Spain has its first case of diphtheria in 28 years. A six year old boy in Catalan has come down with this potentially fatal desease after his parents chose not to vaccinate him or his sister.
The article states that the family is devastated. Obviously. Who would not be devastated with their son in intensive care with a potentially fatal desease.
They also feel tricked as they claim they were not properly informed. I'm assuming that this is not a family of rural peasants with limited understanding of the modern world. Uneducated simple folk are much more likely to do as the doctor tells them and take the vaccinations. So how could it be that they were not as informed as the rest of us, unless they chose not to be.
We were all worried about the MMR and autism connection scare. Those docmentaries were very convincing. And even after the connections were debunked by scientific research, what about the conspiracy theories that said the pharmacutical companies paid to skew or cover up the real results?
I, like every other parent I know, took to the internest and read everything I could about the value of vaccinations, the risks of not being vaccinated versus the risks of the vaccinations themselves. In the end there was no contest. The miniscule risk of an allergic or otherwise bad reaction to the vaccinations against the possible devastating effects of having the actual deseases was a no brainer.
I don't doubt those poor parents who witnessed the onset of autism the day after giving their child the MMR. I personally believe that either the signs were already there and they had not picked up on them yet or maybe the trauma of the vaccination triggered a still latent condition that was going to manifest itself anyway in the near future.
There does seem to be a recognised phenomenon of vaccine induced autism which is different from classic autism, which is still devastaing and life changing. However, 'recognised' means that the courts recognised that the vaccine brought on the condition and made the drug company pay out. It does not mean that it's been scientifically proven. The alternative to taking this risk is a return to the polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles, ridden days of previous centuries.
And the parents I find most irrisponsible and deluded are the ones who don't vaccine thinking they are safe because the rest of us have. Not only do they endanger their own child's life but also endanger babies below the vaccination age, old people and those with compromised immune systems. All it takes is one intrepid traveller to have picked up something from a remote corner of the undeveloped world and to return with an album full of photos and, for example, diphtheria,
The health authorities are helping the parents in Spain, who have now had their younger daughter vaccinated, to rid themselves of their feelings of guilt. Why? Feel guilty. I hope your son makes a full recovery and let this be a lesson to everyone.
The article states that the family is devastated. Obviously. Who would not be devastated with their son in intensive care with a potentially fatal desease.
They also feel tricked as they claim they were not properly informed. I'm assuming that this is not a family of rural peasants with limited understanding of the modern world. Uneducated simple folk are much more likely to do as the doctor tells them and take the vaccinations. So how could it be that they were not as informed as the rest of us, unless they chose not to be.
We were all worried about the MMR and autism connection scare. Those docmentaries were very convincing. And even after the connections were debunked by scientific research, what about the conspiracy theories that said the pharmacutical companies paid to skew or cover up the real results?
I, like every other parent I know, took to the internest and read everything I could about the value of vaccinations, the risks of not being vaccinated versus the risks of the vaccinations themselves. In the end there was no contest. The miniscule risk of an allergic or otherwise bad reaction to the vaccinations against the possible devastating effects of having the actual deseases was a no brainer.
I don't doubt those poor parents who witnessed the onset of autism the day after giving their child the MMR. I personally believe that either the signs were already there and they had not picked up on them yet or maybe the trauma of the vaccination triggered a still latent condition that was going to manifest itself anyway in the near future.
There does seem to be a recognised phenomenon of vaccine induced autism which is different from classic autism, which is still devastaing and life changing. However, 'recognised' means that the courts recognised that the vaccine brought on the condition and made the drug company pay out. It does not mean that it's been scientifically proven. The alternative to taking this risk is a return to the polio, tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles, ridden days of previous centuries.
And the parents I find most irrisponsible and deluded are the ones who don't vaccine thinking they are safe because the rest of us have. Not only do they endanger their own child's life but also endanger babies below the vaccination age, old people and those with compromised immune systems. All it takes is one intrepid traveller to have picked up something from a remote corner of the undeveloped world and to return with an album full of photos and, for example, diphtheria,
The health authorities are helping the parents in Spain, who have now had their younger daughter vaccinated, to rid themselves of their feelings of guilt. Why? Feel guilty. I hope your son makes a full recovery and let this be a lesson to everyone.
