As more parents skip shots for kids, other children put at risk

When I opened The Pioneer Press this morning, this was the article at the top of the front page (with the title above) and I did a little happy dance inside. Lemme explain why.

Basically, it drives me nuts when people make ridiculous, non-scientific claims and present them as objective truth: a woman’s body is capable of preventing pregnancy if she’s been raped (Rep. Todd Akin); Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for America’s abortion policy (Pat Robertson); and there’s a link between vaccines and autism (Jenny McCarthy, among others), something that’s never been proven. Never ever ever.

From the article: “Public health officials strongly maintain that there is no proof vaccinations cause autism. Last year, a prominent medical journal found a British researcher whose work gave rise to the childhood-vaccines-cause-autism movement in 1998 faked his data. Before that, other researchers checked out Andrew Wakefield’s hypothesis and none found a link between vaccines and autism.”

And to all the bull-headed parents who feel justified in ignoring the fact that there’s no data to support their beliefs about the dangers of vaccination, I have some good news: you’re putting everyone else’s kids in danger, too.

There’s something called “herd immunity”, which is pretty well explained by this website. As long as most kids get their shots, the rest should be fairly safe. As an increasing number of parents decide not to vaccinate their kids, my doctor has to start warning her patients about things like a local outbreak of whooping cough.

There is no connection between vaccines and autism. NONE. Scientific studies have demonstrated this fact time and time again. Consequently, if I have to accept medical advice from either my doctor or a Hollywood celebrity, I’d like to say this: Jenny McCarthy, shut the fuck up.