[FormerLurker]

To put it as charitably as possible, that is stark raving nuts.

Is that your esteemed medical and scientific opinion, or are you just saying that because you don't understand what the evidence demonstrates?

Please post any scientific studies you might know of that prove the smallpox vaccination actually works. You could even post some scientific evidence demonstrating that vaccines are effective if you'd like...

[dighton]

Seen any smallpox cases lately?

Anyhow, it goes in the same file as "the CIA controls my brainwaves." That is all.

[Sabertooth]

Former Lurker, you may choose to forego immunization, but your survival will be dependent on the herd immunity provided by those who exhibit moderate levels of common sense.

In short: you will be a parasite.

That's fine, as far as it goes. Keep in mind, however, that to the degree that folks who are exposed to your swill are persuaded by it, the herd immunity will decrease and your parasitism will be less viable as a survival mechanism.

For the rest, here's a good resource for answers to the anti-vaccine propaganda:

QuackwatchSM Your Guide to Health Fraud, Quackery, and Intelligent Decisions   Operated by Stephen Barrett, M.D   If you write, please mention how you found this Web site.

Misconceptions about Immunization

Introduction

Immunizations should be part of routine health care obtained through one's personal physician (or in some instances, through one's local health department). Long-lasting protection is available against measles, mumps, German measles (rubella), poliomyelitis, tetanus (lockjaw), whooping cough (pertussis), diphtheria, chickenpox (varicella), Hemophilus influenzae b (Hib), and hepatitis B. Immunization against all of these is recommended for children by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Practice, and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

All states now require proof of immunization or other evidence of immunity against some of these diseases for admission to school. However, the requirements vary from state to state, and exemptions may be granted for medical, moral, or religious reasons.

Immunization is also important for adults. Those unprotected against any of the above diseases (except whooping cough) should consult their physicians. Tetanus boosters should be administered every ten years. Flu shots (which give only seasonal protection) and immunization against pneumococcal pneumonia are recommended for high-risk patients, elderly individuals, and certain institutional populations.

The success of vaccination programs in the United States and Europe inspired the 20th-century concept of "disease eradication" -- the idea that a selected disease can be eradicated from all human populations through global cooperation. In 1977, after a decade-long campaign involving 33 countries, smallpox was eradicated worldwide. Polio caused by wild virus has been eradicated from the Western Hemisphere; childhood vaccination levels in the United States are at an all-time high; and disease and death from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) are at or near record lows. In April 1999, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control issued a fact sheet with some interesting statistics about the impact of vaccination on childhood diseases.

• Average annual number of smallpox cases in 1900-1904: 48,164.
  United States cases per year since 1950: 0.
  Worldwide cases per year since 1977: 0.
• Average annual number of diphtheria cases in the U.S. in 1920-1922: 175,885.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 1.
• Average annual number of pertussis cases in 1922-1925: 147,271.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 6,279.
• Estimated average annual number of tetanus cases in 1922-1926: 1,314.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 34.
• Average annual number of paralytic polio cases in 1951-1954: 16,316.
  U.S. cases of wild type poliovirus in 1998: 0.
• Average annual number of measles cases in 1958-1962: 503,282.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 89.
• The number of mumps cases in 1968: 152,209.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 606.
• Average annual number of rubella cases in 1966-1968: 47,745.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 345.
• Estimated average annual number of cases of congenital rubella syndrome in 1966-1968: 823.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 5.
• Estimated average annual number of Hib cases before vaccine licensure: 20,000.
  U.S. cases in 1998: 54.

Common Misconceptions

At least ten misconceptions can lead parents to question the wisdom of immunizing their children. If you encounter others you would like Quackwatch to address, please contact us.

• Misconception #1: because of better hygiene and sanitation, diseases had already begun to disappear before vaccines were introduced.
• Misconception #2: The majority of people who get the disease have been immunized.
• Misconception #3: There are hot lots of vaccine that have been associated with more adverse events and deaths than others. Parents should find the numbers of these lots and not allow their children to receive vaccines from them.
• Misconception #4: Vaccines cause many harmful side effects, and even death -- and may cause long-term effects we don't even know about.
• Misconception #5: DTP vaccine causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• Misconception #6: Vaccine-preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated from the United States, so there is no need for my child to be vaccinated.
• Misconception #7: Giving a child more than one vaccine at a time increases the risk of harmful side effects and can overload the immune system.
• Misconception #8: There is no good reason to immunize against chickenpox (varicella) because it is a harmless disease
• Misconception #9: Vaccines cause autism.
• Misconception #10. Hepatitis B vaccine causes chronic health problems, including multiple sclerosis.
• Misconception #11. Thimerosal Causes Autism

Opposition by Chiropractors and Naturopaths

Large percentages of chiropractors and naturopaths advise parents not to immunize their children. These actions are irresponsible and can cause serious harm both to patients and to our society as a whole.

For Additional Information

• U.S. Centers for Disease Control
  • National Immunization Program offers answers to common questions.
  • CDC Information Hotline: (800) 323-2522.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics answers common questions and provides its recommended childhood immunization schedule.
• Health Canada: Laboratory Center for Disease Control
• The Immunization Action Coalition, whose mission is to increase immunization rates, offers childhood and adult immunization information and answers questions by email.
• The Immunization Gateway: Links to many other authoritative sites.
• Immunization Newsbriefs: Online and e-mail newsletter from the National Network for Immunization Infoirmation
• The Vaccine Page: Vaccine news and a database
• Healthy People 2010: Surgeon General's goals for immunization
• Immunization: The Inconvenient Facts: A science-based response to Viera Scheibner.
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: Jordan Report 2000: Accelerated Development of Vaccines
• National Network for Immunization Information
• Vaccine Education Center (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)

Quackwatch Home Page

This page was revised on April 20, 2002.


Quackwatch Immunization Thread Here

[DBtoo]

Last week I had a doctor's appt., and I asked my doctor what she thought about the smallpox vaccine and that whole issue. She said what you have been saying. She also does not want one, and hopes that since we are in the middle of nowhere they will not enforce it here. She is a very intelligent woman and the best doctor in this area. Since we are a hub for a huge chunk of the state, we have a rather large hospital and many doctors. She's the best and there are some very good ones here. She knows what she is talking about and so does FormerLurker and other doctors and researchers.

There is so much information out there that I don't know how anyone can deny it, unless they are scared, and denying the danger and becoming angry over it is a coping mechanism.

[aruanan]

Please post any scientific studies you might know of that prove the smallpox vaccination actually works.

Have you ever heard of Edward Jenner? He improved on the primitive form of innoculation called "variolation" which attempted to give a person a mild case of smallpox and, with it, protection against a deadly case. Unfortunately, it wasn't a certain thing that a mild case would obtain from variolation. Jenner saw that people who contracted cowpox did not become infected with smallpox. He innoculated with cowpox and then later with smallpox. The patients did not develop smallpox. As the practice of innoculation became standardized, it was empirically demonstrated to be an effective means of preventing smallpox, though the molecular basis for immunization had still not been discovered.

Of course, folks like krodriguesdc would say that it was a purely poc hoc ergo propter hoc phenomenon: smallpox disappeared due to increase public sanitation--they just happened to be innoculating everywhere that modern sanitation was instituted and mistook the effects of sanitation for effective innoculation. This argument, though, is a case of fetid dingos kidneys since it has been demonstrated since Jenner's day that a. there is indeed a molecular basis for immunity that satisfactorily explains why they found empirically that innoculation worked, and b. members of a clean society with modern plumbing and sewage systems cannot avoid getting a communicable disease that doesn't depend on dirty toilet seats and open sewers to spread.