Editorial: Ban personal-belief exemption for vaccinations
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Jan. 27, 2015, Los Angeles Times.
Unvaccinated teenagers have been sent home from school for as long as three weeks. Dozens of babies who may have been exposed to measles have been placed in quarantine. One in four of the more than 73 Californians infected has required hospitalization. It’s getting hard to keep up with how many cases of measles have emerged thanks to the single infected woman who visited Disneyland just before Christmas, or where it might show up next.
Enough. It’s time to ensure that more Californians are vaccinated.
The outbreak this winter has illustrated quickly and forcefully how a highly contagious disease can spread when the vaccination rate falls below the level needed for “herd immunity.” Herd immunity means that so many people are immune that the chance of outbreak is low, which protects the few who are not immunized because they are too young to have been fully vaccinated or because they are among the few in whom the vaccine doesn’t “take” or because they haven’t been vaccinated for valid medical reasons.
This resurgence of epidemics of diseases not seen for a century in this country should be a major priority for people considering their own health and safety is at risk as a certain percentage of people will develop complications that may be life threatening. Where are these epidemics coming from? The countries where vaccinations are not required or enforced and this goes with the inability to screen people who illegally enter through open borders and it also applies to millions of “refugees” from third world countries brought in. Many of these countries are contributing to these epidemics and the real point should be that people without vaccinations are a major public health risk and should not be allowed to attend public schools regardless of citizenship and screening of people coming in needs a complete priority change, no vaccinations, no entry. It is really that simple.
Bravo for this well-written article. The reality of people getting sick and sometimes dying or being left disabled, is particularly tragic when it is preventable! Today it is measles. Will it be long before we are again dealing with polio? Have we forgotten our own history? I work with children with autism. Some of these children have never been vaccinated, ironically because their parents thought failure to vaccinate would keep their child safe.I also work with medically fragile children who cannot be vaccinated due to legitimate medical reasons. Exposure to measles could be devastating for these children. Let us not forget adults with immunity disorders and fragile elderly people for whom a case of measles could prove fatal. The “scientist” who originally linked autism with vaccines has been proven a fraud. Today’s vaccines are free of mercury. So, why are we seeing such an increase in autism?The medical community, by and large, agree that autism is caused by a combination of complex biological and environmental factors; not vaccines (or any other isolated factor). Also, if vaccines are the problem than shouldn’t autism rates be dropping as more parents refuse to vaccinate? We are not seeing this. I do understand that children are bombarded with a hefty vaccination schedule and parents’ concerns are understandable. Parents, please, discuss your concerns with your child’s pediatrician. Your pediatrician has specialized knowledge about this issue, unlike the media icons that are getting attention for promoting the anti-vaccine philosophy. Please make an informed decision that will help keep your child healthy and protect those who are vulnerable to communicable (preventable) diseases. Thank-you.
Have you seen a 2 month old in a 2 day seizure reaction to the pertussis vaccination? And they’ve known for years that there is a type of baby that has a reaction yet no one screens these babies out of being harmed. It should be criminal.
I need clarification, is this measles different from the measles that almost every kid I grew up with came down with in So Cal in the fifties/early sixties?
Janice Eastburn: Are you insane? There is tons of evidence linking autism to vaccines. And mercury levels in children’s’ mothers also effects mercury levels in the child. Like maybe from those mercury fillings? Get a clue and do some research before you make a fool of yourself.
OMG! Just@ss… Again with the “illegals” and bigoted border language. California does NOT require vaccinations; hence the personal-belief exemption and the two comments by Isee and Tahoe do not sound “Hispanic.” LOL!
Isee. Have you witnessed children coughing continuously for weeks and months due to Pertussis aka Whooping Cough, children are 2% more likely to die from Whooping Cough and 20% more likely to develop Pneumonia. Also, there is a 1 in a Million chance of an allergic reaction versus 1 in a 1000 death rate for Measles.
