Vaccines

"You can't do this to me... I'm an American!" - a seven year old protests her inoculation.

Welcome back my friends,

Oh, my brothers and sisters, is it not a fearful nation that will shun the very thing that will save them from their other fears? I must conclude that it is. The first documented vaccine was discovered by a British physician named Edward Jenner. This clever lad sorted out that a person to have endured an infection of cowpox, would later be protected from the oft fatal disease smallpox. Since then biologists of all manner and stripe have sorted out many ways to protect us from a wide range of diseases.

The basic premise behind a vaccine is to introduce a mild pathogen to the body, prompting the body's own immune system to prepare an effective antibody (cure). When a vaccine is introduced, the body creates an antibody that is not only effective against the vaccine pathogen, but also against the more terrible disease for which the vaccine is intended, like the cowpox/smallpox example above. What is there to fear from this nifty life-saving idea?

Autism.

There are nearly 5,000 cases in the US Federal courts right this minute where parents or other organizations representing autistic children and adults are seeking to pin the blame for autism on one vaccine or another. Of course there is no connection that can be proven (at least not yet) and the cases seem to fall by the wayside, one by one.

But listen my brothers for the damage is already done. The fearful American public have shunned vaccines for other reasons... oh yes, for many other reasons. Some think it is unethical to mess with nature to save lives. Some think that it is folly that disease could come from a bad diet or sources such as pathogens that we can SEE under a microscope. Americans being a pious folk, might also tell you that God will be upset if His plan for disease is interfered with.

Almighty God and bad diets won't suffer litigation, however, while medical associations and the manufactures of vaccines will. My heart pours out to those unfortunate Americans dealing with autism, but causing others to die is inexcusable. The horrible diseases that vaccines protect us from are horrible and often fatal. Surely death is a worse fate than autism.

This, my friends, is one American fear that I wish I had a vaccine for.

Sincerely,
Sir Robyn

References:

• The CDC tries to allay vaccine fears - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/
  
• While this site spreads fear - http://www.know-vaccines.org/autism.html
  
• While another court battle fails - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/health/13vaccine.html?ref=health
  
• While researchers look for the real cause - http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/05/04/autism.brain.amygdala/index.html