Aren't you forgetting that those epidemics occurred PRIOR to all the medical wonders that have since developed? You seem quite comfortable with the amount of children damaged by these vaccines. Why are they expendible? Do you have an autistic child? I do. And it occurred after his second round of the MMR vaccine. Luckily he is on the higher end of the spectrum. My perfectly healthy child was damaged so that the 'greater good' of having a vaccine dependent society can continue. The more I learn about autism the more I have become cynical with the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry.
In a very real sense, parents who vaccinate their children are the ones who make it possible for children who are not vaccinated to live relatively safe, disease free lives, because it is these vaccinated kids which prevent the widespread epidemics that used to kill thousands.
In a very real sense, a not-so-small amount of perfectly healthy children have been irrevocably committed to a lifetime of health problems with NO compensation or redress from these pharmaceutical companies. In a very real sense, they are being told, "Too bad, but we're not monetarily liable for our product that damaged your child." These affected families have a new set of worries, worries that will affect their families' quality of life, money will be scarce, treatments are not covered by insurance companies. The list goes on and on. I will always worry about my little boy as he grows older. According to people like you, it's horrible at what happened to him but it is still worth it that my child was damaged. Thank you very much!
In a very real sense, parents who vaccinate their children are the ones who make it possible for children who are not vaccinated to live relatively safe, disease free lives, because it is these vaccinated kids which prevent the widespread epidemics that used to kill thousands.
Actually, no. Most of the epidemics you refer to accured before antibiotics. The diseases we immunize for are mainly relatively harmless ones. For 20 years all the cases of polio in the US were caused by the live vaccines. The CDC's response was to give the vaccine companies 2 years to use up their existing stocks (who cares about the additional cases these vaccines would cause). The measles epidemics which caused birth defects were caused by the vaccine immunizations wearing off unlike natural ones obtained from getting the disease as a child.
Whether or not the mercury causes autism, it exceeds safe limits of mercury ingestion. Neither the CDC nor the vaccine companies seem to have the children's health as their top priority. Besides anything which you have to sign away your Constitutional rights to do is something you should be cautious about.
I don't mean to say that all vaccines should be done away with just that you need to be sure that the benefits are greater than the problems they may cause.
It is absolutely verifiably untrue that "If not for vaccines many more than one in 166 children would die from the diseases that vaccines prevent." The death rates for these diseases declined by over 95% before vaccines were ever even introduced. I have a pdf file with these stats I can send you by email if you'd like.