It feels so empty without me

[wyrrlen]

Hooray for Science and Medicine!
In a devastating blow to the anti-vaccination community, another study has been released showing no linkage between vaccinations and autism.  This follows a previous evaluation that found that mercury-based thimerasol is also not the autism culprit.  It is tragic that so much energy has been wasted on proving that

Comments

Not vaccinating your children

[lifeofreilly]

No vaccinating your children is natural selection at work. Finally, a selection pressure that is based upon intelligence.

-J

Re: Not vaccinating your children

[wyrrlen]

Awesome point.

I just wish there was a way that it came back on the parents directly instead of having to go through the children. It seems like too often the worst members of the anti-vax crowd somehow get by without ever having problems, too. They get to stand up and say, "See, my piss-poor decision making didn't get my child measles, so everyone should be okay if they do what I do." Sometimes the darker side of my personality starts to wish that natural selection involved more shotguns.

It's better this way

[lifeofreilly]

If they've already bred, they have passed on their stupidity to their children. It's a sad fact of life, but let's nip this in the bud, shall we? We can't go back in time and give them a retro-active vasectomy or tubal ligation- but maybe, if their children die of a disease that no one gets any more or they become crippled by polio- they might just learn.

And take off their tinfoil hat and pay attention.

[jmfunnyface]

My best friend, Meredith, is a teacher specializing in autistic children. All of the anti-vax stuff drives her nuts.

LOL at "Pops." Anna Banana called her mom "old lady" in front of me one day and I cracked up.

[wyrrlen]

Oh god, I think I'd die if either child called me "Old man." I'm not that old yet! Still in my twenties (at the time of this comment)!

[wyrrlen]

I've found it to be a very emotional ordeal to talk to people I know that have autistic children. Because at the end of the day, the child has autism and will most likely need some form of assistance for their entire life. I try to walk the tightrope of showing compassion for the reality that they face with the simple truth that a vaccination didn't cause their child's illness.

On the other hand, I feel exactly the same way talking to someone that refuses to vaccinate their children and has never known the pains of autism, measles, mumps, or rubella. Stunned is the right word, whether it applies to fear of medicine, arrogance about being protected by herd immunity, or the occasional government conspiracy nonsense. It just floors me sometimes.