Incidence of measles, mumps and rubella all increase due to anti-vaccine campaign

steddyeddy · 25-01-2014 11:26pm #1

There has been a recent campaign in the last few years to combat the use of of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. This started with a physician called Dr.Wakefield published a paper claiming links between the MMR and autisim. He described a young girl who developed certain symptoms after getting a vaccine. The thing is the young girl had symptoms which were closer to rett's syndrome than autism. Wakefield was later accused of falsifying the results of the trial.

This recent article shows that whooping cough, mumps and rubella have been on the rise around the world. Many people in developing countries don't have access to vaccines but these diseases have been on the rise in developed countries too. There's no need for kids to be getting these illnesses in this day and age.

Do you think the anti-vaccine crowd have blood on their hands over this or do you think they are right to campaign against MMR?

I'm adding a poll on an issue that comes up again and again in this debate and that is: Should parents be forced to vaccinate their child with MMR?

I'm going to say yes because vaccinating a large amount of your population creates herd immunity which helps control the spread of infectious diseases. The other reason is that preventing your child from getting protection from these illnesses is pretty f-ed up!

Article below!

Vaccinations are one of the of most incredible aspects of modern medicine. They can make previously lethal diseases disappear from society and save countless lives. There is, however, a chance that the vaccines work a little too well and our collective memory is too short to remember the devastating effects some of these diseases caused just a few short decades ago. Recently, for reasons that are not based on science or logic, many parents have outspokenly rejected vaccinating their children. Unfortunately, this has caused a reemergence of easily managed diseases. The Council on Foreign Relations has released an interactive map detailing the catastrophic outcome of these poor choices.
The interactive map gives a gut-wrenching tour of global outbreaks of measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and whooping cough from 2008-2014. These diseases -- all of which are easily prevented by vaccines -- can have dire consequences. The CDC estimates that 164,000 people around the world will die from measles each year, and it is experiencing quite a resurgence in the UK. The United States has recently seen a drastic increase in whooping cough, which causes around 195,000 deaths per year. The majority of these deaths occur in impoverished regions with very little access to vaccines. In the case of developed areas like the US or UK, they shouldn’t be happening at all.
But how did it all begin?
In 1998, Andrew Wakefield released a paper claiming to have linked the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to the onset of autism. No other scientist was ever able to match Wakefield’s findings, and in the coming years, it became known that Wakefield had a financial conflict of interest. In 2010, an ethics review board found that he had falsified the data in his report, causing an immediate retraction of his original paper and revocation of his medical license. Despite the fact most scientists opposed Wakefield’s “findings” from the start, some were all too eager to jump on the anti-MMR bandwagon.
Among those leading the charge against vaccines is Jenny McCarthy, the Playboy Bunny-turned-pseudoscience advocate. McCarthy began speaking out against vaccines in 2007, as she believed they caused her son’s autism. Based on her son’s symptoms, some believe the boy has Landau-Kleffner syndrome, not autism. She has written a few books (including one with a foreword by Wakefield himself) continually claiming that vaccines cause autism and that she cured her son’s autism with alternative treatment, without a shred of credible medical evidence. In the face of a possible misdiagnosis and absolutely no scientific evidence to support the claim that vaccines cause autism, she remains unchanged in her opinion. Unfortunately, her celebrity status has given her a platform to use anecdotal (not scientific) evidence to urge parents against vaccines.
Of course, absolutely nothing is without risk and there can be side effects from vaccines, but those are incredibly rare. Some people are unable to be vaccinated due to allergies or other medical conditions. This makes it altogether more important for those who can get vaccinated to do so, creating a herd immunity for our most vulnerable members of society.
The full version of the map is available on CFR’s website.
- See more at: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/one-map-sums-damage-caused-anti-vaccination-movement#sthash.oZDm0NBO.dpuf

Kylo Ren · 25-01-2014 11:49pm

I feel you should have the choice.

Do you want to refuse to vaccine your child? or do you want to keep your child?

