Splendid summary of MMR and Wakefield
May. 25th, 2010 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
in cartoon format - to mark the day Andrew Wakefield is struck off the register in the UK.
ETA: some commentary about framing the argument - eventually, it's not about who has the most science on their side - it's about how parents *feel* about deciding to vaccinate or not.
ETA: some commentary about framing the argument - eventually, it's not about who has the most science on their side - it's about how parents *feel* about deciding to vaccinate or not.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 11:16 am (UTC)(jabbed by MMR and only mildly autistic... or was that excentric?)
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 12:34 pm (UTC)I hate the fact that the anti-vaccine people think they have the right to endanger the community and to push their false beliefs on other people. They seem to have forgotten that measles can kill and mumps can cause sterility--and even if they don't (and I am old enough to have had the both before there was a vaccine), measles are miserable, and so are mumps! I wouldn't wish that on any child.
The fact is, these people endanger my life. I do not have an immunity--I have had measles 3 times. For some reason, my system will not develop an immunity. I can't even count the number of times I have had rubella. I lived in fear through both of my pregnancies, because those diseases can cause serious birth defects if the mother contracts them.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 02:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 07:25 pm (UTC)And it's based on faulty research! I'm glad he's been struck off. Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot of time to reverse the effects, if they are ever completely reversed.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-24 02:47 pm (UTC)Even if there had been a teeny tiny link between the two I would probably have still had Bug vaccinated because my own father was an anti-vaccine crackpot and I almost died from preventable disease when I was a toddler.
It's a good cartoon. It's odd that the medical community waited ten years to check his ethics procedures, especially considering the PR around the issue.
The cartoon mentions that celebrities who endorsed this "research" contributed to the rise of MMR. To me that's like basic Darwinism... if a person chooses their medical advice based on a person's acting ability (and presumably makes other dumb decisions) then their family trees will eventually just die out. The right to be dumb is everyone's basic right as a human being.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-25 10:41 am (UTC)Unfortunately, we as readers are ready to believe conspiracy theories (MDs are in Big Pharma's pocket/ 'they' don't want you to know the truth, etc) in part because sometimes there *are* coverups in the pharma industry, and/or tragic mistakes (like thalidomide).
And sometimes medics don't help themselves by relying on scientific arguments, when what parents want is reassurance.
And we love to support the underdog and the martyr, which is how Wakefield is viewed by his supporters.
Worse, this appeals to some parents' sense of 'health rights' - that they're making healthy choices for their families. The fact that they expose their kids to more 'toxins' by driving a car than in having vaccines is ignored.
If only the medical PR could turn it around, and make *getting* vaccines as the healthy choice you're making for your family, then they'd be onto a winner.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-26 02:16 am (UTC)My best friend has a masters in microbiology. She had it out with her chiropractor a few years back when the chiropractor tried to give her the anti-vaccine stuff she was giving to all her clients. Seriously? Being a chiropractor qualifies you to advise people about immunology because ...?