The Recent Vaccine Push is Real
Unsurprisingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed “vaccine hesitancy” as a global health threat [1]. This comes amid numerous other concerns including air pollution, climate change, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, vulnerable regions, antimicrobial resistance, Ebola with other diseases, and weak primary health care [2]. However, focusing on the “vaccine hesitancy” threat itself, both government organizations and the WHO have pushed the idea vaccines are completely safe and the idea of herd immunity. Both, of course, have been called into questions has numerous studies have examined various aspects of immunizations and questioned their once certain safety [3, 4]. For example, one study entitled "Hepatitis B vaccination is associated with potentially neurotoxic mercury exposure in infants" attempted to understand the relationship between vaccine adjuvants and the human body and claimed more studies are necessary to understand the consequences of injecting a “potentially” toxic compound into a child [5].
Regardless of the alternative science available, the WHO still claims vaccines are without harm and the recent trend of parents not immunizing their children is an international health risk. But what is causing this movement? Well, the WHO claims current lack of confidence in government and their organizations has increased this hesitancy as well as a parent never experiencing their child becoming ill. Further, the WHO has claimed this recent trend may threaten their progress in assuring people are vaccinated, and the WHO states the recent rise in measles can be attributed to this trend.
Additionally, not all doctors completely trust vaccines. The New York Times (NYT) published an opinion piece entitled "How to Inoculate Against Anti-Vaxxers" and claimed if you are part of the anti-vaccine movement, you are considered an “enemy” [6]. That caused Dr. Brownstein to post a rebuttal founded in historical facts and logic, and there were many things the doctor said which were provoking [10]:
- “1950’s infection rates for nearly every childhood vaccine-preventable illness (as well as other infectious illnesses like scarlet fever) had drastically declined—BEFORE vaccines were developed and mandated.”
- “the major vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles, mumps, diphtheria, and pertussis, the death rate declined well over 90% BEFORE vaccines were mandated”
- “Cervical cancer deaths have rapidly fallen not from vaccines, but better medical care such as the Pap smear.”
- “The HPV vaccine has never been shown to prevent cancer and probably will not in the future.”
- “Can measles and chickenpox cause serious effects including death? Yes. So can the vaccines.”
Many of the doctor's statements claim outside factors such as better healthcare and the rise in natural solutions has lead to the decrease of diseases long before the vaccine was even created.
Repeatedly, the doctor strongly cautioned individuals from immunizing without considering the side-effects. Injecting children with toxins, even if they are deemed safe, should always take some consideration. Numerous studies, yet, have attempted to paint the holistic picture of risk with injecting compounds like mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde into newborn infants [7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13].
The mainstream news can repeatedly claim the same mantra: “Vaccines are safe.” However, for a hypothesis to be true, it has to be true in all cases, and that is not the case. Being educated and knowledgeable about the potential side effects of vaccines is paramount not only for being a responsible parent but also being a responsible citizen. As stated earlier, one of the main reasons vaccine use has been declining is the recent decline individuals have in their government. This is potentially associated with the current rise in conservative movements as well as a more polarized world. It is essential for citizens to hold their government accountable for whatever damage their policies do to the populace, and with the WHO pushing their vaccine message so hard, soon we may have to.
References:
[1] https://newatlas.com/world-health-organization-vaccine-hesitancy/58107/
[2] https://www.popsci.com/anti-vax-movement-top-10-global-health-threats#pa...
[3] https://thevaccinereaction.org/2017/05/herd-immunity-theory-has-been-rep...
[4]http://cdn.greenmedinfo.com/sites/default/files/gmipub_58635_anti_therap...
[5] https://thevaccinereaction.org/2017/05/herd-immunity-theory-has-been-rep...
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/opinion/vaccines-public-health.html
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19205900
[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14976450
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15808517
[10] http://healthimpactnews.com/2019/medical-doctor-responds-to-new-york-tim...
[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22235057