Tahoe. There is no link to autism and vaccines. The study was a hoax with a full retraction made by 2010. You are much more likely to get Mercury Poisoning by eating Tuna and other fish then from a vaccination.
Yeah Rock, discredit everyone else, the pump all the kids up with vaccines so they can’t think straight, then you can push your agenda with little or no opposition. Nah, no thanks. There have been many studies conducted on vaccines and autism. And BTW, you are much more likely to get mercury poisoning from your fillings than eating tuna fish. Mercury ruins people’s brains! That is a well known fact! Maybe you’ve had a bit too much mercury already?
Justice is right. The illegals are a huge contributing factor to the spread of disease in this country.
P.S. If you knew how to spell and use correct English, at least it wouldn’t take me so long to decipher your idiotic comments! Go ahead! lynch me now! I wish some people could have a more open mind. Maybe post a link to the debunk of the study.
It’s fine if you don’t want to vaccinate, just make sure your children never leave the house. We’ll be working to get California schools’ on board with banning these diseased rats.
So, Tahoe Mom, I am a diseased rat because I don’t want to vaccinate? You’re a classic Tahoe mom, that’s for sure! I wouldn’t want my children leaving the house to go out in a world with people like you hanging around and I don’t make use of your insane brainwashing school system anyway, so do what you like. Maybe mentally ill people with mercury poisoning like you are closer to “diseased rats” than normal people who realize that there are a host of health problems involved with vaccinations and choose not to get them. Don’t be a lemming and just follow what you’re told! I have not been vaccinated and have never caught any of the diseases that are most commonly vaccinated for. I am a healthier person because of it. I catch a cold about every two years. . . That should speak for itself.
Potential reactions to vaccines:
Brain Inflammation
Acute Encephalopathy
Chronic Nervous System Dysfunction
Anaphylaxis
Febrile Seizures
Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS)
Brachial Neuritis
Acute and Chronic Arthritis
Thrombocytopenia (Smallpox, polio, measles and varicella zoster vaccine strain)
infection
Death (smallpox, polio and measles vaccine)
Shock and “unusual shock-like state”
Protracted, inconsolable crying
Syncope
Deltoid Bursitis
pronounced swelling redness
heat or hardness at injection site that continues for days or weeks
body rash or hives
shock/collapse
unresponsiveness
prolonged deep sleep
high pitched screaming (may include arching of back)
hours of persistent, inconsolable crying
high fever (over 103 F)
respiratory distress (difficulty breathing)
twitching or jerking of the body, arm, leg or head
rolling or crossing of eyes
severe head or neck pain
joint pain or muscle weakness
disabling fatigue
loss of memory and mental skills
paralysis of any part of body
changes in sleep/wake pattern and dramatic personality changes
lack of eye contact or social withdrawal
loss of ability to roll over, sit up or stand uphead banging or unusual flapping, rubbing, rocking, spinning
onset of chronic ear or respiratory problems (including asthma)
severe/persistent diarrhea or chronic constipation
excessive bruising, bleeding or anemia
other serious loss of physical, mental or emotional wellness
These are known for certain to be potential side effects of vaccinations. The following are being studied as potential issues:
asthma
atopy
allergy
autoimmunity
autism
learning disorders
communication disorders
developmental disorders
intellectual disability
attention deficit disorder
disruptive behavior disorder
tics and Tourette’s syndrome
seizures
febrile seizures
epilepsy
http://www.nvic.org/vaccines-and-diseases/Vaccinations–Know-the-risks-and-failures-.aspx
Vaccines are over hyped and they don’t like to talk about the problems.
Your poor children would certainly benefit from a real education, and not a dangerous and delusional, paranoid, fear-mongering monster who is telling them that science and doctors are trying to poison them. Four children, all happily vaccinated to protect those who cannot be!
