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?
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.
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.
A near perfect summation. Thanks Dr. Sowell.
Pediatricians, other doctors, nurses, and now Sowell, all in the pocket of big pharma.
Not me mind you, but there are a select group of people out there who have bought into this hype hook line and sinker.
Now, let’s blame immigrants for infecting our kids with things our kids should be immune to right now.
It’s not that the out of control wave of illegal AND legal immigrants isn’t a problem, because it is. That is still moving the ball off the point.
Don’t blame other people because you were too big an idiot to get off your ass and protect your children.
Don’t blame other people because your child has become ill needlessly.
And quit blaming other people for pointing out the obvious to you.
Wish I could remember which thread.
Forgetting about vaccinations for a moment, I’m wondering what effects the taking of prescribed drugs for ADD, ADHD and depression have on babies born to those users. I have the same concerns about those same drugs relating to school shootings, etc.
Another reason why the number of children regarded as mentally retarded has fallen is because of the "R" part of the MMR vaccine, which stands for "Rubella." Although the vast majority of healthy children and adults have nothing to fear from Rubella other than a few days of fever and discomfort, the virus is extremely dangerous to pregnant women and their unborn children in that rubella significantly increases the risk of miscarriage and stillborn children, as well as severe mental retardation, deafness, and other severe health defects for those children who survive birth. Indeed, I am old enough to remember the public service announcements during the 1960s before the introduction of the rubella vaccine urging pregnant women during rubella outbreaks to avoid crowded places where there is a greater likelihood of contracting the disease.
Don’t know why I even click on Sowell threads. Never liked him and then he turned Establishment and went off half cocked on Ted. That was the end of any respect I never really had for this guy.
Anti-vaxxers have existed since Dr. Jenner first determined that inoculating people with cowpox would prevent them from getting smallpox. Their rationale then was that God sent us diseases; therefore we are acting against the will of God to try to prevent those diseases.
The anti-vax movement got a big boost when Wakefield published that “study.”
I do not know why the Lancet accepted that “study” for publication. It was an extremely poorly done study, and did not show anything except a profoundly bad excuse for research. It is questionable how it got through the peer review process. I know; I have read the paper. When papers are retracted, it is standard practice to remove the paper from all electronic forms of the journal. However, that paper was left in place, with a big “RETRACTED” watermark placed across it. No doubt, Lancet wants people to be able to see it, and to know its status.
In addition to doing bad and unethical “research” on kids, Wakefield invented data for publication and had a conflict of interest a mile wide. He was trying to sell a single-disease vaccine for measles in which he had a financial interest. It is difficult to sell parents on getting single-disease vaccines for their children when they can just buy one vaccine for three diseases. Wakefield was also in cahoots with a lawyer, planning to file big lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers, exploiting the parents of autistic children and using the manufactured evidence in that article as “proof” that the MMR vaccine causes autism.
It is tragic that so much money was spent trying to verify an unethical “doctor’s” bogus claim, when that money could have been better spent actually studying autism and trying to determine which genes are involved. The variability of symptoms of those diagnosed on the autism spectrum suggests that several genes contribute to the disorder. It will take time to figure out which genes, and how each one contributes. The better autism can be understood, the better we will be able to treat it.
Thomas Sowell said: “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.”
Thomas Sowell is one of my favorites, but this piece of his is upsetting. He should know that if he gets this wrong it sends people into dangerous waters.
Thomas Sowell is wrong right out of the gate.
Andrew Wakefield is the British doctor who wrote the 1998 PEER REVIEWED paper for the Lancet (a distinguished British medical journal).
read the paper here: http://web.archive.org/web/20100214185217/http://www.generationrescue.org/pdf/wakefield2.pdf
No where in the paper does Andrew Wakefield or any of his peers tell that MMR causes autism.
From the very beginning Thomas Sowell is going along with the mass hysteria.
Andrew Wakefield is an amazing doctor who has done some amazing work. He has hundreds of families who are forever thankful for his expertise. Prior to the 1998 article published in the Lancet, Andrew Wakefield had 32 peer reviewed papers published. So how is it possible that Andrew Wakefield was attacked by the entire world (to include but not limited to the U.S. “press”)?
I wonder if Thomas Sowell knows the name Brian Deer? Brian is pit bull hired to go after Andrew Wakefield. Brian Deer, a man who doesn’t seem to have any problem lying and slandering. To get a good idea of what Brian Deer is about one only need visit his website and youtube channel.
Brian Deer’s website: http://briandeer.com/
Brian Deer’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/briandeer/videos
From the Sunday Times: “It is quite clear that you do not understand English. Brian Deer is not a member of the Sunday Times staff. He is a freelance journalist who runs his own website and blog and is not under the control or direction of the Sunday Times. Mr. Deer should not represent himself as a Sunday Times journalist. He is not a member of staff, does NOT have a regular salary from us, is not on our pension scheme and pays his own tax as a freelance. If he says that he writes for the Sunday Times that would be correct. He is a contributor to The Sunday Times on an occasional basis but again we have no control over him ...” - Alaistair Brett, Legal Manager, Sunday Times
The 1998 published paper that never says that MMR causes autism, is being used as the GREATEST EVIDENCE MMR doesn’t cause autism?
Is that science?
Lets use common sense. If we want to figure out what is going on lets go count all the non vaccinated children who have autism - it won’t take long. Lets start with the Amish and then we can go talk with the home schoolers.
There has never been a study of vaccinated -vs- non vaccinated.
“A talented con man, or a slick politician, does not waste his time trying to convince knowledgeable skeptics. His job is to keep the true believers believing. He is not going to convince the others anyway.” Thomas Sowell
CDC Whistleblower Revealed: https://youtu.be/sGOtDVilkUc