I have a friend who had a legitimate reason to not vaccinate. I respect her decision. That said, I will never understand the thinking of people who think the risk of a deadly disease is worse then autism. I have been working with a lot of amazing autistic people lately, and that's just it the are AMAZING PEOPLE. I am so tired of a world that thinks it knows better then the people who educate themselves to become experts. I'm not saying doctors can't make mistakes but I'd rather trust them than my distinct lack of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI also know someone who has a legitimate reason for not vaccintaing her child - there are a few cases.
DeleteAnother thought regarding autism - parents would rather take the known higher risk of contracting diseases of known, measurable danger to health and life than the unsubstantiated, much lower if at all, risk of vaccine-induced autism.
ReplyDeleteI agree, a known risk seems safer than an unquantified risk even if the risk is much lower,
DeleteI mean even if the risk is much higher.
DeleteAgreed. They were duped? By who? They chose not to compare the risks, chose to be "cool," "natural," "modern," "thinking," "sophisticated," and "educated.
ReplyDeleteI am totally for the law hinging child benefits on vaccinations as per the schedule. As long as the proper exceptions are made for those who medically speaking cannot vaccinate, obviously.
I didn't know that was on the cards. When will it become law? As for being duped. If there was 100% no chance of catching these deseases, why do they think we are all being offered them? and yes, there are always exceptions for legitimate medical reasons.
DeleteHow very sad for this family but I do feel it is a ticking timebomb for the anti-vaccinationers. Hoping for the recovery of their little boy.
ReplyDeleteHow very awful for this family. Hoping for the very best for their little boy.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to follow up in a week or so and see how he's doing. I agree that the anti-vaxxers are running out of time as there are so many of the now that soem diseases are coming back.
DeleteFrom Margie in Toronto - The anti- vaccination group are the generation who have never witnessed the devastation caused by "childhood diseases" - they have never been banned from public swimming pools or group gatherings because their parents were terrified of Polio - they've never listened to a younger sibling struggling to breath because of Whooping cough and they've never experienced the after effects of the fevers from Measles or the scarring from Chicken Pox or the hearing or fertility loss from Mumps. They do not fully appreciate how lucky we all are. We have had both an outbreak of Whooping cough and measles here in Toronto this past winter because people chose not to vaccinate. That may be your personal choice but it affects many, many others and I don't think you have the right to endanger other people's children - or those with compromised immune systems or expectant mothers!
ReplyDeleteAnd a word to the adults - please remember to get your booster shots - it is one of the first things the nurse checks in my file when I go for my yearly checkup and if I am due for a shot that needle is in my arm before I even have a chance to think about it but I am shocked at the number of friends and family who never get boosters and whose doctors don't even bring it up - something to consider.
Thank you for this timely message.
Extremely well put Marge. Thank you.
DeleteMy cousin is a massive pro-vaccine campaigner and they have real issues in Australia as so few parents are vaccinating. We lose the crowd effort when so many people assume it is OK to leave it. This reoccurance in the developed world is really shocking and so easily preventable. Mich x
ReplyDeleteIt's like a pendulum - when the crowd effort swings too far the other way the deseases will return and everyone will be clamouring for vaccintes again.
DeleteI believe in vaccinations but not blindly: I think there are problems with them too, and I am quite happy to believe that the problems are minimised by the pro vaccine lobby. Both sides seems to see things completely in black and white, which is very wrong.
ReplyDeleteI see the benefits of vaccines in my own children though and their relatively disease-free childhood, whereas I went through almost every common childhood illness - including measles, mumps, encephalitis, chicken pos, glandular fever etc etc and seemed to be sick all the time, thank goodness my kids did not go through all that.
There is also the argument that many vaccines don't take and we never know because the illnesses are so rare these days. I also had all the childhood illnesses - measles, chicken pox, and german measles (or was it mumps?). I had glandular fever when I was in my twenties - but I didn't get it from kissing. :).
DeleteI agree with the sentiments in your posts. Particularly about the autism part. My son's ASD seemed to manifest itself after his first MMR shot but I don't believe it caused it. And I did read everything I could, before and after he got his shots. It is far better that he is protected from other diseases, which protects others too. It's irresponsible not to have your children vaccinated, particularly with the mass movement of people through various countries throughout the world these days. You can pay to get them done individually if you have any concerns.
ReplyDeleteOne problem is that Autism usually manifests itself at the same age that they give the MMR so it's hard to separate the two.
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