The following headline was in the news Feb. 2: “Obama to parents doubting ‘indisputable’ science: ‘Get your kids vaccinated.’”
You’d be forgiven for thinking that came from The Onion, but this is from an article published by The Washington Post. This is an actual issue – more and more parents are refusing to get their kids vaccinated.
It’s an actual issue, but it shouldn’t be.
Recently, there has been a surge in this “anti-vaccination” movement. Those who prescribe to this train of thought, commonly referred to as “anti-vaxxers,” are severely misguided and are putting those around them in danger.
The “debate” over vaccinations has been refueled following a recent measles outbreak in Disneyland. Measles have been reported in 14 states, and 2014 was a record year for reported cases of the measles, even though the disease was considered to be eliminated from the United States back in 2000.
The word “debate” was put in quotes in the last paragraph because that’s not what this should be. Anti-vaxxers should be taken as seriously as 9/11 truthers. Their claims are backed by nothing but paranoia and faulty science. The current talking point for anti-vaxxers is that vaccines cause autism.
Except they don’t.
This belief comes from a 1998 study that was published in BMJ, a British medical journal. Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the author of this study, claimed to have found a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine with autism using a sample size of 12 patients.
This should immediately set off alarms in your head. A sample size of 12 is laughable, not enough to prove anything. Anyone who has taken the most basic of statistic courses could tell you that.
It gets worse.
BMJ has since retracted that study, claiming that Wakefield altered the medical history of these patients. Fellow authors of the research also withdrew their names from the study after learning that Wakefield accepted money from a law firm – a firm that planned on suing vaccine manufacturers. In short, the study was fraudulent.
This has not stopped the inane rhetoric that vaccinating your children is going to make them autistic. In fact, the falsehood has been further perpetuated by public figures such as Sarah Palin and Jenny McCarthy. It isn’t clear if they genuinely believe the lies they are telling or if they are grasping at whatever will potentially keep them relevant. But as public figures with fans and supporters, they have a following. It is irresponsible for them to spew this nonsense, and quite frankly, they owe the public an apology.
What they are doing is dangerous.
What people like Palin and McCarthy are spreading to the public is a big part of what led to the current measles outbreak. Children are not supposed to get the first part of the MMR vaccine until they are 12-15 months old. This means that any parents with a newborn child who live in affected areas (mainly California, the epicenter of the measles outbreak) cannot even leave the house with their child without the fear of the baby getting measles. This wouldn’t be a problem if other parents would do the responsible thing and get their kids vaccinated. It simply isn’t fair that the majority of parents fear for the lives of their children due to the paranoia and ignorance of other parents.
Now that Obama has told parents to make sure their kids are vaccinated, politicians on the other side of the fence have come out of the woodwork to turn this into an issue about personal liberties. Republicans like Rand Paul are saying that parents can’t be forced to vaccinate their children.
No. This isn’t a political issue and it shouldn’t be turned into one, much like it isn’t a debate. We can’t turn this into liberal versus conservative. This is not a situation where we have to respect the opinions and beliefs of both sides because in this situation, one side is wrong. They are wrong about their science, and they are wrong about the beliefs they draw from that science.
There are legitimate reasons to not get vaccines, such as allergies or a weak immune system. Your “personal beliefs” are not one of those legitimate reasons.
So if you are an anti-vaxxer who does not currently have children, do the rest of us a favor and never have them. Also, do some soul-searching. If you believe getting your child vaccinated will lead to autism – it won’t – ask yourself this, “Would I rather have a dead child or an autistic child?”
If your answer is the former, you have no business being a parent.
