Kev shows that anti-mercury all too often means antivaccine
Speaking of anti-vaccination mania, anti-mercury activists, who blame the thimerosal in vaccines for autism, frequently go out of their way to emphasize that they are not "anti-vaccine." Unfortunately, as Kev shows (and as I've pointed out in the past), there is at least a significant minority who are in actuality virulently anti-vaccine and have just jumped on the thimerosal bandwagon because they think it validates their extreme distrust of vaccines. Kev even mentions that, at the "March for Truth" rally a couple of weeks ago, one of the placards read:
"Vaccines are weapons of mass destruction."
Remember this the next time you hear RFK Jr. or David Kirby strongly denying that they are "anti-vaccine." They personally might not be anti-vaccine, but, with their fallacious and distorted readings of the evidence with regards to thimerosal and autism as nicely summarized by Arthur Allen in Slate, they are giving a great deal of aid to those who are anti-vaccine. Also remember the examples Kev gives of upsurges of preventable diseases that are becoming more prevalent because of declining vaccination rates, as well as this example of the return of previously conquered diseases in an affluent community when even a relatively small number of parents stop vaccinating their children.
"Vaccines are weapons of mass destruction."
Remember this the next time you hear RFK Jr. or David Kirby strongly denying that they are "anti-vaccine." They personally might not be anti-vaccine, but, with their fallacious and distorted readings of the evidence with regards to thimerosal and autism as nicely summarized by Arthur Allen in Slate, they are giving a great deal of aid to those who are anti-vaccine. Also remember the examples Kev gives of upsurges of preventable diseases that are becoming more prevalent because of declining vaccination rates, as well as this example of the return of previously conquered diseases in an affluent community when even a relatively small number of parents stop vaccinating their children.
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ReplyDelete"Vaccines are weapons of mass destruction."
ReplyDeleteYes, they are weapons that wil destroy disease.
Arthur Allen seems to get it right. I hope he decides to set up a website of his own works. The Slate article is excellent.
A post I wrote about influenza vaccine was linked over at Thoughts for Kansas. Amazingly, there was a commenter who thought that the effects of the vaccine were equivalent to coming down with influenza.
ReplyDeleteThis is utterly frightening. I can't understand what the psychology underlying the fear of vaccination is. Any thoughts based on your medical experience?