Vaccination Myths Debunked

Whooping Cough, or Pertussis, is making a comeback big time.
Why?
Because people are being misled by the anti-vaccination lobby and not getting the medical treatments that can easily, and safely, prevent a wide number of communicable diseases.

1. Vaccines do not contain dangerous mercury:  Since 2002, thimerosol is no longer used as a preservative in childhood vaccines.  Furthermore, there are NO valid scientific studies that support the linkage of thimerosol and autism (the one previous study was withdrawn due to proved fraud by the authors.) Then there is the fact that thimerosol, while containing a mercury atom in the molecule, is not the same as free metallic mercury such as appears in fish and shellfish.  One would get more dangerous mercury from one tuna fish sandwich and from all the recommended vaccines.

2. Vaccines are safer than they used to be: Some older vaccines were made with attenuated whole virus particles, and occasionally could cause low-grade infections in some individuals.  Modern vaccines are more often made now with only protein extracts of viruses that contain only the parts necessary to induce the immune system to recognize the virus and to cause it to generate antibodies to the virus.

3, Vaccines cause less side effect than they used to: As medical technology has advanced, vaccines are cleaner and more specific in their effects, due to more precise control over the production and purification of the antibody-inducing proteins used.

4. Vaccines work: The currently available vaccines work well against their targets and confer specific immunity to a variety of highly communicable diseases.  The recent outbreak of epidemics of Whooping Cough in the USA show this clearly.  Where folks are up-to-date on their vaccinations, or get the vaccine as soon as possible, the rate of Pertussis is low; where folks are not vaccinated, the rates are higher.

5. Vaccinations are NOT linked to the increasing incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorders:  The ONE study that claimed to show a linkage between vaccination and autism has been withdrawn because it was discovered that the researcher fraudulently invented the statistics used and presented.  Independent analysis of the original data, and numerous other studies looking for such a linkage can find no correlations in the data.  Additionally, other research is indicating that autism is much more likely to be caused by other factors, such as obesity, water and air pollution, and genetic factors.  To repeat: there is no indication that vaccination causes or is linked to autism.

For a very small number of people, with certain specific conditions, vaccination may not be recommended.  And an exceeding small number of folks may get other reactions from vaccinations.  For most average infants, children and adults, vaccination is safe and effective.

Getting vaccinated as recommended is the socially responsible thing to do; it protects you, it protects your children, it protects the community, and it protects the nation and the world.