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| MMR Scare |
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| Written by joni |
| Wednesday, 03 February 2010 10:00 |
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The Lancet has retracted the 1998 paper that caused so many parents to shun the MMR vaccine. The Lancet said following the judgment of the General Medical Council (GMC) fitness to practise panel last Thursday it had become clear that several elements of the 1998 paper by Dr Andrew Wakefield and others were incorrect. The original paper led many parents in the UK to "refuse the MMR vaccine for their children and sparked a surge in infections and health problems" according to the Financial Times. However, Dr Wakefield’s subsequent calls for separate vaccines for the different infections – including an experimental product under development by a company in which he had an interest – came under sharp scrutiny as MMR vaccination rates fell sharply in some parts of the UK, and infections rose. I was in the UK at the time of the scare - and some of the media deliberately ignored the real science to put fear and doubt into parents minds. So many lives were put at risk, and all because of bad science. Hits: 87 Trackback(0)
Comments (11)
 
I wonder (in years to come) which side of the AGW debate will have a similar story to tell?
1
Wed 03 Feb 2010 14:12:37 EST
To my way of thinking quite a lot of the problem came from people considering measles, mumps and rubella as just mild childhood diseases, therefore why take the risk. However the truth is deafness, blindness, birth deformities and sterility via mumps in boys.
2
Wed 03 Feb 2010 14:34:54 EST
I've actually seem some numbskulls on tele claim that giving their kids a macrobiotic/organic diet will prevent them developing such diseases, so immunisation is unnecessary.
They're a bit like those fools that refuse their kids polio vaccinations. The sad thing is that it's the kids that are going to have to live with the consequences of their parents' stupidity. 3
Wed 03 Feb 2010 16:16:26 EST
Evan, have mentioned this before..hubby contracted polio in '49. And yes had the argument with young friends who refused to have their daughter vaccinated as due to their 'superior lifestyle' aka organics no artificial flavorings and colorings should a virus such as polio cross their daughter's path that the virus would run off in a fright.
The above of course is ridiculous. In '49 during the height of one of the major epidemics most people ate organic food, home grown veg and fruit and anything with artificial flavorings and colorings might be a once a week treat if that. Sorry folks, a virus doesn't much care what you ate for breakfast. 4
Wed 03 Feb 2010 16:32:32 EST
 The sad thing is that it's the kids that are going to have to live with the consequences of their parents' stupidity. Evan, that's the really distressing thing about it. I'll bet all the idiots currently denying their children the safety of vaccination, were all vaccinated as kids. This may sound callous, but maybe a polio epidemic might knock a bit of sense into their stupid heads. Min @4, quite right. Eating a bloody macrobiotic diet doesn't stop you getting colds and flu and neither does removing food additives. I'm constantly stunned by their idiocy. 6
Thu 04 Feb 2010 17:01:45 EST
Jane, I think sometimes that parents especially those of the New Age variety think that there is any easy answer..drug free.
But this doesn't mean that getting kids off junk food with its high sugar and mega artificial flavorings and colorings doesn't help. And if a parent considers their child hypo, rather than reaching for the ritalin try deleting junk food from their diets first. An example is return to school after Easter...(for teachers) be afraid, be very afraid..the return of ultra hyped up kids who have spent days eating chocolate. However and of course nothing except immunisation has a proven effect against preventable diseases such as polio. My pet hate is the smug parent who says, Well my child wasn't immunised and she didn't get polio/whooping cough etc. More the fact that these people have responsible parents around them who did have their children immunised and so their child reaps the benefit of herd immunisation. Pardon the expression, but selfish sods..their lifestyle be b*ggered! What about the kids who cannot be immunised due to things such as leukemia and whose lives are put at risk due to some parents' 'lifestyle choices'. I don't know what the situation is in NSW but when my kids were little in Victoria you could not enrol your child in kindy unless they were fully immunised. It might suggest a 'nanny state' but on the other hand you cannot put your pet chihuahau into the local doggy holiday home unless doggy is fully immunised...less for kids? 7
Thu 04 Feb 2010 17:32:18 EST
Wow, big surprise…..Hmm, wasn’t this the same “medical journal” that tried to peddle the number of Iraqi dead in an effort to politicize the war? Yes, I do remember plenty here quoting “the number” they came up with as religiously as they now do “peer reviewed” in regards to AGW….Funny, that gets no mention here Joni? Hardly surprising however…LOL Left-wing ideologues need to keep their claws out of the “sciences” and stick with the bleeding hearted humanities….Where logic and facts are not necessary! Malaria comes to mind for some reason...Hmm......
 8
Fri 05 Feb 2010 09:39:35 EST
Sparta..just a small pick-up, but a war is a political event. That plus economics IMO.
Lancet is a purely medical journal and one which medical students and doctors would read in order to keep up with latest events. From what I understand the article published in Lancet drew a false conclusion that there was a connection between childhood immunisation and autism. This was quickly jumped on by alternative lifestylers to mean that immunisation CAUSES autism. You will have to fill me in on the malaria thing. All that I know about it is that it is mosquito borne and that my dad contracted it in New Guinea during World War 2. 9
Fri 05 Feb 2010 13:40:41 EST
Min @7, same situation re immunisation in SA. A bloody good thing too.
Sparta, the Lancet is probably the world's leading medical journal. I remember the brouhaha over the publication of the civilian death toll in Iraq. It was the only honest attempt to quantify the death toll in stark contrast to the obfuscation from the Coalition of the Dills! As for politicising the war, there were politics involved alright-the politics of oil and now all of us "lefties" who opposed the invasion of a sovereign country based on lies and greed are being vindicated. Tony Blair has been forced to admit that he knew the "evidence" being touted as proof of the need to invade Iraq was a pack of lies. I look forward to the day when Dubya, the Rodent and their cohorts are also brought to book. 10
Fri 05 Feb 2010 18:04:04 EST
Lancet is probably the world's leading mledical journa Umm…that's a matter of opinion Jane; I prefer the NEJM….Besides, their reputation has been seriously undermined with the widely “debunked” Iraqi death toll and now the MMR retraction…. It was the only honest attempt to quantify the death toll in stark contrast to the obfuscation from the Coalition of the Dills” Yes, it was a piss poor job at that…..Nobody, but those on left still pays the number any mind. It was a statistical joke for Christ’s sake…..Besides, people were dying by the thousands prior to us going in and not a word from you bleeding hearts…. for politicising the war, there were politics involved alright-the politics of oil and now all of us "lefties" who opposed the invasion of a sovereign country based on lies and greed are being vindicated Boring Jane……News flash, it wasn’t “just about the oil”! Who has benefited the most in that department? To keep saying it was about only about the oil makes you come across as rather unhinged….You “lefties” have hardly been vindicated, in fact proven demonstrably wrong on most accounts but what’s new..If it helps you sleep at night t Jane, by all means keep embracing such notions….LOL Tony Blair has been forced to admit that he knew the "evidence" being touted as proof of the need to invade Iraq was a pack of lies. I look forward to the day when Dubya, the Rodent and their cohorts are also brought to book Umm that is just a bold face lie……..I just don’t get you folks….People being murdered, brutalized etc by their own, no big deal to the “left” but when the West goes in “militarily”..Oooo,Ahhh and civilians are lost (mostly to fellow Iraqi’s, just as before) in an attempt to bring democracy, women’s rights, economic opportunity; it is simply horrible, war crimes etc….(why, because we are present?) You guys really do come across as a bunch of loons I am afraid. Burnt out hippies looking for a cause or purpose….LOL 11
Sat 06 Feb 2010 04:01:01 EST
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