Loath though I am to stick my oar into this vibrant discussion, I just wanted to say a couple of rather mundane things. - I think that there is definitely an element of rebellion against a perceived 'system' in some people's refusal to give their children any vaccinations. I can understand why people would feel like this, even though I think they are mistaken. But then people who flail against 'the system' often do flail in completely the wrong direction. - In Britain, the crisis arose not because of a suspected connection between the pertussis vaccination and autism, but because of the MMR triple vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella. Several children had very bad reactions to this, and some distressed parents linked the 'onset' of autism with it. Since autism tends to start to manifest itself at about the age children were having this injection, you can see why in their distress people would make the connection. I can see why giving a small child three vaccinations at once might be a bit much for its little body to cope with, and the thinking parents' solution was to ask for the vaccines to be given in three separate doses, though in some case parents were forced to pay for this. I can also see why the government felt that the statistical likelihood of a few bad reactions was acceptable set against the overall national health improvement. (That, mind you, is a bit of a contradiction of the fact that they have stopped giving children vaccinations against TB, particularly in the lead-up to our hosting the Olympics ...) I am not a parent, but if I were, I think I would have gone for separate vaccinations once I thought about it. I do think, given how vaccines work, that three at once is too much for a very small child. - I do completely accept the importance of mass-vaccination. As a teacher, I spend a lot of time each year explaining to 11-year-old girls why they want to be vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria, and polio, and why an injection in the arm in a sterile environment is better than being paralysed or choking to death on your own membranes, etc. I also think of a pair of sisters whose parents refused to vaccinate them against anything (middle class intellectual rebels who refused to allow the government to dictate their children's health) and the amount of school those girls missed, and our constant worry that they would infect those of us who are too old to have had all the vaccinations ...
I hope this doesn't change the tone of the discussion too much - my intention is to be mild-mannered about this.
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- I think that there is definitely an element of rebellion against a perceived 'system' in some people's refusal to give their children any vaccinations. I can understand why people would feel like this, even though I think they are mistaken. But then people who flail against 'the system' often do flail in completely the wrong direction.
- In Britain, the crisis arose not because of a suspected connection between the pertussis vaccination and autism, but because of the MMR triple vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella. Several children had very bad reactions to this, and some distressed parents linked the 'onset' of autism with it. Since autism tends to start to manifest itself at about the age children were having this injection, you can see why in their distress people would make the connection. I can see why giving a small child three vaccinations at once might be a bit much for its little body to cope with, and the thinking parents' solution was to ask for the vaccines to be given in three separate doses, though in some case parents were forced to pay for this. I can also see why the government felt that the statistical likelihood of a few bad reactions was acceptable set against the overall national health improvement. (That, mind you, is a bit of a contradiction of the fact that they have stopped giving children vaccinations against TB, particularly in the lead-up to our hosting the Olympics ...) I am not a parent, but if I were, I think I would have gone for separate vaccinations once I thought about it. I do think, given how vaccines work, that three at once is too much for a very small child.
- I do completely accept the importance of mass-vaccination. As a teacher, I spend a lot of time each year explaining to 11-year-old girls why they want to be vaccinated against tetanus, diphtheria, and polio, and why an injection in the arm in a sterile environment is better than being paralysed or choking to death on your own membranes, etc. I also think of a pair of sisters whose parents refused to vaccinate them against anything (middle class intellectual rebels who refused to allow the government to dictate their children's health) and the amount of school those girls missed, and our constant worry that they would infect those of us who are too old to have had all the vaccinations ...
I hope this doesn't change the tone of the discussion too much - my intention is to be mild-mannered about this.