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 12:05am

Keno wrote: »

I feel you should have the choice.

Do you want to refuse to vaccine your child? or do you want to keep your child?

I can't see why they are endangering kids life for this campaign.

carfiosaoorl · 26-01-2014 12:32am

Vaccines should absolutely not be mandatory, nobody should have a right to force people into doing anything with their bodies or their children's bodies. Swine flu vaccine narcolepsy that's all.

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 12:34am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

Vaccines should absolutely not be mandatory, nobody should have a right to force people into doing anything with their bodies or their children's bodies. Swine flu vaccine narcolepsy that's all.

By not vaccinating your child you're negatively impacting on the health of other children.

Kristopherus · 26-01-2014 12:38am

Was'nt that fella Wakefield and his claims totally discredited a few years ago? The national uptake for these preventive jabs was in the region of 90% the last time I looked at the figures.

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 12:41am

Kristopherus wrote: »

Was'nt that fella Wakefield and his claims totally discredited a few years ago? The national uptake for these preventive jabs was in the region of 90% the last time I looked at the figures.

Considering the damage these illnesses do to developing children 90% isn't enough.

[Deleted User] · 26-01-2014 12:42am

Nope.

The idea of The State forcing an individual to receive a vaccination against his or her will (or against the will of his or her parents in the case of a child) makes me queasy. My view stems not from a distaste for or distrust in vaccinations, but from a belief in individual liberty.

roadrunner16 · 26-01-2014 12:42am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

Vaccines should absolutely not be mandatory, nobody should have a right to force people into doing anything with their bodies or their children's bodies. Swine flu vaccine narcolepsy that's all.

I agree however If you want your kids enrolled a public school and mixing with other kids then they should have the vaccines.

carfiosaoorl · 26-01-2014 12:44am

steddyeddy wrote: »

By no vaccinating your child you're negatively impacting on the health of other children.

How are you negatively impacting the health of other children? If they are vaccinated they shouldn't be at any risk.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo · 26-01-2014 12:45am

The words 'mandatory vaccination of all children' doesn't sit right with me at all. It feels very Orwellian (check me out using a book reference :cool:).
On the other hand if they're endangering other children then my initial resistance is softened.

I'm going to go with a firm, I don't ****ing know.

roadrunner16 · 26-01-2014 12:56am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

How are you negatively impacting the health of other children? If they are vaccinated they shouldn't be at any risk.

what about children who are too young to be vaccinated ?

ballsymchugh · 26-01-2014 1:00am

Kristopherus wrote: »

Was'nt that fella Wakefield and his claims totally discredited a few years ago? The national uptake for these preventive jabs was in the region of 90% the last time I looked at the figures.

discredited and struck off.

Ghost Buster · 26-01-2014 1:02am

Anyone who ever ever uses the term "big pharma" should be euthanized by lethal homeopathic overdose. Or drowning

Clandestine · 26-01-2014 1:05am

Children aren't property. If a parent is refusing what may be a necessary vaccination they shouldn't be parents.

Corkfeen · 26-01-2014 1:05am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

How are you negatively impacting the health of other children? If they are vaccinated they shouldn't be at any risk.

If a child has a weakened immune system, parents may be advised to not get vaccines. This is all fine with herd immunity however if less children are vaccinated, it endangers health of children with weakened immune systems because herd immunity is negatively affected .

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 1:07am

gvn wrote: »

Nope.

The idea of The State forcing an individual to receive a vaccination against his or her will (or against the will of his or her parents in the case of a child) makes me queasy. My view stems not from a distaste for or distrust in vaccinations, but from a belief in individual liberty.

But that individual liberty is posing a danger to others. Herd immunity adds protection from these diseases.

carfiosaoorl · 26-01-2014 1:08am

roadrunner16 wrote: »

what about children who are too young to be vaccinated ?

