6minutes.com.au‘s Jared Reed recently highlighted the questionable nature of some the Google-sponsored health ads that have proliferated all over the Internet. In the comments section raged a slightly over-the-top arm wrestle between some anti-vaccinationists and a GP from Nowra…
I chimed in with a comment:
I generally try to avoid having battles of wits with unarmed opponents – no one wins. Unfortunately as doctors we have to do this frequently when it comes to the topic of vaccination. Vaccination is a modern day equivalent of witchcraft. When something goes terribly wrong many people find an easy target to blame and will interpret all evidence through the haze of their own prejudices and focus on the emotionally-charged anecdote. I confess that anti-vaccinationists make my blood boil – it can take incredible restraint to avoid trying to literally slap sense into some parents. Some of us younger doctors have also seen the tragedy of vaccine non-compliance – I certainly don’t want to see another baby die a choking death from pertussis. But despite this terrible human tragedy, in the context of weighing the evidence, this is just a single anecdote.
The best evidence we have is that while vaccines are not perfect they save lives and the risks are low. In the case of HPV vaccines, they have thus far proved to be safe with the main complications being a local reaction (that can be a bit sore) and the occasional “mass sociogenic illness” such as “post-vaccination dizziness”… Wisely, there is ongoing surveillance to detect the possible occurrence of any exceedingly rare adverse reactions. The bottom line is that crossing the road is a much more dangerous activity than receiving a vaccine.
Finally, there is no evidence of toxicity associated with thiomersal vaccines. Thiomersal was removed from most vaccines purely as a precautionary measure (I think there is still a type of HBV vaccine used in Australia that contains a small amount of thiomersal). Indeed, many people who eat seafood have high mercury levels, but it doesn’t matter if it is in a non-toxic organic form. In other words, the type of mercury is important (thiomersal contains ethyl mercury which has a half-life of about a week, compared to the toxic methyl mercury that can accumulate in the body due to it’s longer half-life of about 50 days). Similarly, the spurious linkage of MMR with autism has been debunked. Let us concentrate our efforts on finding the true causes of disorders like autism, and preventing those for which we have vaccines.
Parents, for the benefit of your children as well as humankind, please get your children vaccinated.
“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity”
- Hippocrates
For some reliable information on vaccines, try these sources:
- National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases (NCIRS)
- Immunise Australia Program
- WHO Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals
- Bad Science
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About Chris Nickson
Way to go Doctor. Here in the United States a mass hysteria is being stirred by fundamentalists like “Scientologists” who shame any use of modern medicine. Claiming we are being poisoned by modern medicine, pharmaceuticals. Their media power is vast and influential. Scientologists are a wealthy “Hollywood” glamour sect. Then there are sects who willingly make extensive use of the Emergency Room system and then sue that their “religious/civil” rights have been violated since Physician(s) actually had the nerve to provide urgent necessary care. Frivolous malpractice law suits tying Physicians hands. Here in Pennsylvania shortage of Medical Doctors is directly associated with high malpractise insurance rates. Find an M.D. is like digging for gold. Pseudo Providers get paid whilst Physicians still paying off student loans are kicked to the curb.
Way to go Doctor. Here in the United States a mass hysteria is being stirred by fundamentalists like “Scientologists” who shame any use of modern medicine. Claiming we are being poisoned by modern medicine, pharmaceuticals. Their media power is vast and influential. Scientologists are a wealthy “Hollywood” glamour sect. Then there are sects who willingly make extensive use of the Emergency Room system and then sue that their “religious/civil” rights have been violated since Physician(s) actually had the nerve to provide urgent necessary care. Frivolous malpractice law suits tying Physicians hands. Here in Pennsylvania shortage of Medical Doctors is directly associated with high malpractise insurance rates. Find an M.D. is like digging for gold. Pseudo Providers get paid whilst Physicians still paying off student loans are kicked to the curb.
Way to go Doctor. Here in the United States a mass hysteria is being stirred by fundamentalists like “Scientologists” who shame any use of modern medicine. Claiming we are being poisoned by modern medicine, pharmaceuticals. Their media power is vast and influential. Scientologists are a wealthy “Hollywood” glamour sect. Then there are sects who willingly make extensive use of the Emergency Room system and then sue that their “religious/civil” rights have been violated since Physician(s) actually had the nerve to provide urgent necessary care. Frivolous malpractice law suits tying Physicians hands. Here in Pennsylvania shortage of Medical Doctors is directly associated with high malpractise insurance rates. Find an M.D. is like digging for gold. Pseudo Providers get paid whilst Physicians still paying off student loans are kicked to the curb.
To anyone who submits a reply containing only a link to another website:
Take the time to make a reasonable comment. I will happily approve replies to this post from both sides of the fence. If all that is submitted is a link to a web page, your reply will end up in the trash…
To anyone who submits a reply containing only a link to another website:
Take the time to make a reasonable comment. I will happily approve replies to this post from both sides of the fence. If all that is submitted is a link to a web page, your reply will end up in the trash…
To anyone who submits a reply containing only a link to another website:
Take the time to make a reasonable comment. I will happily approve replies to this post from both sides of the fence. If all that is submitted is a link to a web page, your reply will end up in the trash…
To anyone who submits a reply containing only a link to another website:
Take the time to make a reasonable comment. I will happily approve replies to this post from both sides of the fence. If all that is submitted is a link to a web page, your reply will end up in the trash…