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 feel for parents whose child is diagnosed with autism, it must be confusing and very upsetting to hear this diagnosis. I wonder if when they are grasping for understanding, if it is easier for some parents to believe that their child's autism is related to vaccines, rather than their own advanced paternal/maternal age.
Are you saying that all autistic children are born to older parents?
IT's not exactly overstepping bounds to try to keep up property values of neighbors by making everyone toe a certain line. I am generally for smaller government and have a "Give me liberty or give me death" view of life. The thought of being strip searched to get on public transportation does not thrill me and that is where we are headed.
You will notice that pro-vaxxers provide a lot of anecdotal stories, not always strictly research statistics.
I have seen the result of vaccines in two patients - totally messed up, living in nursing homes, disabled, barely talking, no kind of real life - after vaccines.
On the other hand -
I see both sides.
Read prisonplanet, alex jones, infowars, The Creature From Jekyll Island, Captain Joyce Riley, RN, USAF (retired), Sherri Tenpenny, D.O., Chas M. HIggins, Neil Z. Miller, Tim O'Shea - to get an idea of what concerns people have about vaccines.
Just a side thought - Bibles and Ten Commandments aren't allowed in public schools, but school staff can give out free condoms to students.
No prayer in schools, no aspirin, Tylenol, or Ibuprofen for kids without parental permission,but staff can transport kids to have an abortion without parental permission or even awareness! Abortions, for God's sake! Invasive, life-threatening surgery on our children and parents are not asked or even told about them.
Freedom of choice is important I agree but here in in California we had a terrible measles outbreak two years ago that spread across three states and was responsible for several deaths. The Pt zero was traced back to an unvaccinated child who visited Disneyland while still asymptomatic. That child actually later died. The Governor took a very proactive step of signing into law mandatory vaccines for all children attending public schools in California. Private schools are still free to make their own policies but most are following suit. You still have a choice of vaccinating your child in California but if you choose not too you will most likely be home schooling.
Hppy
I didn't know of anyone dying, do you have more info?
Is this redundant and/or annoying, but why isn't the correlation of DM2, obesity and explosion in processed/high sugar intake not linked more often to all things recently epidemic? That's where I hear hoofbeats.
watch this video by Mark Geier a very well respected MD from the NIH and then you might think twice about vaccine safety. There will always be a lunatic fringe out there but there is some truth to what they are saying......
Is autism (and other issues) really caused by vaccines?? Or could it be an increase in cases due to our better knowledge of the disease process itself?? What folks forget that is to enter public schools (at least here) one must have ALL immunizations...so it appears they are received as babes, at the start of school, or kids are home schooled..... I don't see anything addressed as to the impact of no vaccines as babes to future impact of no vaccines.... as to believing blindly, relatively few folks understand the intricacies of research and the implications of fraudulent research. No researcher will ever state my work is flawed, instead they use that flawed work to create followers and try to carve a place for themselves in medical science. Am also in agreement with all the other posts received to date. Definitely a topic to continue to follow.
if your child was vaccinated against measles how would coming in contact with a person with measles affect your vaccinated child?( unless the vaccine doesn't give immunity.) so why would you take away someones freedom of choice. if you feel your child needs to get vaccinated then do it ....if you are against it don't. parents should decide not a state mandate.
Specializes in Med/Surg, OR, Peds, Patient Education.
The worst part of the rhetoric that is repeated by those who eschew vaccinations and their refusal to be vaccinated is the danger that they pose to others. There are children and adults who are immuno-suppressed and can now contract diseases that, for years, had been eradicated. These individuals whose immune systems are suppressed, due to chemotherapy, or the fact that they are too young to receive some of the vaccinations are put at risk. Some physicians refuse to see patients who will not accept vaccinations, for this reason.
if your child was vaccinated against measles how would coming in contact with a person with measles affect your vaccinated child?( unless the vaccine doesn't give immunity.) so why would you take away someones freedom of choice. if you feel your child needs to get vaccinated then do it ....if you are against it don't. parents should decide not a state mandate.
Why would you NOT vaccinate your child against a disease that could potentially kill him/her?
if your child was vaccinated against measles how would coming in contact with a person with measles affect your vaccinated child?( unless the vaccine doesn't give immunity.)
No vaccine is 100% effective. So, yes, there are people who have been vaccinated but aren't protected. That is the point of the concept of "herd immunity."
I'm all for freedom of choice. Feel free to not vaccinate your kid against anything. But, if that's your choice, do keep them out of the public space (home school them, don't take them to malls, playgrounds, or, for gawd's sake, Disneyworld), and don't whine to the rest of us when they die of a preventable childhood disease.
if your child was vaccinated against measles how would coming in contact with a person with measles affect your vaccinated child?( unless the vaccine doesn't give immunity.) so why would you take away someones freedom of choice. if you feel your child needs to get vaccinated then do it ....if you are against it don't. parents should decide not a state mandate.
It's not only about our own children, but also about those who are too young or have a medically contraindicated reason for vaccination and/or are immune compromised.
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to cover this up. This vaccine tampering seems to be a part of some nefarious population control plot.
Kooky Korky, BSN, RN
5,216 Posts
Are you saying that all autistic children are born to older parents?