Steve Fischer's Random Blog

Anti-Vac, Blogs and Jenny McCarthy

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fish1964

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I’m a science guy, so I like the science blogs. One of my favorites has been Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy. I’ve actually become a bit annoyed at his blog because he rants so much against the anti-vaccine crowd. I guess I feel that this crowd has so few facts on their side that you don’t need to give them that much attention.

But apparently I’m wrong. The anti-vaccine movement has a prominent spokesperson in Jenny McCarthy. She has a son with autism (perhaps cured?) and the anti-vaccine crowd blames autism on vaccines despite all evidence to the contrary. But she is, after all, living with Jim Carrey and he’s really, really funny. So she must know what she’s talking about.

Are we all idiots?

Jenny McCarthy is famous for (pardon my language) having nice tits. She posed for Playboy and did very well, getting named Playmate of the Year. She is clearly not stupid, and she turned that fame into an MTV career. She has performed in a fairly extensive list of really bad TV shows and movies.

So clearly she is an expert on medicine.

The science on vaccines causing autism has so completely been shot down it’s crazy. The anti-vac crowd initially blamed the mercury in vaccines (Thimerosal). But vaccines stopped using mercury in 2001 and the autism rate has continued to climb at the same pace. Denmark stopped using Thimerosal in 1992. Continued increase in autism. The original UK study on autism and vaccines has been rebuked by co-authors and it appears the data was fabricated (and the main author apparently in cahoots with lawyers looking to sue on behalf of parents of children with autism). 

Hmm.

Is anyone paying attention here?

This would normally just be a case of people listening to the latest fad with no real consequence other than keeping magazines like People around. Stupid but harmless.

But the truth is that people are taking this seriously and the level of non-vaccination is rising to dangerous levels. Children are actually dying of routine diseases due to lack of overall vaccinations.

And yet we get our science education primarily from hot chicks.

I’m all for hot chicks. But for entirely different reasons…

Comments

One response to “Anti-Vac, Blogs and Jenny McCarthy”

  1. Eric Espeseth Avatar
    Eric Espeseth

    I’m a big believer in vaccinations. Both of my kids are up-to-date on their vaccinations. The thing that does concern me is the number of vaccinations that are given to kids since the 80’s has increased significantly.

    To keep the number of shots down, doctors often given several of the vaccinations at the same time (often in combination shots). Young children’s immune systems are not fully developed which is why young children and senior citizens are often most vulnerable to diseases we hear about in the news.

    In addition, certain combinations of vaccines far exceed the FDA’s recommended amount of chemicals (particularly aluminum) on a weight adjusted basis. This is particularly true on combination vaccinations, especially when other vaccinations are given at the same time.

    To be on the safe side, I string the vaccinations out over a longer schedule. I also try to break up combination shots when practical (it isn’t always possible). It does mean more shots, and visits to the doctor, but it puts less stress on their immune systems.

    I also try to make sure I know the chemicals that are in the vaccinations and make sure that if more than one shot will be given at a time that the combination of chemicals does not exceed FDA recommendations on a weight adjusted basis. There is shockingly very little research into this nor do the guidelines from the AMA clear on this either so this may not be necessary but I’d rather error on the side of caution.

    Reply

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