Tahoe, do you know the LD50 of the flu vaccine? It runs at 5011mg/kg body weight. Let me put that into perspective. The LD50 (lethal dose in 50% of test animals given in milligrams of substance to kilograms of body weight) of aspirin is 200mg/kg of body weight. Let me simplify the equation for you. Aspirin is 25 times more toxic at the same level of ingestion as a flu vaccine.
OK, let’s have some evidence from a peer reviewed scientific journal.
Certainly there are risks from vaccines but they pale in comparison to the risks from the disease.
Does anyone want to go back to the days before polio vaccine or smallpox vaccine?
Tahoe Mom: common core, the dumbing down of society. I teach math to these poor kids doing common core, it is insane. They aren’t learning anything. Not to mention liberal nut cases like you and crazy indoctrinations, bullying and drugs. That’s what I call a real education! You are either extremely stupid or you are in on the whole plot. Are you a Freemason? That would explain you’re craziness.
I am not a dangerous, delusional, paranoid, fear mongering monster. I simply understand a lot more than you do. I’m sure if you bothered to study this stuff, you would think the same way.
Tahoe: As per your request here is the article to which I was referring, Dr. Wakefield the “scientist” that started all this controversy re. vaccinations causing autism: http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/index.html
I don’t deny that there are numerous studies and articles that suggest a causal link between vaccinations and autism but most are anecdotal and not based on solid scientific methodology and study (therefore, while they may be provocative, they prove nothing). Scientific documentation of the effectiveness vs. risk of vaccines spans decades and is based on solid scientific methodology (i.e. control groups, large numbers of participants, control of extraneous variables, longitudinal data, etc). We live in a world that is full of toxins in our food, our air, our water, our soil. It is simply not scientifically valid to isolate one variable (i.e. vaccines) and say, “This is what causes autism”. I also do not claim that vaccines are harmless; some children do experience side effects. The reality is, though, that when you look at the rate of side effects vs. the risk imposed by measles, smallpox. pertussis, and polio, the benefits of vaccines far outweigh the percentage of risk
Finally, I have one request of everyone who weighs in in this forum. This is a controversial issue. Can we PLEASE agree to disagree without name calling and insults? Really, if you want to be taken seriously, it helps to treat others with respect (even if you disagree). Thank you all.
Bigger: The lethal dose isn’t what matters. It’s the long-term effects of the vaccine that count. While the flu vaccine might not kill you, it has potentially serious long term effects. Plus, it is often not even effective. This year, most of the strains in the vaccine were wrong! Also, the rate that the flu vaccine is administered is not a linear function of body weight. The amount of the virus after t days is equal to k(1-3/((t^2+2)^2)), where k is a constant. In order to find the amount of vaccine necessary, you need to take the first derivative to find the rate of growth of the virus d/dt(k(1-3/(t^2+2)^2)). It is not a simple as you make it. For most people, the risks far outweigh the benefits. If everyone learned how to eat (NOT what the government and the “experts” say) we would probably get sick a lot less. If they come up with a vaccine that does not cause the serious side effects, I would willingly get it.
Rob: No one wants to go back to the days before the Polio vaccine and the Smallpox vaccine. The mortality rate of Polio is 2-5%. The mortality rate of smallpox is 1% or less. Autism effects 1 in 68 children. Autism is worse than death. It ruins a life but does not take it. If vaccines do indeed cause autism, we need to seriously examine whether they are worth it. As far as peer-reviewed science, look for yourself. You can find thousands of credible studied and articles by simply googling “vaccines risks.”
Janice: First off, thank you for actually trying to provide real evidence and avoid the finger pointing and name calling. As to the evidence, I have found CNN, the communist news network, to be extremely inaccurate. Worse than Faux News, in fact. Are you sure this information is actually correct? Just because one study is retracted, doesn’t mean that the theory is incorrect. I do not pretend that vaccinations are the only cause of Autism, but it seems likely that they are a major contributing factor. Measles, smallpox, and Polio are a serious risk, but we need to reevaluate what is actually in these vaccines. Again, if there was a vaccine without the serious side effects, I would fully support it. For now, there is not enough solid evidence showing that vaccines are not seriously harmful, so I feel it is too risky.
