Vaccines

The anti-vaccination movement has been steadily growing in the United States, UK, Australia, and Canada. Unfortunately, the proponents of this movement seem to hold a great deal of sway with conservative Christians and homeschoolers. This is truly unfortunate, because the anti-vaccination movement is full of lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths. I have personally read several books written by members of the anti-vaccination movement, and I have also listened to several anti-vaccination advocates on the radio. I am constantly surprised at the lack of scientific understanding that these "experts" demonstrate, and I am shocked at the misrepresentations that they foist on an unsuspecting audience. In my opinion, the sway that the anti-vaccination movement holds in Christian and homeschooling circles is simply a demonstration of what we have already been shown by the Y2K nonsense which held similar sway: some Christians and some homeschoolers still have a LOT of work to do when it comes to learning critical thinking skills!

Although I could write hundreds of lines about the lies, misrepresentations, and half-truths spread by the anti-vaccination movement, I choose to let others do it for me. Here are some links that you can follow to learn the TRUTH about vaccinations. If you have been swayed by the lies of the anti-vaccination movement, here is the first site you should visit. It is called QUACKWATCH, and it is run by a retired psychiatrist (all psychiatrists are trained medical doctors, by the way) who tries to combat all manner of health-related scams. The anti-vaccination movement is just one scam against which he fights.

10 misconceptions promulgated by the anti-vaccination movement.

For general information about vaccines, you can go to:

The University of New South Wales School of Microbiology and Immunology.

This page has an excellent discussion of vaccines and their history. At the bottom, you can click on "Vaccines and Diseases" to see the various vaccines, the diseases they protect against, and the REAL possible side affects. There is also an excellent "For & Against" section, which attempts to discuss the anti-vaccination movement in a balanced way.

This same group also offers a detailed rebuttal of the absurd claims by the anti-vaccination movement regarding smallpox and its eradication.

Now I know that many Christians and homeschoolers are skeptical about the government. I certainly am. I personally do not trust the government any farther than I can throw Manhattan Island. However, one needs not TRUST the source of the information when it is as well-documented and thorough as the following Australian government publication:

Immunisation Myths & Realities.

That's what's great about evidence. You need not trust the source on this link. Just look at the well-documented evidence. It is overwhelming.

For completeness sake, here is the US government's rebuttal to the anti-vaccination movement: Six Common Misconceptions about Vaccination.

This is not nearly as convincing as the Australian government's paper, as it does not include documentation of the facts.

Unfortunately, many people in Italy are being swayed by the arguments against the MMR vaccine and, as a result, children are dead. The outlook is bleak unless those who have been convinced by the anti-vaccination movement can be convinced of the truth about vaccines.

Finally, here is a website sent in by one of my readers. It details in very frank terms the LIES told by some of the most prominent anti-vaccination activists. The deception exposed at this website speaks volumes.

Since the anti-vaccination movement lies so much about the scientific literature, please allow me to list several scientific papers that report the REAL data related to vaccines. Several of these are long-term studies, despite the fact that the anti-vaccination movement constantly says that there are no such studies.

Ascherio, A., et al. 2001. Hepatitis B vaccination and the risk of multiple sclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine 344(Feb. 1):327.

Confavreux, C., et al. 2001. Vaccinations and the risk of relapse in multiple sclerosis. New England Journal of Medicine 344(Feb. 1):319.

Dittmann, S. 2001. Vaccine safety: Risk communication—A global perspective. Vaccine 19:2446.

Heijbel, H., and T. Jefferson. 2001. Vaccine safety—Improving monitoring. Vaccine 19:2457.

Jacobson, R.M., et al. 2001. Adverse events and vaccination—the lack of power and predictability of infrequent events in pre-licensure study. Vaccine 19(March 21):2428.

Feikin, D.R., ... R.T. Chen, et al. 2000. Individual and community risks of measles and pertussis associated with personal exemptions to immunization. Journal of the American Medical Association 284(Dec. 27):3145.

Peltola, H., et al. 1998. No evidence for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine-associated inflammatory bowel disease or autism in a 14-year prosepctive study. Lancet 351(May 2):1327.

Now please understand why I have produced this page for my students. I am not arbitrarily trying to challenge what my students might have been taught. I am trying to eradicate a myth that is almost as prevalent as the Y2K nonsense that gripped the Christian and homeschooling communities in 1999. Just as I feebly tried to eradicate that myth (see my original position on Y2K and my Y2K postmortem), I am trying to destroy the myth promulgated by the anti-vaccination movement.

However, in the case of the Y2K myth, the consequences were not as profound in human terms. If you were taken in by the Y2K scammers, your finances probably suffered and you were probably a bit embarrassed after it was all over. As I said in my Y2K postmortem, I believe that the Y2K fiasco has hurt the cause of Christ, but that's nothing He can't handle. However, belief in the misrepresentations of the anti-vaccination movement directly leads to disease and death, as has been recently demonstrated in Great Britain, Sweden, and Japan (see quackwatch for details). This is something that I believe must be stopped.