Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

kungpow89

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

Yep, I said it. It’s bullshit. It’s a very troubling and dangerous trend that absolutely needs to stop in America (and the rest of the world as well). Am I a doctor or medical professional? Nope. However, I do have BS and MS degrees in biology as well as having completed several courses from the local medical college. Thus, I do have a good understanding of how living beings operate. The following myTake is somewhat technical in nature.

What types of vaccine exist?

There are four basic types of vaccine: live/attenuated, inactivated, toxoid, and subunit/conjugate.

- Live/attenuated vaccines contain live but attenuated (i.e. weakened) viruses. Examples include: the smallpox vaccine, the nasal influenza spray vaccine, etc.

- Inactivated vaccines contain dead viruses. Examples include: the injectable influenza vaccine, the polio vaccine, the rabies vaccine, etc.

- Toxoid vaccines contain the inactivated toxins produced by pathogenic bacteria. Examples include: the tetanus vaccine, the diphtheria vaccine (usually combined together in DTaP), etc.

- Subunit/conjugate vaccines contain bacterial or viral proteins. Examples include: the hepatitis B vaccine, the meningococcal vaccine, etc.

How do vaccines work?

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

In a nutshell, vaccines work by introducing the immune system to a relatively harmless bacterial or viral antigen (object that elicits an immune response). These antigens are picked up by antigen presenting cells (APCs) which present the former to nearby immune cells (such as T-helper cells) and thereby activate the latter. The activated T-helper cells in turn activate nearby B-cells (antibody producing cells).These activated B-cells differentiate into plasma cells and act as little antibody-secreting factories. These antibodies stick to the antigen and flag it for destruction by various immune cells (killer-T cells, macrophages, etc.) As such, the immune system is now able to effectively target the enemy antigens. After the infection is cleared, some of the original B-cells are formed into memory B-cells which “remember” the initial antigen. Therefore, they are able to much more quickly produce antibodies against the antigen than they did the first time around. Ergo, vaccines serve to “train” the immune system into remembering which antigens to look out for and destroy. This process lessens the severity and length of an infection.

Do vaccines cause autism?

The answer is a resounding NO! There is no conclusive evidence linking vaccines to autism. The anti-vaccine movement was largely started in 1998 after British physician Dr. Andrew Wakefield published a paper titled “Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children”. In it, Wakefield claims to have established a correlation between vaccinations and autism as well as gastrointestinal disorders.

I personally have read and analyzed the paper in a graduate data analysis class. While the paper has the air of a legitimate study, it is grossly misleading and cherry picks data to support a far-fetched claim. Wakefield has since retracted the paper after other researchers were unable to reproduce his results and allegations of misconduct by Wakefield arose. Dr. Wakefield subsequently lost his medical license in the UK and has been ostracized by the scientific and medical community.

In the years since 1998, celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy and Robert De Niro (who I otherwise like as an actor) have drawn into doubt the safety of vaccines. Scientifically-ignorant parents have denied their children access to vaccines which has led to numerous unnecessary and tragic deaths.



What is autism?

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

Autism (aka an autism spectrum disorder(ASD)) is a developmental disorder caused by unusual brain “wiring” patterns (https://advancedbrain.com/neuroscience/autism-and-sensory-processing-disorders-suggest-differences-in-brain-wiring/). Since the fetal brain develops in utero, there is little doubt that autism develops long before the baby is born (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2014/03/26/294446735/brain-changes-suggest-autism-starts-in-the-womb). Autism is often not diagnosed until the toddler years, giving the false impression that the condition occurred after birth.

It is not known what precisely causes autism. Perhaps a genetic predisposition leads to an ASD. What’s certain is that vaccinating a baby or young child does not lead to a condition that has already developed. I have personally been vaccinated a number of times. Educational testing at age 8 revealed that, among other things, I have no ASD. Therefore, though anecdotal, I exist as an example of someone who was vaccinated and never developed autism.


Effects of the anti-vaccine movement:

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

As you can see, in recent years, the number of measles cases in the US has started to rise again. I have little doubt that this is caused by a reluctance of parents to vaccinate their children with the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine.


Vaccination rates for kindergartners:

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

I live in Ohio, so I live in a state in the second-highest vaccination rate bracket for kindergartners. A vaccination rate should be quite high to provide for something called “herd immunity.” This happens when enough individuals in a population are immunized for an infectious disease and thusly the disease has a very difficult time transmitting itself throughout the population. As such, even unprotected individuals are relatively safe from the disease. When the vaccination rate is lowered, the “herd immunity” is lost and unprotected individuals are now vulnerable.


Do vaccines carry risks?

Of course they do! Vaccines fairly commonly cause side effects such as soreness near the site of injection (which is harmless and merely the result of the immune system doing its job). However, though quite rare, vaccines can lead to serious neurological side effects such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), which leads to muscle weakness (particularly in the face). Thankfully, it is rarely fatal and most affected people recover with no permanent disability. Again, it is a very rare condition (“… about 1 to 2 cases of GBS per 100,000 people.” (https://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/gbs_qa.htm).

Please do not let the very slight risk of GBS prevent you from vaccinating yourself or your children. The risk of being infected with a serious infectious disease when unvaccinated is much higher. Young children do not have a fully-developed immune system and are much more vulnerable to infectious disease than adults. My grandma on my mom’s side had a serious case of scarlet fever (a bacterial Streptococcus infection) when she was young. This infection led to permanent heart damage that eventually led to sudden heart failure and death 12 years ago.

What about mercury?

Some vaccines contain an organomercury compound called thiomersal. It is used as a preservative in some vaccines. So far, there has been no conclusive evidence linking thiomersal to autism (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/thimerosal/index.html ). Despite that, thiomersal has largely been phased out of vaccines in the US since 2000. A notable exception is the inactivated flu vaccine which typically still contains thiomersal. However, a typical dose of thiomersal in a seasonal flu vaccine for children under 6 years of age is <1 microgram (<1 millionth of a gram)! For older children and adults, the dose of thiomersal in a flu vaccine can be as high as 20-50 micrograms per vaccine (https://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/VaccineSafety/UCM096228#t3 ). That may sound like a lot of mercury, but keep in mind that you are likely to ingest more mercury from eating certain type of fish.

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

See that? Eating 4 ounces of orange roughy will give you 3-4 times more mercury than a standard inactivated seasonal flu vaccine for an adult or child over 6.

The bottom line:

There is currently no substantial evidence that vaccines cause autism, cancer, or a love for One Direction. They are incredibly effective in preventing infectious disease in a large number of people. People seem to forget that over 60 years ago, it was quite common for people to die from infectious diseases in the US. A child was lucky to make it to adulthood without dying from measles, smallpox, etc. In fact, thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated. Yes, an entire disease has been wiped off the face of the Earth!

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

(https://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/vaccines-work-by-the-numbers/)

Look at that chart above. The annual number of measles cases in the US in the 1900’s was 530,217. In 2010, the annual number of measles cases was 61. Isn’t that amazing!

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!

Again, isn’t it interesting how the number of measles cases in the US plummeted after the measles vaccine was introduced in the mid-1960’s?


In summation, please do not deny vaccines to children (unless there is a specific medical reason to do so). Also, please do not spread ignorance about vaccinations. If you have concerns about a vaccine, please consult your doctor. Do not look to celebrities or conspiracy theory websites for information. Though perhaps well-intentioned, they are leading Americans (and other people across the world) to reject a modern medical miracle. Vaccines save countless lives and prevent a number of horrible diseases. We ought to embrace not shun the progress made through vaccinations.

#vaccinesrock #teamvax

Why the Anti-Vaccine Movement is Bullshit!
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