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missroserose18% of Americans "are convinced" that vaccinations cause autism; another 30% "aren't sure".
This despite the fact that:
[a] The initial study published linking the two has since been retracted by the medical paper in which it was published;
[b] The author of the study has had his medical license revoked and been barred from practicing medicine in Britain;
[c] The study has been repeatedly debunked and, most recently, declared "an elaborate fraud that has done long-lasting damage to public health" by the British medical establishment.
Eighteen percent may not seem like a huge number, but that translates to millions and millions of people who, at least in some cases, are hesitant (or unwilling) to get their children vaccinated. Fortunately, thanks in part to state laws requiring vaccinations, the percentage of vaccinated children is still very high (92%). But laws can be changed, and the problem with government by the people is that "the people" are easily influenced by things that scare them, especially when it comes to their children.
Now, normally I wouldn't even be that bothered by such a statistic. It's sad, certainly, but it's not that unusual and it's frankly pretty understandable. People love to look for patterns, and when it comes to something as personally tragic and little-understood as autism, that tendency is going to go into overdrive. Things are less scary when you have an explanation for them, no matter how untrue that explanation might be. It's the same reasoning that made mothers of epileptic children back in the day accuse other women of practicing witchcraft on their children.
Similarly, this particular surge of paranoia falls into a pretty classic cyclical pattern that people are prone to. Back in the days when polio and smallpox weren't uncommon diseases, the invention of vaccinations was a godsend - suddenly the chances of your child making it into adulthood alive, unscarred and unparalyzed were significantly higher. Similarly, diseases like measles and mumps, while not quite as drastic, still cost their share of lives (and parents their share of worry). So the idea that a magic shot could forestall all of that pain and misery and worry was wholeheartedly embraced.
Fast forward a generation or two. Now, smallpox has been declared globally eradicated, and we're well on our way to doing so with polio as well. Measles outbreaks still occur on occasion, but are far smaller and less disastrous. And when was the last time you heard about a friend (or a friend's kid) coming down with mumps? We all know, theoretically, that these are serious diseases that can permanently harm or kill people, but our collective sense of urgency about them has declined, simply because most of us haven't experienced them directly.
So, now the autism idea has been introduced, and (not unlike the viruses previously discussed) spread throughout the vulnerable population. Even a decade or two ago, telling people you were voluntarily not vaccinating your children would have gotten you strange looks at the least, and a visit from CPS more likely. Now, even though the majority still know the "connection" is hooey, there's just enough collective nods of support (and indifferent shrugs and attitudes of "well, it can't hurt") that people are managing it, usually by claiming religious exemptions that were initially put in the law for folks like the Amish.
Now, I understand how conspiracy theories work in people's minds. One of my favorite mottos is "You can't reason someone out of something if they didn't use reason to get into it." But speaking as a thinking, reasoning person, I feel almost obligated to speak up here. And even if it doesn't convince a single person or do one whit of good, I'll at least feel better for having made the effort. So, to anyone who's even remotely considering not vaccinating their children for fear of their developing autism: Let me address you directly for a moment.
This despite the fact that:
[a] The initial study published linking the two has since been retracted by the medical paper in which it was published;
[b] The author of the study has had his medical license revoked and been barred from practicing medicine in Britain;
[c] The study has been repeatedly debunked and, most recently, declared "an elaborate fraud that has done long-lasting damage to public health" by the British medical establishment.
Eighteen percent may not seem like a huge number, but that translates to millions and millions of people who, at least in some cases, are hesitant (or unwilling) to get their children vaccinated. Fortunately, thanks in part to state laws requiring vaccinations, the percentage of vaccinated children is still very high (92%). But laws can be changed, and the problem with government by the people is that "the people" are easily influenced by things that scare them, especially when it comes to their children.
Now, normally I wouldn't even be that bothered by such a statistic. It's sad, certainly, but it's not that unusual and it's frankly pretty understandable. People love to look for patterns, and when it comes to something as personally tragic and little-understood as autism, that tendency is going to go into overdrive. Things are less scary when you have an explanation for them, no matter how untrue that explanation might be. It's the same reasoning that made mothers of epileptic children back in the day accuse other women of practicing witchcraft on their children.
