold vaccines from a child for the purposes of a study, but children who don't receive vaccines could easily be found throughout the U.S.
DO NOT MISTAKE WHAT I AM SAYING AS BEING ANTI-VAX. I am simply pointing out the flaws in the studies cited that claim vaccines do not cause autism.
It was observed that many Somali immigrants had higher rates of autism when immigrating to industrialized nations.
Somali families in Sweden that had children with autism had never heard of autism or observed any symptoms defined as autism in their homeland of Somalia. Dr Barnevick-Olssen and colleagues, psychiatrists in Sweden, published a report of their observations in 2008. They noted that children from Somali backgrounds are over-represented in the total group of children with autism and suggest a search for triggering factors is warranted. The Somalis living in Sweden have named it the Swedish diseaseâ€.
Del Bigtree is a producer. Producers make movies to make money. He is not a scientist, so I have some issues with his knowledge base and his credibility. Of course he's going to defend his film.
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to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
macawake, MSN
2,141 Posts
Interesting review of the film "Vaxxed":
Movie review: VAXXED | Left Brain Right Brain