Monday, June 11, 2012

Vaccinate your kids

Some years back when our children were small, Jonas Salk discovered a vaccine for polio. It was an earth-shaking event! We were ecstatic. At that time one of the worst fears of parents was that their children would develop this terrible disease.

Ironically, in more recent times an anti-vaccine movement has arisen, which is most prevalent in the more conservative groups - religious and otherwise. I think it is part of a larger anti-science bias that has been growing for some time because as science has progressed more and more ancient mythologies have been laid to rest and that threatens some people immensely. When threatened, people either get defensive or back off.

A good example of how this works is found in the fact that the majority of U.S. citizens do not "believe" in evolution, even though it is the basis of almost all scientific endeavors and is not up for discussion. In the same way many people do not believe in vaccinating their children, even though not to do so is to put those children at risk of contracting a number of serious, even life-threatening diseases.

17 comments:

EG CameraGirl said...

People believe what they want to believe and, in this case, proven liar started the myth that vaccinating children was harmful to children. I guess some people need to believe he wasn't a liar.

RedPat said...

Amen, Lowell! But it is impossible to reason with some people.

Birdman said...

from Portland(OR) Daily Photo.

I feel for them... and Lowell. He runs 1/2 marathons? This world ceases to amaze. You go, Boy!

Olivier said...

en France, dans les anti vaccins, il y a aussi beaucoup de monde faisant parti du mouvement "bio". un retour en arriere que je pense dangereux

Memphis MOJO said...

When I was a kid, it seemed like in just about every grade-school class, there was a kid who had had polio. It was awful.

Randy said...

Excellent post and photo.

Pat said...

I remember standing in line with my grandmother to be vaccinated against polio. I believe in vaccines. I have just gotten one against whooping cough, given that I'm in contact with small children.

Davidlind said...

Imus goes on about this sometimes. Autism is more prevalent and some folks connect it with vaccinations. I have no idea. I do worry about the fact that I've been eating a lot of tuna fish sandwiches lately. There's probably more mercury in this sandwich than in a vaccination.

cieldequimper said...

Ahum, I'd better not get nasty... :-)) Ya know what I mean.


But hey, when polio becomes a household name again, it'll be you-know-who's will to test people. Or in RC cases, to maybe punish them.

cieldequimper said...

P.S.: even to this day, I have my 10 year DT Polio vaccines done...

Cezar and Léia said...

Really Impossible to understand the anti vaccine movement. :(
Crazy people!
That's one of the reasons I love animals!I do love animals!
Léia

brattcat said...

unbelievable statistics.

Judy said...

I remember standing in line in the school gym waiting to get my sugar cube laced with polio vaccine when I was in grade school. Seeing the devastation that the disease caused first hand, it was a solemn and important moment that I will never forget.

Halcyon said...

It is not only putting the unvacinated children at risk, but others as well. Such as babies who are too young to be vacinated yet, those with compromised immune systems and older people whose vaccinations may have worn off.
Vaccinations work the best when everyone has them.

Anyway... it's a shame that there has been so much false information spread about vaccinating in general.

Hilda said...

Sigh. That is downright silly—and even stupid, sorry to say it. And what's worse, you hear it from some very intelligent and well-educated people too.

Sharon said...

What a very intelligent post! Sorry I missed it on the day you posted it. Like my sister Judy, I have vivid memories of getting my polio vacine and I also remember a girl in my grade school class who had polio and what it did to her.

Amber said...

Im on the fence with it all. I think the number of vaccines that MDs attempt to push down new mothers throats with the fear of illness is a bit much. During my pregnancy so many pushed for me to get the Flu shot, I have not had a flu shot in at least 10 years if not longer and refused, and you wouldn't believe the judgments people would make on me for making that choice. I have a two year old son and yes he had MOST of his vaccines but I did waive 2-3 of them. In one year they wanted 10+ vaccines for an infant I really hate to say it but I think that the pharmaceuticals are driving the fear behind much of the MODERN vaccine environment. I believe in good people but right now everything is so corrupt in every aspect of our business world that I think each vaccine should be researched by the parent before just blindly signing a waiver and injecting your kid with god knows what. I could be wrong, I could be crazy but hey at least Im asking questions and not just accepting what the FDA and big pharma like to spew out.

"Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing and when they have vanished there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again." — Henri Cartier-Bresson