Such a shame that people can be so smart yet so ignorant at the same time. A major factor of this problem is that unfortunately my age group has become very self absorbed and self centered. They feel entitled to make their own decisions but don’t look beyond their own noses to see how their actions may impact someone else. These diseases are traceable and I wonder how long it will be until families who have suffered start bringing lawsuits against those that infected them. I sadly have to keep my twins very protected and almost isolated because of their weakened immune systems. The good news is that my children will eventually outgrow their weak immune systems but there are many who won’t- those with immune deficiencies and those with cancer. The people in these cases rely on a concept called herd immunity. They rely on their community being vaccinated to keep them safe.
I also wonder if these same parents who shun “toxic” substance walk down the road and breathe the air that is toxically polluted by traffic or if they would deny their children chemotherapy if they sadly were sick with Cancer. In life there are risks with everything-we can’t live in a bubble and expect that our actions or in this case inactions won’t effect others.
Vaccines have been given to our military personnel for years-if it’s safe enough for those who risk their lives protecting our country, then it should be safe enough for you and I. There are so many people in this world that die because they don’t have access to vaccines-It’s devastating and needless.
Tahoe,
You are asserting that vaccines are a cause of autism. The way it works is that is incumbent on you to provide references to support your theory.
Where are they?
Rob, don’t expect any decent answers, they are a chemtrail freak.
‘I teach math ‘
Wow.
“avoid the finger pointing and name calling”
Really? We should listen to you when that is preceded by:
“Are you a Freemason? That would explain you’re craziness.”
*your
and (for extra irony):
“If you knew how to spell and use correct English”
and
” your idiotic comments!”
You’re a joke.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2014/08/vaccines-cause-autism.html
http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/cdc-caught-hiding-data-showing-mercury-in-vaccines-linked-to-autism/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/03/22/u-s-government-concedes-that-mercury-causes-autism.aspx
Rob: Do you do any of your own research, or do you blindly follow what others tell you. There is a huge amount of misinformation out there on this issue. The studies which show no link between vaccinations and autism are hoaxes. They do not correctly report their data. Maybe if you are going to claim there is no link between autism and vaccines, you should provide some evidence. I do not assert that vaccines are the only cause of Autism, but it seems likely that they are a major contributing factor.
Duke: “They are a chemtrail freak” The number of the subject of a sentence must agree with the verb. This is practically unintelligible.
“You’re a joke”
What does the *your mean? I can’t understand “text talk”
Instead of cutting down everyone else’s opinions and evidence, you might consider presenting some of your own. No, you can’t do that because you haven’t got any.
Admin: please consider deleting idiotic comments from mentally ill people. Your forum is getting a bad reputation!
I am putting y’all on my fabled ignore list of doom. I am absolutely fed up with your idiocy, and cannot bear to read another word of your text. If I somehow accidentally receive another communication from you, my head will explode and shower the surrounding tri-metro area with fragments of my brain cells. Goodbye Everyone! Have a great day losers!
Don’t feed the internet trolls.
It seems this is more of a personal rights issue. That being said this ban will never work and comments and dialogue like this just helps to polarize the public into a debate that perpetuates hatred and discontent.
rock4tahoe- Isee here. Yes, I have seen both pertussis and seen the worst possible reaction to the vaccination. I’ll take the former.
On a personal note, 16 months ago I got a flu shot after being threatened that I’d be given one on my way into a surgery that was planned- if I didn’t get one on my own. From that day forward- since the flu shot- I’ve lost most of the use of one of my arms. Now you see TV vaccination advertisements (Oxymoron!) warning loss of use of the arm as a side effect. Who wants this???? Not me or anyone I love or care about, thank you.
