Hey, Americans...

[andygates]

What's with the vaccine-phobia?  Is it that you don't trust sciency-magicky-woo unless it's delivering cars, guns or porn?  Is it that you don't like being told what's good for you?  Is "herd immunity" a dirty phrase to a Rugged Individualist?  How 'bout 'civic responsibility'?  Did anyone teach anyone that the plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'?

Tricky moral question for ten points:  If personal freedom is good, and your freedom to swing your first ends at my nose, how about your freedom to stay a seething sump of infection compromising general immunity in the population at large?  Or is that too fecking socialist a concept?

Comments

[thudthwacker.livejournal.com]

I think, in a lot of cases, parents believe the science but don't trust the pharmaceutical companies. They hear a bunch of anecdotes (and I think "The plural of 'anecdote' is not 'data'" needs to be on a tee shirt) about problems kids have had with vaccines, and then reflect on the fact that the only people who are likely to have financed any kind of very large scale study on vaccines are the people producing them, and those people are not legally required to share their findings. And parents, very often (certainly in my case) have a tendency toward irrationality where their children are involved.

Parents hear "there is no scientific proof that the MMR vaccine has a causal link to autism" and remember how many years they heard "there is no scientific proof that smoking causes lung cancer," and "there is no scientific proof that second-hand smoke is hazardous to non-smokers," and "there is no scientific proof that human industry is having an effect on global climate."

So, not (always) a mistrust in science -- just a mistrust in the people paying for it and reporting its results. Granted, I've heard from people who think germ theory is a huge hoax, so it pays to stand back a little until you know for sure who you're dealing with.

In the interests of full disclosure: yes, we vaccinated Sarah -- but we waited until she was older than the standard schedule, insisted on single-disease vaccinations, and spaced them out.

[teahisme.livejournal.com]

I think I am in the boat with you. You likewise have said what I would say much more eloquently. So thank you Thudthwacker whomever you are!

When it comes time to vaccinate my sprog I thing I shall spread it out. Do it in a much smaller concentration of doses at one time. I've been vaccinated against most things. With the notable exception of TB which the US doesn't vaccinate for.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

"Vaccine overload"? Myth busted.

A one-shot dealio is best for getting comprehensive immunity by simply being far fewer time-sensitive appointments to screw up.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Germ. Theory. Deniers.

How?

I mean, that's got to be just trolling, surely? What next? Flat-Earthers?

[teahisme.livejournal.com]

I bet they exist still.