When you hear of a measles outbreak how many kids do you hear of under one who are affected? The vast vast majority are school age with about equal numbers vaccinated as unvaccinated. Why do vaccinated children still catch measles? Because a lot of the time vaccines don't ****ing work that's why. So if people choose not to inject filthy chemicals into their kids that might not even do the job they are meant to do then that's their right

KnotABother · 26-01-2014 1:11am

If you don't vaccinate your kids then they should not be allowed attend school with other children who they may be seriously endangering. So the choice is for the parents...vaccinate or keep your disease ridden kids away from ours.

If a kid had HIV I'm sure there would be many precautions taken to protect other kids even though HIV is in a lot of cases harder to transmit than diseases we vaccinate against!

carfiosaoorl · 26-01-2014 1:15am

KnotABother wrote: »

If you don't vaccinate your kids then they should not be allowed attend school with other children who they may be seriously endangering. So the choice is for the parents...vaccinate or keep your disease ridden kids away from ours.

If a kid had HIV I'm sure there would be many precautions taken to protect other kids even though HIV is in a lot of cases harder to transmit than diseases we vaccinate against!

Again if your child is vaccinated then they should be perfectly safe from the dirty unvaccinated ones

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 1:16am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

How are you negatively impacting the health of other children? If they are vaccinated they shouldn't be at any risk.

One of the benefits of a mass vaccination programme is herd immunity. That means the more people immunized the less likely the disease will spread to other people.

minidazzler · 26-01-2014 1:18am

I don't think vaccines should be mandatory, because i don't like the idea of the state forcing something on its citizens. But i do think parents who don't vaccinate their kids are bad parents, ESPECIALLY, if they think there is a credible line between MMR vaccine and Autism.

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 1:18am

Corkfeen wrote: »

If a child has a weakened immune system, parents may be advised to not get vaccines. This is all fine with herd immunity however if less children are vaccinated, it endangers health of children with weakened immune systems because herd immunity is negatively affected .

This!

KnotABother · 26-01-2014 1:20am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

Again if your child is vaccinated then they should be perfectly safe from the dirty unvaccinated ones

Not true. If you are not vaccinated then you are an agar plate for disease. Diseases can mutate in your system or in the systems of many unvaccinated kids it is passed to and then be passed on to other kids who even though vaccinated are infected with the mutated strain. If you vaccinate all kids then the disease has very few places to go and is likely to die out more or less in the population like polio did.

angelfire9 · 26-01-2014 1:22am

I've answered yes
This is why:

Back in the '70's while pregnant with yours truly my mother contracted Rubella in her first trimester
For those that don't know, invitro contraction of the disease can result in severe mental and or physical handicaps, deafness, blindness, hydrocephalus etc etc
In 1970's Catholic Ireland it was gently suggested to my mother that a trip to England on the boat might be the best thing for the family (I am youngest of 4 so she was looking at minding a handicapped child + 3 others)

By what our family considers a miracle I was born without visible defect eyesight perfect but with congenital deafness resulting in years of being dragged to ENT specialists and speech therapists

I can hear the same spectrums as dolphins apparently but less than 40% of what the average person hears

I was born at 39+4 and weighed the same as an infant born at 28 weeks gestation and was delicate for first 10 years
My mother was a RGN, if vaccines had been available she would have been first in line but they weren't
Neither were they readily available in the 80's when yours truly contracted Whooping Cough & regular measles

Am I pro vaccine
You can bet your ass I am

I am walking proof of the damage these diseases can do

Did my mothers experience have any long term affect on me?
Well I'd never get into the Gardaí or Defence Forces with my hearing

Ironically I have no immunity to Rubella now either so every unvaccinated child poses a potential risk to health
I was a virtual hermit during my two pregnancies for fear of coming in contact with someone who had Rubella because their parents hadn't bothered vaccinating

Apparently people still believe the connection between Autism & vaccinations
But Measles, Mumps & Rubella are three diseases that under the right conditions can cause death or physical defects far worse (in my opinion) than autism

So, for any parent or potential parent out there who is wavering on this issue
Please please please vaccinate your kids
It is only when we have a vaccine update in the high 90's worldwide that we can consider ourselves on the path towards erridication if these diseases
Do your bit to stop the potential spread
Do it for yourself, for your kids and for all the people out there who have no immunity for whom vaccines are ineffective

I would hate to see a mother going through 9 months of mental turmoil like my mother did for the sake of a few small injections

MilanPan!c · 26-01-2014 1:23am

The biggest culprit is social media.

