Today's Poll: Should children be vaccinated?

The science behind the "herd immunity" makes sense to me and if I have to choose between exhaustive research and a psuedoscience movement driven by an individual whose major life decisions included posing for Playboy and dating Jim Carrey, I'll go with science.

CDC Director Thomas Frieden posed in Playboy and dated Jim Carrey? Wow, I guess I miss a lot.

Dave, where did you get that Frieden is part of the anti-vaccinate crowd?

Haha, I was just jerking your chain a little Jeff. That was the only name I saw in the article. I had never heard of "herd immunity" before today and have no idea who you are talking about. I truthfully haven't paid much attention to the vaccination debate. I've always believed that most of them were good ideas and made sure my children got them. Polio, small pox, etc. All I'm going to say is don't trust any government agency, they are all politically influenced. Ask your doctor or health care provider, do your own research, they are your children, not the government's.

Gotcha Dave, always enjoy bantering with you.
Herd Immunity is the concept behind what makes vaccinations effective:
http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/herd-immunity-0
The anti-vaccine movement was fringe at best until Jenny McCarthy (Playboy, Carrey) made it the cause of the day among Hollywood elites and now it is beginning to undermine the effectiveness of proven and improved vaccinations. The movement successfully scared enough parents into not vaccinating that some diseases that were largely eradicated are now making a comeback.

I think it's irresponsible NOT to have your children vaccinated. I hope people realize just how lucky they are to be born in an era of giant leaps in medical science. My parents were born in an era when antibiotics didn't exist, and polio was a very real threat. With my mother and both sisters being nurses, I say yes to vaccination.

If you really want to know how important it is to stay current for tetanus, just google it and see if you'd rather endure a needle poke and a sore arm, or muscle spasms so strong that they can result in bone fractures and torn tendons. Here, I'll do it for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetanus

Just as importantly is the breast feeding of infants. They get a jump start on disease immunities and protection from asthma. http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/p…

People actually are not required by law to vaccinate their children, but they cannot attend public schools unless they do. They probably cannot attend private schools, either.

It's pretty sad when people take the word of a bimbo with big boobs over the word of medical scientists. Here's an article in the news today about a new treatment for one form of cancer. I wonder what boobs McCarthy would have to say about this: http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s3238685.shtml

The power of medical science!
Nearly 90% showed no evidence of cancer after getting a personalized cell therapy that reprogrammed their immune system. The first child received the treatment in spring of 2012, and remains cancer-free.

People can pray to boobs all they'd like, but science is what will keep them alive.

I don't think this can be answered with a simple yes or no answer.

Part of the scariness of fools believing Jenny McCarthy is that her "proof" is anything but...

She references a British doctor who did the most referenced "study" linking vaccines to all sorts of ailments (Andrew Wakefield) used bogus numbers in that "study". By coincidence, he was involved in a lawsuit involving (are you sitting down?) vaccines causing autism. His "research" has been revealed to be fraudulent (http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347.full), and her personal anecdotes have no scientific foundation or proof. Basically, she said "my kid has autism.... he had vaccines, and Dr. Wakefield said vaccines cause autism, so that must be it... Oh, I cured my kid's autism with diet".

Ever listen to Dr Dean Edell? He used to be a proponent of homeopathy until he was educated. I loved listening to that man debunk so many claims by snake oil salesman. One of my favorites was those Saturday morning charmers on AM radio that try to sell you immune boosting garbage. Edell said, regardless of the fact that none of it works, if it did work, why would anyone want a super immune system? There are a whole slew of diseases caused by an immune system gone awry, so boosting it is probably not a great thing. Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, Celiac disease, etc, are among those common autoimmune diseases. People love their snake oil and myths as facts. During the flu pandemic of 1917, the people that died were those that had the strongest immune systems. Their own immune response is what killed them, not the flu.

On a side note, I cured my fatness with diet...

Wow, Doug! You ARE showing your age. Don'tcha know it's not snake oil, anymore? It's fish oil that cures everything nowadays. Time to get your AM fixed.

Lol Ed, whatever happened to Dr Demento? "Fish heads, fish heads, rolly poly fish heads, eat them up, YUM!"

I don't know if you intended to distill your decision-making formula down to science or boobs, but at face-value, your presentation sounds overly dismissive. It also sounds rather sexist.

Protecting the juvenile population from exposure to infectious diseases is sound practice. The means of accomplishing that end rely on a balance between quarantining sick kids away from healthy kids and vaccinating kids to avoid initial infection. ...Parents and doctors weighing the risks of complications from acquiring natural immunity Vs. inoculation side-effects.

The poll question can be taken two ways. Is it prudent to vaccinate? Should government mandate vaccination?

I lean toward Dave's thinking. Most parents with the guidance of their personal physician will come to a responsible decision about vaccinating their offspring. I can also appreciate the perspective of schools and day care centers striving for a healthy environment. I think the government is far too tainted with big-pharm money to be impartial.

As to whether "science" and the pharmaceutical industry know what's best for every family faced with the choice- whether to vaccinate or not; that's a gamble. Science, when sorting fact from fiction in the natural world, is a trustworthy discipline. It is not always definite, nor is it final. The pharmaceutical industry is a business; it's primary concern is profitability. That's why we have the FDA to test the safety of pharmaceutical products and the CDC to recommend medical policy.

The FDA and CDC were both trustworthy protectors to the point they lost their independence from corporate and political (redundant) influence. http://www.nvic.org/nvic-archives/conflicts-of-interest.aspx http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/hazard/indep…

We also have a 1986 law (upheld by the Supreme Court in 2011, thank you Clarence Thomas, friend of corporate immunity)... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR20110…

There are clearly instances where vaccines can be dangerous. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm There are also implications that combinations of vaccines and inoculations in close proximity to one another result in adverse reaction. There are concerns relative to the components of vaccines: egg protein, gelatin protein, antibiotics, mercury, aluminum, formaldehyde, MSG.

...Nor is the pharmaceutical industry immune to botched batches. One can assume that increasing the demand on vaccine-producers heightens the risk of low-efficacy or otherwise compromised product. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2005-07-20-chrio…

Granted there are hysterics out there linking vaccine programs to global conspiracies. I can't quite fathom what the alleged perpetrators gain by dosing children. Then, again, paranoia rejects logic. Hysteria, aside, it is not a one-size-fits-all issue and legitimate concern should be focused on who profits.

Hmm...boobs do have scientific value. They're even the most awesome funbags on the planet. You should try them sometime.

" I think the government is far too tainted with big-pharm money to be impartial."
Right on C.M., you betcha. However, as you stated, One size does not fit all, everyone is different and will be affected differently; and that's why we should all be able to work with the health care professional of our choice.

Dr. Demento is my personal health care professional. LOL. I used to love sunday night radio, in the eighties he followed Dr. Ruth. A typical end of my weekend back then, horny and demented.

A lot of what caused many parents t stop vaccinating their children was that research study performed in Europe that determined the vaccines contain high levels of mercury and was the root cause of Autism and Asperger's.

It wasn't until about 7 or 8 years ago it was discovered that study was seriously flawed, but the damage had already been done.

I agree that any parent who chooses not to vaccinate their child, is irresponsible.