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Vaccines save lives
TweetVaccines save lives
EDITOR:
I am a mother with two boys, 51‚Ñ2 and 21‚Ñ2, both of whom were diagnosed with autism in 2007.
There is a lot of research that concludes there is no causal association between vaccines and autism. I wanted to address some of the common misconceptions about vaccinations.
A child is born with mercury in his or her system. They are exposed to it through breast milk and formula. The amount that a child is exposed to daily from these sources is more than what is in the entire childhood vaccination schedule.
Aluminum salts have been an ingredient in vaccines since the 1920s. A review of several studies, completed in February 2004, on this subject, showed there were no serious problems.
Many parents don’t understand the large amount of testing that is involved before any vaccine is approved. The FDA can take (and does) up to 10 years of researching a vaccine’s safety before approving it and the process doesn’t end there.
Through vaccinations we have eradicated smallpox, and polio has been eliminated from most countries in the world. It is estimated that 2.5 million deaths are prevented because of vaccinations. The Hib vaccine is one of the vaccination program’s greatest successes. Since its introduction, the incidence of Hib disease, which causes bacterial meningitis in infants and children, has decreased 99 percent. An outbreak of this particular disease is senseless. Five children were affected, last year in Minnesota; three of the five were not vaccinated (by parent’s choice), one hadn’t yet completed the series and the other had an immune deficiency. Having a disease under control, or almost eradicated does not mean we should get complacent. Vaccinations will always be important for the health of our children.
In the last decade many genes were found that cause autism; there are more to find. On the other hand, in that same decade, no new environmental causes have been found, not one.
It isn’t enough for a parent to know the ingredients in vaccines and their possible side effects. We must know the harmful effects of each of the diseases. It is also a very good idea to have an open-minded discussion with your child’s pediatrician.
MONICA BILLINGSLEY
New Waterford
Looking for answers
EDITOR:
I want to commend Vindicator correspondent Sean Barron for his story, “Looking for Autism Answers.”. Unfortunately, most main-stream media outlets have taken it upon themselves to blame convenient “scapegoats,” such as Jenny McCarthy or Dr. Wakefield, for sowing “seeds of distrust” among parents justifiably fearful their children are being given “too many, too soon” vaccines.
However, your article correctly identifies the widespread and growing distrust of vaccines because thousands of parents report — within moments, hours, days or months of vaccinating their perfectly healthy child — that their child suffered seizures, convulsions, extraordinarily high, lingering temperatures, inconsolable crying, sleepless nights for weeks on end, diarrhea, regression, loss of communication and social development ... eventually being diagnosed with autism.
It is the CDC, not parents, who report that one in every six American children suffer some type of chronic autoimmune disorder, such as, allergies, autism, asthma, juvenile Type 1 diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ADD, ADHD, etc.
Parents want to know why the most heavily vaccinated generation in our nation’s history is suffering so many chronic autoimmune diseases that were far less common in all previous, less vaccinated generations, and science has yet to give them an answer.
BOB MOFFITT
Sloatsburg, N.Y.
Comments
The inaccuracies in Ms. Billingsley's letter are outrageous.
First, where does she get kids are born with mercury in their blood? No one is checking that at birth. This has never been established.
There are two types of mercury methyl and ethyl. The research I have seen is ethyl mercury (the kind in vaccines) stay in tissues longer then methyl found in breast milk. And it's news to me it's in formula! Maybe she is confusing melamie from chinese produced formula?
"Aluminum salts have been an ingredient in vaccines since the 1920s. "
That is a direct quote form the posterboy for vaccines- Dr. Paul Offitt. This crazy man thinks babies could be injected with 100,00 vaccines in a single day and it would be fine. He also compared thimerosal (mercury preservative) to lemon juice. Mercury is nothing like lemon juice. But, what would one expect from a man who cleared betweem 30 to 55 million from his rotavirus vaccine?
10 years of vaccine research from the FDA? That's a joke. Gardasil- the HPV vaccine being touted as a cancer vaccine was only tested on women for 2 years, tops. Yet, it is given to girls as young as 9. Tested on women given to children and it has so far killed over 20 young girls and has had thousands of adverse event reportings.
Glad the Vindy balanced the letters with a realistic one from Mr. Moffitt.
