Comments on: Thanks, antiscience!

By: Adrian H

Adrian H — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:47:51 +0000

When I was 11 my parents tried to treat my ruptured appendix with homeopathy. Luckily for me, my grampa talked some sense into me and I demanded my parents bring me to a hospital. I very well could have been a +1 added on to those 32.

Are their laws against the subjection of children who cannot possibly know this information to protect them from their parents insanity?

By: tony tony tony

tony tony tony — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:35:54 +0000

If you need a unicorn, here’s one that you can even wear.

http://shirt.woot.com/Friends.aspx?k=5338

By: John Noble

John Noble — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:50:33 +0000

Presumably the rise in measles has been offset with a reduction in the diagnosis of autism?…

Thought not.

By: quasidog

quasidog — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:58:08 +0000

@Paul S. I agree with that view. There are so many other reasons why it could be becoming more of a common problem other than just the anti-vax movement, but all the other reasons are not celebrities, so maybe they don’t get focus because .. they are boring?

By: HCN

HCN — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:48:42 +0000

Greg, just substitute “Jenny McCarthy” with “Wakefield” and “Jackie Fletcher”.

Happy now?

By: Paul S.

Paul S. — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:01:50 +0000

I wonder if part of the reason that some people are not getting their children vaccinated, in addition to false fears about vaccination causing autism or other disorders, might be simple complacency. It might be that the very success of vaccinations has had the ironic effect of making younger generations of adults who are now having children much less aware of or concerned about diseases like measles and mumps. Decades ago, diseases like measles, mumps, and polio killed or incapacitated enough people, especially children, that they were genuinely feared by parents and by children who were old enough to understand the consequences. This must have been a huge motivator for parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as a vaccine became available. Even if some people worried about possible side effects, this concern was usually drowned out by the more immediate concern of protecting children against diseases that were a real threat. Today, though, most parents grew up vaccinated themselves and surrounded by children who were vaccinated, so these diseases seem like a distant part of history rather than a real threat. Since many think (wrongly) think that these are no threat at all anymore, they are also inclined to give more weight to worries about possible side effects, even if there isn’t much evidence for it.

By: leo

leo — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:33:17 +0000

thank you for blogging against ignorance!