To Tahoe- Thanks for the list of side-effects/symptoms and conditions caused by vaccinations. It’s enough to make a person who’s lived through this medical nightmare cry, again. p.s. Chiropractic helps with the damage done- at least in my experience. MLK said ‘You begin to die when you stop talking about things that you want to change.’
Tahoe, you are obviously in need of medication and a serious mental health evaluation asap…I feel very sorry for your children having you as their role model….YIKES
Tahoe is right about some of the dangers of vaccines, but he should act more mature when expressing his ideas.
Um T-Hoe… Nurse Ratched is calling. Wow, go back to the 14th Century where you belong. Your post of possible side effects could also come from Aspirin, sugar, second hand smoke and smog.
This is the 21st Century and I certainly do NOT want my kids or family members getting Polio, Measles, Tetanus or any number of actual harmful/fatal Diseases.
The Life Expectancy in the year 1900 of an American Male and Female was 46 & 48 years respectively; now it is 75 and 81 respectively.
The Infant Mortality Rate in the year 1900 in America was 165 Deaths per 1000; now it is about 5 per 1000.
Guess what Diseases were rampant in the year 1900.
The only “idiocy” is your own.
Rock: Infant mortality rates have decreased as a result of improving medical procedures, not vaccines. Nature: for the record, I don’t have any kids, so now you look like a fool.
T-Hoe. Vaccines are NOT improved medical procedures?! What do you think was killing kids in 1900?! Wow. I guess all those Doctors trying to find vaccines for say HIV, Hunta and Ebola, should know that. LOL!
Rock: Vaccines are improved medical procedures, but don’t act like they are the only thing that reduced infant mortality rates. 1 in 68 children will be diagnosed with autism. autism didn’t exist in 1900. See the link yet? More vaccines, more autism. Sure, less children die now that there are vaccines, but they have big problems later in life.
“1 in 68 children will be diagnosed with autism. autism didn’t exist in 1900”
Tahoe, fibromyalgia didn’t technically exist 20 years ago. And ADHD didn’t exist in 1900.
My point? Just cause it wasn’t diagnosed or understood, doesn’t mean autism didn’t exist at the same rates in 1900 as it does now. Was medical science anywhere near the same entity then in 1900 as it is now?
Thank you, Bigs!
I love how people claim cancer rates, autism, ADHD, have exploded in the last 100 years. How do they know??? Back then people might be odd, or they just died. They didn’t have the science or the diagnostics. They often didn’t know the cause. Point is, we live a lot longer now than we did then. Thanks to western medical advances.
Tahoe, im so glad you didnt breed. For that I say thank you. And, no, I dont feel the fool because I chose to vacinate my children. They are all ok and better for my forsight in keeping them safe from communicable diseases. I guess we were in the group of 68 kids…
Bigger and Dog: You guys don’t get it. If there was something as big as cancer or autism going on in 1900, don’t you think people back then would’ve said something about? They didn’t. Nature: I’m 16. You’re an idiot.
Autism has existed way longer than some think. It has had many names along the way. Lots of sources for information, here is one that is easy to understand:
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/history-of-autism
No one REALLY knows what causes Autism, Asperger’s, etc. Probably genetic and possibly a combination of environmental factors of all sorts. Today, it is much easier to diagnose, rather than chalk a condition or situation up to something else.
I don’t post on LT News much anymore, due to the personal attacks that seem to be much the norm here now…right along with commentary on the IMpersonal pervasive Social Media of all or most types.
Just saw a great tweet: If my kid can’t bring a peanut butter sandwich to school, yours shouldn’t be able to bring preventable infectious diseases.
“Nature: I’m 16.”
It all makes so much more sense now…a lack of a connected frontal lobe could explain the complete lack of logical connections in all your recent posts. Stay in school.
Tahoe did you miss the point that before you chastised people for being nasty, you were nasty. And after you criticized another writing, you screw up you/you’re.
