Posted on 02/09/2015 11:01:01 AM PST by jazusamo
The current controversy over whether parents should be forced to have their children vaccinated for measles is one of the painful signs of our times. Measles was virtually wiped out in the United States, years ago. Why the resurgence of this disease now?
The short answer is that false claims, based on other false claims, led many parents to stop getting their children vaccinated against measles.
The key false claim was that the vaccine for measles caused an increase in autism. This claim was made in 1998 by a doctor writing in a distinguished British medical journal, so it is understandable that many parents took it seriously, and did not want to run the risk of having their child become autistic.
Fortunately, others took the claim seriously in a very different sense. They did massive studies involving half a million children in Denmark and two million children in Sweden. These studies showed that there was no higher incidence of autism among children who had been vaccinated than among children who had not been vaccinated.
Incidentally, the "evidence" on which the original claim that vaccines caused autism was based was just 12 children. But the campaign to convince the public was a masterpiece of propaganda.
The story line was that pharmaceutical companies who produced the vaccine were callously risking and sacrificing helpless children in pursuit of profit. This is the kind of dramatic stuff the media love. It never seemed to occur to the media that lawyers who were suing pharmaceutical companies had a vested interest in this story line that the media fed on to the public.
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
Of course, it is just a coincidence that this resurgence of Measles and other infectious diseases is occurring within a year of Obama opening the border to thousands of unaccompanied children from rat infested, disease-ridden third world hellholes.
JUST a coincidence.
Sowell is absolutely correct. The suggestion that the vaccine caused autism was wrong. Inoculations helped us rid the world of many illnesses that took our children and filled our cemeteries with babies. Diphtheria, Typhus, Pertussis, Polio. And many more. Get your children vaccinated.
How about some emphasis on the claims that invaders in the US brought measles and other diseases with them?
Ping for later...
You’ve got a non-sequitor there. The fact that vaccines prevent many diseases does not lead to a conclusion that they don’t cause autism.
There is a big difference between Diphtheria, Typhus, Pertussis, Polio and measles mumps and rubella and chicken pox.
This drama over these mild children’s illnesses is an embarrassment and certainly not worth the attention paid to them.
The other issue that needs addressed is whether mercury is dangerous or not. You can't have the government going around telling people to panic and toss their old thermometers and that a dropped CFL bulb counts as a hazmat spill and then tell people that vaccine preserved with mercury are ok. Even low information voters aren't that dumb.
My wife and I visit a lot of old cemeteries here in central KY. It is shocking how many infant graves there are from the 1800s and early 20th century. In some cases, six or seven kids in a ten year period to the SAME PARENTS and, finally, the parents graves decades later.
You see a LOT of it in every cemetery.
I am a huge fan of Mr. Sowell, but I think he is wrong on this one.
The vaccination rate for (legally resident) children in the United States is about 91%. That has been the case for about 20 years, give or take.
The “anit-vax” movement is quite small, albeit somewhat loud, and has not had a significant effect on the vaccination/immunization rate.
I honestly think the uptick in measles, etc. is a result of the recent importation of tens of thousands of children with NO shot records and, most likely, no shots.
I heard a doctor on the radio who said 90% were from Guatemala.Primarily from last summer.
You are all missing the point.
EVERY article I have read about anti-vaxxers in the MSM has attacked Paul and Christie. The MSM is pushing the narrative that the anti-vax movement is led by the Republican base.
This is an anti-Republican narrative.
His article spoke directly to the “dramatic rise in autism”, and to the “cause(s)”.
His use of the term “false claim” is backed up by his article.
I agree with you on the diseased illegal immigrant point. I would have liked to see at least a nod from Dr. Sowell to this issue.
What we once called autism is now called Autism Spectrum Disorder. Many different syndromes have been lumped into this disorder and because of that we have an increase in autism.
http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/29/autism-rises-more-u-s-children-than-ever-have-autism-is-the-increase-real/
Roald Dahl/Patricia Neal had a daughter that died from measles encephalitis. Rare then, but even rarer now with measles vaccinations.
(Just happened to look up Dahl the other day...)
The only problem with your theory is that the words “Paul”, “Christie” and “republican” are absent from Mr. Sowell’s commentary.
He’s not MSM.
A near perfect summation. Thanks Dr. Sowell.
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