Vaccinations

Lately I've been watching documentaries on Netflix.  For some reason I popped on one regarding vaccinations.  Right now the lead proponent of the anti-immunization effort is questionable Jenny McCarthy, along with her partner in crime Jim Carrey.  I was a fan of Jenny when she was a Playmate (come on, I was 19 when she was Playmate of the Year), but a couple years later when she started bad-mouthing Playboy, she was off my list.  Seriously, all of a sudden being "too good" for the very organization that made you popular....not cool.  Don't get me started on Jim.  I've never been a fan of actors that a) Hog ever second of the spotlight they can and/or b) Leave their spouse the moment they get a taste of fame.


I'm sorry that your kid has Autism, but stop using your kid to keep your name in the spotlight.  Stick to promoting Autism awareness and to helping families of Autistic children.

Now, in the interest of fairness, I've had a bazillion shots in my life.  Joining the military in a world-wide deployable careerfield required that I keep current with a long list of required immunizations.  Flu, Yellow Fever, Hep-Z (I'd have to check my records to see which ones), and Anthrax....to name a few.  One of my additional duties was making sure that everyone in the unit was current on shot records.  Believe me, you really want to stay current.  If you don't, you are usually given a huge "catch-up" shot that feels like they implanted a hot marble into your ass cheeks.

Yes.....a lot of diseases don't commonly occur in the US.  There is a reason for that.  We don't live in a bubble and as a population we are still exposed to these pathogens.  Immunizations not only protect those immunized, but those around the person immunized.  From what I recall, a population requires about a 95% immunization rate to protect the population.  Under 95% and it is easier for a pathogen to take hold and spread.  Ashland, OR has one of the lowest rates of children's immunizations at 72%.

So I'm watching this special and seeing some of these anti-immunization folks going off on possible correlation between vaccinations and autism, rallying the troops that these vaccinations are the cause of their loved one's problems.  The immunization experts are admitting that of course there is reason to suspect a correlation, but it could be a matter of coincidence, timing, etc.  If a shot is given at 6 months and the first symptoms of a disorder are noticeable at 6 months.....is that correlation...no.  The experts show that when immunization levels drop, the diseases come back and guess which population (possibly affected by immunizations and deaths due to preventable diseases) has the higher body count?  Death by measles cannot be a good way to go.

Studies have also shown (US, Sweden, Finland, Japan, and Denmark) showed no correlation between the MMR shot and autism.  Heck, when Japan changed their shot schedule, getting rid of the MMR shot, their autism rates went up.

I'm just..... disappointed that parents would rather listen to people extending their 15 minutes of fame and seek to blame someone for their child's health problems in making decisions that not only affect their child, but the community at large.  Follow your pseudo-science to the detriment of our population.....thank you.  Er, I mean fuck you.

EDIT: I was catching up on some of my reading and I see know that some of these fucktards are mailing each other infectious items to deliberately give their un-vaccinated spawn Chicken Pox.  So in addition to exposing their local community to higher disease rates due to lowered "herd immunity" they have decided to put complete strangers at the Post Office at risk?  What is the big difference between mailing Chicken Pox and Small Pox through the mail?  From a legal standpoint I hope none.

http://gizmodo.com/5856526/genius-parents-are-organizing-pox-parties-on-facebook