2019-01-29-0349Z


one discussion that comes up fairly frequently online is the topic of vaccines, and specifically the mocking of anti-vaxxers. people who don't get their kids vaccinated for measles and mumps (and at least 10 other illnesses of varying severity) are stupid and anti-science.

but to my generation, these childhood illnesses were rites of passage, which, once suffered through, gave us lifetime immunity, and in the case of females, gave their offspring enough immunity through the blood transferred in the womb to get through the first few months or years until their own bodies could start producing antibodies of their own. from what little I understand, this latter advantage is not conferred through vaccine-generated immunity, which is why vaccines are being given to younger and younger infants all the time.

yes, there are statistics that say there were deaths from these childhood diseases. but my friends and I don't remember any in our classrooms, just as many in younger generations don't remember any vaccine injuries and deaths in theirs. I have to wonder why this is so. could it be that the complications and deaths mainly occurred in undernourished children? or that they were the byproduct of their parents taking them to a hospital, where they were exposed to pneumonia, tuberculosis, and many other highly infectious diseases, instead of treating them at home? could the same be true of modern children suffering vaccine injuries?

I don't know the answers. but the questions should continue to be asked, and the efficacy and potential risks of each vaccine should be evaluated by every parent considering immunizing their kids, and not just simply accepting doctors' recommendations, which may be tainted by financial or litigation concerns.

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