Fears about immunization. Where did they come from? The news?
The thing is, without immunization, the USA becomes vulnerable to biological attack.
I say that all the time, myself, Theodore. Only I'm a humble redneck breeder, so it comes out as, "Are they evil, or just hawg-stupid?"
“The movement also imputed the worst possible motives to vaccinators, including Edward Jenner himself, the developer of the smallpox vaccine.”
What planet is this guy on?
Is he not aware that the smallpox vaccine for health care workers was discontinued because of the number of deaths associated with it? He brushes that off as though it’s of no consequence.
This is a real problem in the philosophy of science. Immunology, unless you are God, is as much art as science. Coming up with hypotheses about how to foil a particular pathogen is a matter of inspiration and narrative—then you have to test them with robotic objectivity. All the cool-headed objectivity in the world won't make up for a deficiency in the artistic part of science. In short, scientists are often geniuses, but are men limited in the scope of their thinking, and can't consider every angle.
That's one source of uncertainty when it comes to the real or imagined hazards of vaccines. The second is the sheer idiocy of the public-health machine, as third-rate minds set out to apply the creations of first-rate ones. I sympathize with much of what the author is saying, but it's unfortunate that he doesn't mention some well-established problems. For instance, chicken eggs are used in the making of some vaccines, and some young children have catastrophic allergic reactions to egg, including brain damage or death, especially when it's injected. The bloodstream is not made to have anything put into it directly—we have digestive systems, noses, and skin to prevent that. (AIDS, anyone?) So you might expect that going around our defenses could produce some complications.
Do doctors and nurses administering vaccines try to find out if the patient has any notable allergies? Occasionally. Do they ask about family histories of allergies, when the patient is a newborn? I've never heard of it.
Vaccination is applied to populations, but populations are made of individuals. One-size-fits-all medicine, maintained by the stick of regulation and the carrot of subsidy, produces the chaos, contempt for the customer, and ham-handed silliness that always accompanies socialism. May it please God, one day U.S. medicine will operate in a free market, and the theory and practice of immunization will improve along with it.
I have repeatedly sounded off on this topic. I will make it simple this time. Offit is full of CRAP and all too selective with his choice of “facts”. Wakefield is essentially correct despite abandonment by many colleagues. While unusual, his ideas are not that radical and what he is asking for is entirely practical. He NEVER said don’t take the vaccines, just space them apart. That’s it. For this he’s vilified. Just amazing.
But the health officials fought the simple idea tooth and nail.
P.S. We are still waiting for a good explanation as to why Amish kids, who do not get vaccinated, rarely have autism.