Idiotic Parents & Political Pandering: The “Vaccine-Autism Link”

May 15, 2008 in attachment parenting, autism, pseudoscience

DAY 80. Fellow survivors found: 2

Once again, human stupidity proves to know no partisan boundaries…

“It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise among children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.”
- John McCain, Texas town hall meeting, February 29, 2008

“I am committed to make investments to find the causes of autism, including possible environmental causes like vaccines.”
- Hillary Clinton, campaign answer to a questionnaire from the group A-Champ, March 14, 2008

“We’ve seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it’s connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it.”
- Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Rally, April 21, 2008

To be fair to our Presidential candidates, ’tis not so much pure stupidity as political pandering. The “vaccine-autism link” has become a rather hot button issue (and while I’m necessarily disturbed, if not surprised, by such abject ignorance permeating the masses, it does converge with my current work on AT/P in an oddly pleasing way).

Well, this is old news for many, but for all the attachment parenting freaks, fundie wingnuts and future leaders of the Free World out there…
I regret to inform you that the “vaccine-autism link” has been thoroughly debunked as utter codswallop.

For those who don’t know, thimerosal, a mercury-containing organic compound, was used in vaccines as a preservative and has been identified as the culprit for causing autism. It’s not the vaccines in and of themselves so much as the particular ingredient within them that get these parents all frothy at the mouth.

(Now, some of you may be thinking to yourself, “well, why aren’t people just anti-MERCURY as opposed to anti-vaccine?” To which I’d respond by requesting you to kindly take your infernal powers of logic and reason elsewhere. You have no place in this world. Vile heretics, the lot of you.)

So. Thimerosal was duly removed from children’s vaccines, and there was much rejoicing.

It’s been almost a decade now. Thimerosal is gone; autism rates are still climbing, “skyrocketing” even, more so than when thimerosal was present.

So, scientists conducted studies and determined that there exists no correlation whatsoever between mercury exposure and autism in children.

Vile heretics, the lot of them.

“Through its Vaccine Safety tracking system, the CDC has examined the incidence of autism as a function of the amount of thimerosal a child received from vaccines. The results of these and other reviews conclusively show that there’s absolutely no causal link between autism rates and the amount of thimerosal children received.” Source

Oh, and that British bloke who pretty much engendered the this whole “kiddie vaccines cause autism!” hullabaloo…you know, Dr. Andrew Wakefield? He’s now on trial for ethics violations and serious professional misconduct, as are his colleagues. Charges include baldfaced lying and proffering money at birthday parties for the blood of children.

Sweet.

Now, before any attachment parents out there get all frothy, allow me to point out that vaccines can entail risks, namely allergic reactions.

But unless you’re monumentally stupid, you should be able to acknowledge by now that vaccines do not cause autism.

Also, given the choice between a three-day rash versus exposure to communicable, potentially fatal and debilitating diseases?

Well, it’s not really a choice, is it.

Unless, of course, you actually want polio to make its way back to the Western hemisphere. Over 3,000 dead and 20,000 paralyzed within a single year. That could be fun.

Seriously, the only reason you might be able to get away with refusing to inoculate your kids is because you are riding on the backs of the immunized population, which must remain the majority in order to prevent outbreaks and epidemics.

….So, basically it’s OK that the vast majority of children are exposed to the so-called risks and imagined horrors of vaccines, so long as your own children are safe?

Christ, you people are selfish. Either that or stupid. Not sure which, the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

I don’t put much stock in cognitivism, but I do like that Emerson quote, “the ancestor of every action is a thought.”

If there’s only one truth I’ve garnered from my experiences with AT/P, it’s that stupidity has dire consequences in physical reality. This next piece of news is the main reason why I wrote this post in the first place:

“Measles, which once killed 500 American children a year, is making a comeback–and some New York lawmakers are eager to help the disease prosper.

The Centers for Disease Control reports a surge in measles outbreaks; almost all the cases are in children who never received the routine shots for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). Vanquished diseases are rebounding thanks to growing–but groundless–fears over the safety of traditional vaccines. Driven by those fears, ever more parents are finding a way to forgo shots for their children–even though shots are required in most of the nation. And some politicians are encouraging them. A proposed New York law, sponsored by Suffolk County Assemblyman Marc Alessi, would establish a ‘philosophical’ exemption to mandatory childhood vaccinations.

…Worldwide, measles kills about 242,000 children a year.
Source: Scott Gottlieb, M.D. The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Looks like your kids aren’t safe after all.

Further reading:
MMR scare doctor ‘paid children’
‘No link’ between MMR and autism
Study backs safety of MMR vaccine
Doctors issue plea over MMR jab
Top doctor wades into MMR debate
MMR doctor to face ‘GMC’ charges