And you just wrote:
“You’re an idiot.”
So what do you want? People no be nice to you while you act like a J.O.?
You are par for the course for people who believe in chemtrails.
I have a feeling this individual posts under multiple names.
Duke, we all know who started the nasty name calling… Where did I screw up you/you’re? Still denying chem trails? You can’t miss em. If you can’t notice something that big in the sky, you’ve got bigger problems to worry about than vaccines, autism, and chem trails. “I have a feeling this individual posts under multiple names.” Actually, I only post under one name. What other names do you think I’m using? Oh yeah, probably Justice. I will agree with you on that. That guy needs to stop blaming everything on liberals.
“A lack of connected frontal lobe could explain the complete lack of of logical connections in all you’re recent posts. Stay in school.” Stay in college would be more like it. Did you even make it through high school?
I think I need to follow Bob Fleischer’s example and avoid the personal attacks on this forum. Have fun self-destructing losers! I’m gonna have a life…
Tahoe….Dr. Mercola….Really? This is your evidence. You know he’s a quack right?
I know your just a kid so I’ve decided to provide you with a link where you can find real scientific studies. http://www.jstor.org/.
You like to sound smart? Right? Get to reading.
Also you’ve spent way TOO much time on this site lately. It is indeed time to go have a life. Tahoe’s too beautiful to be a keyboard warrior.
What I want to know is what exactly is the point of this blog? If everyone just calls names and points fingers, we’re not really getting anything useful done. Nobody’s going to change the world, or even Lake Tahoe, by spending all day commenting on LTN. If there is a rational conversation going on, this blog is at best marginally worth it. Usually, this is not the case, and this forum is a downright waste of time. You people need to take a break. It is unlikely you will ever change each others opinions commenting on this site. It seems that this has become an outlet for people to express their ego problems and hatred. You’re right tinfoil hat. Tahoe’s too beautiful a place to be a keyboard warrior. Everyone stop trying to outsmart and belittle the kid. He’s trying and he’s got alot of great points, just a bit immature, perhaps.
You guys are a bunch of dumbasses.
List of bile you have posted:
“Janice Eastburn: Are you insane?”
“Maybe mentally ill people with mercury poisoning like you are closer to “diseased rats” than normal people”
“decipher your idiotic comments!”
“You guys are a bunch of dumbasses.”
“Where did I screw up you/you’re?” *your/you’re
Right here d-bag:
“Are you a Freemason? That would explain you’re craziness.”
I don’t have to do any work to reveal how ignorant you are. Just copy/paste your own BS right back at you.
Tahoe and others, here is one site from the autism science foundation (http://www.autismsciencefoundation.org/autismandvaccines.html).
I could provide hundreds of other links from credible scientific sources (CDC, Medical Journals, National Academy of Sciences, etc.) and all conclude the same thing. There is absolutely no scientific evidence that links vaccines of any sort with autism. Jenny McCarthy of all people is even backing down on the claims. I encourage you to read the scientific studies and lay articles that summarize these studies so that you are better informed. It is sad that less developed countries (such as Mexico) has higher vaccination rates for children 1 to 5 then does the U.S. – that will drive Justice nuts.
Rick
List of bile posted by you and others:
“OMG Justass”
“These diseased rats”
” a dangerous and delusional, paranoid, fear-mongering monster who is telling them that science and doctors are trying to poison them”
“they are a chemtrail freak”
“You’re a joke”
“Tahoe is a Troll”
“Tahoe, you are obviously in need of medication and a serious mental health evaluation asap”
“Nurse Ratched is calling”
“Wow, go back to the 14th Century where you belong”
” the complete lack of logical connections in all your recent posts”
“You are par for the course for people who believe in chemtrails”
“I have a feeling this individual posts under multiple names”
“d-bag”
Look in the mirror you hypocrite!
Just so everyone knows, “Ahem” and “Tahoe” are the same person.
LTN staff