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He did a great job capturing the essence of anti-vaccination rhetoric too.
Just out of interest, where is your second David Gorski quote from? The one under:
It's not from the article that your David Gorski link leads to. Thanks.
Vaccination at its core is neither a safe nor effective method of disease prevention.
- Tetyana Obukhanych, PhD Immunologist
That says it all right there. In case there was any doubt that these discussions are pretty much never about actual issues in vaccine safety. Anyone who is familiar with the anti-vaccination movement has heard these arguments before in one form or another. It's the same nonsense they have been spewing for years.
Doctors generally don't understand immune problems neither do patients. Many of us may have immune problems that are not understood. I think this is one of the areas where no one knows how to make the right decision.
It depends on whether the person has immune problems. I don't think we all have that. So that decision would be between the patient and the doctor.
there are a large number of people who cannot receive vaccines.
Would you care to provide some numbers?
Some people in the community rely on herd immunity to protect them. These groups are particularly vulnerable to disease, but often cannot safely receive vaccines:
People without a fully-working immune system, including those without a working spleen
People on chemotherapy treatment whose immune system is weakened
People with HIV
Newborn babies who are too young to be vaccinated
Elderly people
Many of those who are very ill in hospital
For these people, herd immunity is a vital way of protecting them against life-threatening disease
These groups are particularly vulnerable to disease, but often cannot safely receive vaccines:
That article is over 20 years old. Are we still using the same vaccine and vaccine schedule?The article from the OP does not claim that vaccines don't work.
Measles vaccine in particular is subject to an interesting paradox:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8053748
@Large Donner all your reasoning just points to why it is so important for herd immunity to protect those that are vulnerable. Those vaccinated are providing protection for those who are not. If less people choose vaccinations, then more of these vulnerable infants, children, adults will be affected. Look at what happened in Japan.
Who is it down to re: vaccinations? The reason for governments is to make decision on behalf of the people not just one group or another. It really never works out that everybody can benefit from a law.
These groups are particularly vulnerable to disease, but often cannot safely receive vaccines:
The new law in California does not make vaccines compulsory; it eliminates personal belief exemptions. It actually protects children who cannot receive vaccines for medical reasons.
children who cannot receive vaccines for medical reasons.
children who cannot receive vaccines for medical reasons
If vaccinations are mandated, these groups would be excluded from that mandate.
Also what happens to those who believed it was safe for them to receive a vaccine when it wasn't as they had an underlying undiscovered medical issue?
When has anyone stated that all vaccines are safe?