Similarly, this particular surge of paranoia falls into a pretty classic cyclical pattern that people are prone to. Back in the days when polio and smallpox weren't uncommon diseases, the invention of vaccinations was a godsend - suddenly the chances of your child making it into adulthood alive, unscarred and unparalyzed were significantly higher. Similarly, diseases like measles and mumps, while not quite as drastic, still cost their share of lives (and parents their share of worry). So the idea that a magic shot could forestall all of that pain and misery and worry was wholeheartedly embraced.
Fast forward a generation or two. Now, smallpox has been declared globally eradicated, and we're well on our way to doing so with polio as well. Measles outbreaks still occur on occasion, but are far smaller and less disastrous. And when was the last time you heard about a friend (or a friend's kid) coming down with mumps? We all know, theoretically, that these are serious diseases that can permanently harm or kill people, but our collective sense of urgency about them has declined, simply because most of us haven't experienced them directly.
So, now the autism idea has been introduced, and (not unlike the viruses previously discussed) spread throughout the vulnerable population. Even a decade or two ago, telling people you were voluntarily not vaccinating your children would have gotten you strange looks at the least, and a visit from CPS more likely. Now, even though the majority still know the "connection" is hooey, there's just enough collective nods of support (and indifferent shrugs and attitudes of "well, it can't hurt") that people are managing it, usually by claiming religious exemptions that were initially put in the law for folks like the Amish.
Now, I understand how conspiracy theories work in people's minds. One of my favorite mottos is "You can't reason someone out of something if they didn't use reason to get into it." But speaking as a thinking, reasoning person, I feel almost obligated to speak up here. And even if it doesn't convince a single person or do one whit of good, I'll at least feel better for having made the effort. So, to anyone who's even remotely considering not vaccinating their children for fear of their developing autism: Let me address you directly for a moment.
Look, guys. I totally understand taking the "accepted knowledge" with a grain of salt - there are all kinds of historical examples of people believing something to be true for generations and it turning out to be false (and sometimes harmful). I completely get not wanting the government to interfere in how you raise your children; it's your family and your values. And I especially can see why you'd want to be particularly careful when the decision seems so clear-cut; you've probably seen autistic kids first-hand, while the spectre of measles or polio seems just that - a spectre with little likelihood of manifesting in reality.
Now, if you've been looking into the research on vaccinations (and I hope you have, especially if you've also been listening to Jenny McCarthy on the subject), you've probably come across the term "herd immunity". Specifically, this is how vaccines work. There will always be a small portion of the population who (for religious or medical reasons) won't be vaccinated - they might have compromised immune systems, or they might be deathly allergic to the ingredients of a vaccine. However, so long as the significant majority of the population surrounding them is vaccinated, they can enjoy a certain immunity as well: the chances of their contracting a disease that everyone around them is immune to is basically nil. If you don't vaccinate your children, the likelihood of their contracting a serious disease is also fairly small, because our vaccination levels are so high. Fairly easy to understand, right?
The next step is a little bit more abstract, but see if you can follow me here. Your unvaccinated children can enjoy herd immunity, true - but every additional child who remains unvaccinated weakens the herd immunity as a whole. So long as the minority of vulnerable children remains small, the rest of us will act as a firebreak of sorts, making it hard for a serious illness to reach them. But as that minority grows, even if it's still a minority, the chances of their coming into contact with a carrier of one of these illnesses shoots up exponentially.
Now, while polio isn't completely eradicated yet, its presence among developed nations is pretty much gone. And the death rate in those developed nations for diseases like measles is vanishingly small (0.3%). So it might not seem like that big a deal if your kid does come into contact with them - I know there's a small minority of parents who actively seek out these diseases in order to expose their children to them. Sure, it's a few weeks of worry and hassle, but then they'll get better and you won't have to worry about them getting it again, right?
Well, yes, that's likely true - for your child. The problem with this line of thought is that you're completely discounting the fact that your decision affects other people too. People who, for instance, never got vaccinated because they're allergic to the vaccine - let's say one of those people is now an adult, and he catches measles from your child. The rate of complications (and death) from measles is significantly higher when you catch the disease as an adult. Are you really going to tell this person's grieving family that you're sorry their husband/father/son is dead, all because you couldn't run the nonexistent risk of vaccinating your child?
Okay, well, that person was an adult and at least had a good run of life. What about children who are less healthy than your own? Some children are born with compromised immune systems, either through genetic or environmental factors, but never through any fault of their own. Are you going to tell the parents of your kid's seven-year-old best friend that their child had to die because Oprah told you that vaccines were evil?