The number of times this pops up on Facebook is astonishing.

And that is amplified by the endless conspiracy blogs and forums which act as a echo chamber for this dangerous nonsense.

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 1:28am

angelfire9 wrote: »

I've answered yes
This is why:

Back in the '70's while pregnant with yours truly my mother contracted Rubella in her first trimester
For those that don't know, invitro contraction of the disease can result in severe mental and or physical handicaps, deafness, blindness, hydrocephalus etc etc
In 1970's Catholic Ireland it was gently suggested to my mother that a trip to England on the boat might be the best thing for the family (I am youngest of 4 so she was looking at minding a handicapped child + 3 others)

By what our family considers a miracle I was born without visible defect eyesight perfect but with congenital deafness resulting in years of being dragged to ENT specialists and speech therapists

I can hear the same spectrums as dolphins apparently but less than 40% of what the average person hears

I was born at 39+4 and weighed the same as an infant born at 28 weeks gestation and was delicate for first 10 years
My mother was a RGN, if vaccines had been available she would have been first in line but they weren't
Neither were they readily available in the 80's when yours truly contracted Whooping Cough & regular measles

Am I pro vaccine
You can bet your ass I am

I am walking proof of the damage these diseases can do

Did my mothers experience have any long term affect on me?
Well I'd never get into the Gardaí or Defence Forces with my hearing

Ironically I have no immunity to Rubella now either so every unvaccinated child poses a potential risk to health
I was a virtual hermit during my two pregnancies for fear of coming in contact with someone who had Rubella because their parents hadn't bothered vaccinating

Apparently people still believe the connection between Autism & vaccinations
But Measles, Mumps & Rubella are three diseases that under the right conditions can cause death or physical defects far worse (in my opinion) than autism

So, for any parent or potential parent out there who is wavering on this issue
Please please please vaccinate your kids
It is only when we have a vaccine update in the high 90's worldwide that we can consider ourselves on the path towards erridication if these diseases
Do your bit to stop the potential spread
Do it for yourself, for your kids and for all the people out there who have no immunity for whom vaccines are ineffective

I would hate to see a mother going through 9 months of mental turmoil like my mother did for the sake of a few small injections

Very well said. It's amazing to think that the people who are least affected by it are the ones who are protesting against it.

steddyeddy · 26-01-2014 1:29am

Why in the name of st.pubus wouldn't anyone want to vaccinate their kid. Spreading this BS is literally endangering kids.

carfiosaoorl · 26-01-2014 1:31am

KnotABother wrote: »

Not true. If you are not vaccinated then you are an agar plate for disease. Diseases can mutate in your system or in the systems of many unvaccinated kids it is passed to and then be passed on to other kids who even though vaccinated are infected with the mutated strain. If you vaccinate all kids then the disease has very few places to go and is likely to die out more or less in the population like polio did.

If that is the case then every child in the country would have to be immunised. There will always be kids who can't be for whatever reason and so continues on the parents blaming other parents for illnesses that actually nobody has control over. Everyone has to make a choice for their own children and nobody else has a right to an opinion on it

Stavros Murphy · 26-01-2014 1:31am

carfiosaoorl wrote: »

How are you negatively impacting the health of other children? If they are vaccinated they shouldn't be at any risk.

That's the rub. No awkward questions like that allowed though.

spank_inferno · 26-01-2014 1:32am

The combined vaccine is quite old now.

Does anyone know if the formula has been modified over time?

Also, if parents are worried by the combined they can always pay extra for the vaccines seperately.

Incidence of measles, mumps and rubella all increase due to anti-vaccine campaign

Should vaccinating your kids be mandatory? 324 votes

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