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There must be Islamic money behind this continuous anti smallpox vaccine propaganda.

Lurker is all over these threads. He just doesn't seem to understand that you can find books/articles refuting almost anything - putting something in print doesn't make it true. Look at the global warming nonsense.

And on another thread the antis were trashing the polio vaccine and insisting that these diseases were really eradicated by better sanitation. Also wanted to know if we understood empiricism.

Uh, yeah, we empirically saw our classmates stricken with polio in the early 50s and then the vaccine was introduced and then we didn't see anymore of our classmates stricken - duh. I guess that's a case of who are we gonna believe - him or our lyin' eyes!!?

Oh, I know American sanitation was so bad in the early 50s that polio was running rampant and then in just a couple of years, we (sorry I can't resist) cleaned up our act.

I still say these people have a severe case of "Belonephobia".

There must be Islamic money behind this continuous anti smallpox vaccine propaganda.

Perhaps you are an Islamic terrorist that desires the death of millions of Americans due to the vaccine, as it weakens the immune system and makes one MORE susceptable to smallpox. In fact, it appears to have CAUSED smallpox in many cases..

Perhaps you desire to weaken the immune systems of the troops overseas so that they might be more easily killed by bioattack.

Perhaps you are a traitor..

Oh, I know American sanitation was so bad in the early 50s that polio was running rampant and then in just a couple of years, we (sorry I can't resist) cleaned up our act.

From Polio Transmission

Transmission

- How is poliomyelitis transmitted?

Humans are the only known reservoir of poliovirus, which is transmitted most frequently by persons with inapparent infections. There is no asymptomatic carrier state except in immune deficient persons.

Person-to-person spread of poliovirus via the fecal-oral route is the most important route of transmission, although the oral-oral route may account for some cases.

Poliovirus infection typically peaks in the summer months in temperate climates. There is no seasonal pattern in tropical climates.

Poliovirus is highly infectious, with seroconversion rates in susceptible household contacts of children nearly 100% and over 90% in susceptible household contacts of adults. Cases are most infectious from 7 to 10 days before and after the onset of symptoms, but poliovirus may be present in the stool from 3 to 6 weeks.

Source : CDC's document about Poliomyelitis

The "fecal-oral route" described above could very well have come into play due to the poor hygene of migrant workers harvesting and handling produce that ended up at our supermarkets.

With better sanitation and hygene, the transmission of the disease declined.