My plea to you is the same as my pleas on any similar topic, or in any case where people are trying to make you scared so that you won't think rationally - do your research. Learn the difference between "anecdote" and "fact", consider the reliability and credentials of your sources, and think critically about both sides of the issue. Don't let fear and the desire to fit into a misguided group sway your decisions, and please don't fall into the confirmation bias trap. Believing that the sun goes around the earth, or that the universe was created 4,000 years ago, or that our president is a Muslim - well, I might think you're wrong, but it doesn't really hurt anyone else, so it's your choice to believe that. But this is something that has real consequences for real people who aren't you or your child. Would you kill another person because you heard on television that it might keep your child from developing autism? Would you kill your own child? In an indirect way, that may be exactly the choice you're making when you refuse to vaccinate.
As I said before, I don't really expect this to do any good. And I take a bleak, Pyrrhic sort of comfort in the fact that it's a self-correcting problem; if the hysteria gets bad enough and enough people don't vaccinate their kids, we'll end up with a minor epidemic on our hands, which will reinforce the necessity of vaccinating in people's minds and figuratively vaccinate us against the vaccines=optional idea for another generation or so. But small comfort as that is to me, it's even less for the parents and families of the vulnerable people who will die in such an event. I can only hope that it won't come to that, and that the hysteria will die down before it reaches that critical mass where it starts changing laws and significantly altering cultural attitudes - if it hasn't reached that point already.Now, if you've been looking into the research on vaccinations (and I hope you have, especially if you've also been listening to Jenny McCarthy on the subject), you've probably come across the term "herd immunity". Specifically, this is how vaccines work. There will always be a small portion of the population who (for religious or medical reasons) won't be vaccinated - they might have compromised immune systems, or they might be deathly allergic to the ingredients of a vaccine. However, so long as the significant majority of the population surrounding them is vaccinated, they can enjoy a certain immunity as well: the chances of their contracting a disease that everyone around them is immune to is basically nil. If you don't vaccinate your children, the likelihood of their contracting a serious disease is also fairly small, because our vaccination levels are so high. Fairly easy to understand, right?
The next step is a little bit more abstract, but see if you can follow me here. Your unvaccinated children can enjoy herd immunity, true - but every additional child who remains unvaccinated weakens the herd immunity as a whole. So long as the minority of vulnerable children remains small, the rest of us will act as a firebreak of sorts, making it hard for a serious illness to reach them. But as that minority grows, even if it's still a minority, the chances of their coming into contact with a carrier of one of these illnesses shoots up exponentially.
Now, while polio isn't completely eradicated yet, its presence among developed nations is pretty much gone. And the death rate in those developed nations for diseases like measles is vanishingly small (0.3%). So it might not seem like that big a deal if your kid does come into contact with them - I know there's a small minority of parents who actively seek out these diseases in order to expose their children to them. Sure, it's a few weeks of worry and hassle, but then they'll get better and you won't have to worry about them getting it again, right?
Well, yes, that's likely true - for your child. The problem with this line of thought is that you're completely discounting the fact that your decision affects other people too. People who, for instance, never got vaccinated because they're allergic to the vaccine - let's say one of those people is now an adult, and he catches measles from your child. The rate of complications (and death) from measles is significantly higher when you catch the disease as an adult. Are you really going to tell this person's grieving family that you're sorry their husband/father/son is dead, all because you couldn't run the nonexistent risk of vaccinating your child?
Okay, well, that person was an adult and at least had a good run of life. What about children who are less healthy than your own? Some children are born with compromised immune systems, either through genetic or environmental factors, but never through any fault of their own. Are you going to tell the parents of your kid's seven-year-old best friend that their child had to die because Oprah told you that vaccines were evil?
My plea to you is the same as my pleas on any similar topic, or in any case where people are trying to make you scared so that you won't think rationally - do your research. Learn the difference between "anecdote" and "fact", consider the reliability and credentials of your sources, and think critically about both sides of the issue. Don't let fear and the desire to fit into a misguided group sway your decisions, and please don't fall into the confirmation bias trap. Believing that the sun goes around the earth, or that the universe was created 4,000 years ago, or that our president is a Muslim - well, I might think you're wrong, but it doesn't really hurt anyone else, so it's your choice to believe that. But this is something that has real consequences for real people who aren't you or your child. Would you kill another person because you heard on television that it might keep your child from developing autism? Would you kill your own child? In an indirect way, that may be exactly the choice you're making when you refuse to vaccinate.
