Are Anti-Vaccers Endangering the Lives of Other Children?
20,000,000. Globally, that is the number of people who will get measles this year. But, according to The Guardian, only 220 of those people will be in the United States. Why is that?
It's because we get our children vaccinated!
And yet, it seems it's our children that are growing up not believing in the efficacy of the medicine that's protected them. New polling by YouGov.us shows that Millennials are the generation most likely to hold the opinion that vaccines cause autism and that parents should decide whether or not their children should get them.
Now, I (somewhat) understand the circumstances that y'all Millenials have grown up in. The 'eat natural' craze, school choice debate, Whole Foods, helicopter parenting and its pushback; you've been raised to not want junk in your bodies and be able to rear your kids however you want. Freedom, right?
But, understand what it was like for me and my parents when we were growing up (Oh god, I sound old). The inventor of the polio vaccine, Dr. Jonas Salk, became a scientific rock star the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson overnight. Literally. Within minutes of announcing it worked, every news agency, radio station, and wire service in the country was carrying the news, which was much harder to do back in 1955. The ability to prevent the diseases that ravaged older generations seemed as if miracle from God. People today have forgotten the fear and wonder that those various tigers medical science caged in with said vaccines inspired in us.
Although the modern movement against vaccination has been largely debunked by the consensus in the scientific community, there are still pockets of resistance that continue to grow, thriving on and misinformation and fear mongering. A vaccine, contrary to popular belief, is not a cocktail of toxic chemicals that the government and Big Pharma peddle to you. Instead, it is made of weakened or dead germs that your body learns how to attack so that the next time you get the same infection your immune system can handle it.
At least that's the classical definition. Vaccines cannot create perfect immunity in a population 100 percent of the time. Some people will simply not develop the means to fight the pathogen.
But then why use vaccines at all, you ask? Herd immunity, that's why. Even if a vaccine is ineffective for a significant portion of the population, you can still essentially "choke out" the virus by giving it a substantially smaller number of potential hosts. Ultimately, by giving just about everyone a relatively ineffective vaccine, you can still lower the incidence of infection and save lives.
I know that we like to think we're being healthy by not "pumping our children with toxic sludge" and engaging in our right to be good parents by "choosing what we think is right for our children", but these safe, FDA-regulated vaccines should be a social responsibility for everyone. There are millions of people out there who have congenital defects, immunodeficiency disorders, and a host of other debilitating conditions that prevent them from having the strength to brave exposure to dangerous pathogens. Infants and elderly people fall within this category too. And by weakening herd immunity, we directly put them in danger.
Reposted from State Senator Curt Thompson's blog (D-5th). He resides in Tucker, GA and is Chairman of the Special Judiciary Committee. Make sure to follow him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus. His website is www.makingyourvoicecount.com
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