People aren't stupid. Industry Propaganda will not convince those who are paying attention that vaccines are not culpable.
"First, where does she get kids are born with mercury in their blood? No one is checking that at birth. This has never been established."
To think that they don't bother checking is incorrect,
see here...http://www.immunizationinfo.org/immunization_science_detail.cfv?id=137
This is just one example of a study. But if you notice they checked the levels of 40 newborns.
And ethyl and methyl mercury is being confused. Methyl mercury is not the kind from thimerosal, and it IS the kind that stays around in a person's body and accumulates. Again this is covered in the link above.
Does anyone have anything that says aluminum was more recently introduced? Hmmmm....
An excellent analysis of this study:
http://stanford.wellsphere.com/autism...
"Most methyl mercury is eliminated from the body through stool and ethyl mercury from vaccines most likely follows the same path. Both mercury species must pass out of the blood to allow excretion in feces or (in lesser amounts) hair. 4 Nevertheless elimination from blood also allows for mercury transport into tissue, without prompt excretion. Our analysis of mercury excretion in autistic and control baby hair demonstrated that, although mercury was excreted at high rates in hair of normal infants, hair of autistic infants contained very little mercury, only 0.47 mcg/g versus 3.63 mcg/g in controls. This finding raises the possibility of increased mercury retention in the tissue of autistic infants, who also had higher rates of prenatal mercury exposure."
Interesting blog post on aluminum in vaccines.
http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.co...
I would always suggest that one reads the actual study first, rather than just relying on someone's "analysis" (which more often than not shows that person's bias).
You never know what that person is saying is true, otherwise.
Vaccines save lives? Which is the life saving part of the vaccine? The aluminum? Mercury? The formaldehyde? The diseased animal tissue it’s grown on? The MSG or the tween 80? Or is it the dead or half dead virus itself that saves lives? All this injected into an immune system no one on the planet has a clue of the inner workings of and you want us to believe vaccines save lives? Sorry, I'll need more science and preferably studies done by anyone besides the makers of the vaccine.
Number of cases of smallpox in this country?
Number of cases of polio?
Number of cases of HIB?
Number of cases of measles?
Now what about those same numbers BEFORE vaccines were created?
HUGE difference lea.
You may not like the vaccines but yes it is undeniable that they do save lives.
What does saving lives have to do with preventing autism in susceptible children? We should not have to sacrifice either.
I can't understand why people who are concerned about toxic ingredients in vaccines and them causing autism suddenly becomes a debate about lives being saved?
It should not be an either or situation.
More than a decade of looking hasn't found any connection, between autism and vaccines. Continuing to try to find one is basically beating a "dead horse".
People who are concerned are ignoring the large body of evidence that is contrary to their beliefs and are putting children's LIVES in jeopardy. And not just their child either. It puts mine at risk as well.
No one ever died because of autism. Children have and do die from vaccine-preventable diseases.
"No one ever died because of autism."
Yes, people have died because of autism. Have you ever heard of children who have no fear of water drowning? How about caregivers who can't take the stress killing their autisitc children? Or, the latest trend severely autistic adult children killing (beating to death) their caregivers?
A boy beat his mother in their Kent home in January she later died from her injuries. This just yesterday out of Oregon:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregon...
Autism is a horrible disability. And people have died because of it.
Stop with the industry propaganda. The "science" to date is woefully inadequate and seriously compromised.
You're not scienceminded, you are being duped.
That is death by drowning and MURDER.
Vaccines do NOT CAUSE AUTISM!
Please get out from under the large rock you are under, and stop listening to people with IQs the size of their busts.
005587,
"Vaccines do NOT CAUSE AUTISM!"
And you know this how? What studies have you read? What studies have been done? What studies have not been done? Who did the studies? Who funded the studies? Why are the studies done in foreign countries with different vaccine schedules? Why have vaccinated versus non-vaccinated children never been studied? Why have the children with the regressive autism never been studies? Why did the government admit last year that vaccines did indeed cause Hannah Poling's autism?
If your crude comment is referring to Ms. Jenny McCarthy- I can tell you I have been worried about vaccines and autism well before her son was even conceived.
Stop reading headlines and start reading actual studies, and stop listening to multi-millionare vaccine inventors and b-rated actresses who make really crappy movies.