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Vaccinations have probably been responsible for saving more human lives than anything other invention. Vaccinations have reduced disease, disability, and death from a variety of infectious diseases across the globe.
Vaccines exist for a range of viral and bacterial pathogens; diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), poliomyelitis (polio), measles, mumps, rubella, haemophilus influenzae type b infections, hepatitis B, influenza, pneumococcal infections, cholera, hepatitis A, meningococcal disease, plague, rabies, bat lyssavirus, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, Q fever, tuberculosis, typhoid and varicella-zoster (chickenpox).
Measles: 2.6 Million Fewer Deaths Annually
Measles: the number of deaths each year globally is estimated to have been 2.6 million each year. The vaccine was introduced in 1963 and there are now only 95,000 annual deaths in 2017.
Tetanus: 700,000 Fewer Dead Children
Tetanus was a terrible killer of newborn children but we now have extensive vaccination programs. A an estimated 787,000 newborns in dies of it in 1988 compared to only 49,000 in 2013.
Smallpox: Eradicated
This is the only human disease that has been successfully eradicated and this all down to a vaccine. Smallpox was a horrific disease that terrorized communities across the globe and wiped out countless billions. The Egyptians, Romans, and Europeans all lived with this devastating disease and it actually thought that the millions of people who lived in South and Central American civilizations were wiped out by Smallpox when Columbus brought it over to them.
Sensible estimates of global deaths from Smallpox during the 20th century alone are 300 million to half a billion.
Vaccines are not risk-free so you should understand how they work and what the risks are so you can make informed choices. Having said that detailed and extensive studies show that the licensed vaccines we use today are incredibly low risk compared to virtually any medical intervention.
Please view the videos below which provide balanced and accurate information about vaccinations, how they work and their associated risks.
The Small Pox Vaccine
So how did we discover vaccines? It is thought vaccination was first used in Asia where smallpox scabs were blown up people’s noses. It spread to Africa, India the Ottoman Empire, and finally to Europe and the UK. Several people had observed the method in other countries. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu brought the technique back from Constantinople and used her position in high society to try to make the practice widespread. A local Doctor called Edward Jenner was one of the first people to test and promote this medical intervention in the UK in 1796. However, the medical profession ignored his research.
It wasn’t until 1879 when Louis Pasteur first came up with the germ theory and developed vaccines for rabies and anthrax.
Autism & Vaccinations
The connection to Autism and vaccines was only ever made by one source which has been disproved countless times. In a 1997 study was published by Andrew Wakefield. The paper has since been completely discredited due to serious procedural errors, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest, and ethical violations. Andrew Wakefield lost his medical license and the paper was retracted from The Lancet. No other properly conducted study anywhere in the world has found a link to Autism and Vaccination.
However, this one study was widely shared and is still quoted today by the anti-vaccine lobby. It was the stimulus for huge growth in the anti-vaccination movement which has now taken hold in the first world and is resulting in reduced vaccination rates and the return of childhood killers like measles.
The Anti Vaxxers
The majority of anti-vaxxers believe one or more of the following;
- The MMR vaccine causes autism.
- Thimerosal, a preservative in some vaccines, is toxic.
- The simultaneous administration of multiple vaccines overwhelms or weakens the immune system.
- Aluminum compounds some vaccines contain to increase the immune response cause disease.
- A healthy diet and lifestyle are sufficient to give us a healthy immune system that can fight off any infection.
All of these theories have been soundly and repeatedly disproved by multiple independent sources (no the sources aren’t all Bill Gates, big pharma and George Soros). Given this, it is a real head-scratcher why so much disinformation about vaccines persists.
Large conservative donors in the US have pumped millions of dollars into slick video productions, social media adverts, and infographics to spread disinformation about vaccination and grow their supporter base. Many of us will have seen this information and not realised it was paid for.
Hedge fund manager Bernard Selz and his wife, Lisa have plowed millions into anti-vaccination groups. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and environmental lawyer is also a major player. Their motivation is not clear.
It is much easier to track the motivation of other major donors who make millions from hawking alternative treatments like homeopathy, unproven ‘natural remedies’, and vitamin pills.
The anti-vaxxer groups tap into our emotions by vastly inflating the risks associated with vaccinations or just plain lying about them. They continue to use the same mis-truths year after year despite evidence to the contrary. It is still puzzling why so many people fall for it though.
In the first world, we have forgotten the terrible loss of life and life long repercussions many illnesses like polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, tetanus, and rubella caused. We have taken for granted the enormous health benefits we have enjoyed due to vaccination programs and don’t treat this disregard for vaccinations with the seriousness it deserves.
It could have a lot to do with how much easier it is to read a quick antivaxx infographic and repost it without a moment’s consideration of it’s true, who designed it, and why.
This strong and growing anti-vaccination lobby is reducing the effectiveness of vaccination programs and putting us all at risk. You grew up benefiting from vaccinations. If you don’t help support vaccination programs your children and grandchildren may well have lives ended or blighted when nightmare illnesses like measles, polio and rubella return.
How Do Vaccines Work?
Vaccines: The Risks & Reactions
The antivaxxer groups are convinced that vaccines cause a range of health issues. The fact that modern medicine and world health organizations disagree leads them to think that information is being manipulated and we are being lied to hence their desire to fight the good fight and put out information about the danger of vaccines.
The foundation of this comes from people who develop or are diagnosed with conditions in the period after they or their children have been vaccinated. These health issues are reported as vaccination reactions. The reasoning goes I got a cold a week after my flue shop – the vaccine caused it. My child has been diagnosed with Autism 3 months after the MMR shot – the vaccine must have caused it.
First of all a reported reaction to a vaccination is not the same thing as an actual reaction. The antivaxxer websites knowingly talk about the reported reactions as if they are proven cases of vaccination reaction despite knowing absolutely that these things are not the same. In virtually all cases the illness or supposed reaction is just chance, you would have got sick anyway. Thousands of people catch a cold every day, some of them will have had a vaccine recently so getting the flu close a vaccine does not mean the vaccine caused the flu. Similarly, children get the MMR jab at exactly the same time as their cognitive development allows Autism to be diagnosed and at an age when things like Asthma and other allergies start to appear. So it may appear that the two things are linked but in actually reality they have nothing to do with one another.
How can we be sure about this? Because multiple large scale and independent studies have been carried out. You can compare the incidence of illness in people who have had and have not had vaccines and you see the rates of flu, autism, and allergies are exactly the same.
It doesn’t help that in the US there is a fund to pay compensation to anyone who has a genuine reaction to a vaccine which is an incentive to report and maintain the connection.
There are known reactions to vaccines, as with any medication or medical intervention. But vaccines are very safe compared to other medications and the risks of a reaction are tiny, virtually nill in most cases. The benefits far outweigh the risks.
This is large group of over 200 virues 7 of which are known to cause respiratory illnesses in humans; MERS, SARS and COVID-19 are examples.
