Editor's Blog3 mins ago
Measles Epidemic
Am I alone in being amazed at the scale of the recent measles epidemic ? Its occurred here in my home town of Swansea, and there appears to be 1000's of children who have been immunised, with 100,000's others around the UK.
Why have the parents not made sure that their kids are properly protected ? The original fuss over the MMR jabs is now a long time ago, having occurred in 1998, and the false reporting has been thoroughly dealt with. So why are the parents of babies born NOW not receiving their jabs ? I would have thought that Doctors, Health Visitors, etc would have been doing their jobs these last few years.
The BBC report today that 1 million kids are going to be targeted in a new campaign ::
http://
That sounds like a huge number to me !
Why have the parents not made sure that their kids are properly protected ? The original fuss over the MMR jabs is now a long time ago, having occurred in 1998, and the false reporting has been thoroughly dealt with. So why are the parents of babies born NOW not receiving their jabs ? I would have thought that Doctors, Health Visitors, etc would have been doing their jobs these last few years.
The BBC report today that 1 million kids are going to be targeted in a new campaign ::
http://
That sounds like a huge number to me !
Answers
Best Answer
No best answer has yet been selected by mikey4444. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
@Right. Equate a genuine scandal - thalidomide- with a manufactured controversy over MMR. I am old enough to be extremely lucky that my other was not offered thalidomide.
Believe in conspiracy and the sinister motivations of Big Pharma rather than the rather more mundane conspiracy between a small town lawyer and a little known gastro-enterology researcher to "find" evidence for a class action against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine.
And to remark that medical opinion will change in a few years time over vaccination is just silly. The value of vaccination to the cause of public health cannot be overstated.
I get amazed and disappointed when people reject the facts and the evidence in favour of belief, or faith, or their own version of the truth - such as the contention that the MMR vaccine contains or ever contained "mercury" for example, or your assertion that the GMC are so in thrall to this vast conspiracy by "Big Pharma" that they strike the "lone brave maverick" off the register.
But hey, I am sure you will continue to believe what you will - so keep the faith ( belief in the absence of evidence)
Believe in conspiracy and the sinister motivations of Big Pharma rather than the rather more mundane conspiracy between a small town lawyer and a little known gastro-enterology researcher to "find" evidence for a class action against the manufacturers of the MMR vaccine.
And to remark that medical opinion will change in a few years time over vaccination is just silly. The value of vaccination to the cause of public health cannot be overstated.
I get amazed and disappointed when people reject the facts and the evidence in favour of belief, or faith, or their own version of the truth - such as the contention that the MMR vaccine contains or ever contained "mercury" for example, or your assertion that the GMC are so in thrall to this vast conspiracy by "Big Pharma" that they strike the "lone brave maverick" off the register.
But hey, I am sure you will continue to believe what you will - so keep the faith ( belief in the absence of evidence)
sebhfhion My information about Wakefield is openly available on the net, as is the BMC ruling.
"Why on earth would the drugs companies pay Wakefield to report their vaccines were causing neurological problems?"
Well it was for money - however the fact that you have to even ask the question shows that you have no idea of what your talking about, that you haven't read any of the background and even less understanding.
And in support of LazyGun, I would say that he very rarely, if ever,in matters like this, posts from ignorance or lack of information. This isn't a matter of opinion, its a matter of facts. The one your supporting has been totaly discredited and Wakefield struck off. Ours is based on fact and entirely proved fact.
Your quote about Thalidomide, is both out of place and spurious, no one doubts that Thalidomide was wrong, but things change as does science.
"Why on earth would the drugs companies pay Wakefield to report their vaccines were causing neurological problems?"
Well it was for money - however the fact that you have to even ask the question shows that you have no idea of what your talking about, that you haven't read any of the background and even less understanding.
And in support of LazyGun, I would say that he very rarely, if ever,in matters like this, posts from ignorance or lack of information. This isn't a matter of opinion, its a matter of facts. The one your supporting has been totaly discredited and Wakefield struck off. Ours is based on fact and entirely proved fact.
Your quote about Thalidomide, is both out of place and spurious, no one doubts that Thalidomide was wrong, but things change as does science.
This has just appeared on the BBC website ::
http://
Is it any wonder that people are STILL confused about the MMR jab !
Until the BBC brought it to notice earlier today, the Website associated with the Children's Immunisation Centre were still giving out false information.
The lady who was interviewed, who I would wager is not a doctor, said that "its not about business at all"
I, for one, don't believe her...it has the stink of commercial exploitation of the vulnerable and ignorant all over it.
http://
Is it any wonder that people are STILL confused about the MMR jab !
Until the BBC brought it to notice earlier today, the Website associated with the Children's Immunisation Centre were still giving out false information.
The lady who was interviewed, who I would wager is not a doctor, said that "its not about business at all"
I, for one, don't believe her...it has the stink of commercial exploitation of the vulnerable and ignorant all over it.
It might surprise people to know that Thalidomide is being used around the world ::::
http://
http://
daffy...I can't find any mention of this anywhere on the 'net, and I am sure it can't be true as we would have heard about by now.
Also, a small point perhaps but can we stop referring to this chap as Doctor anything, as he was struck off the Medical Register, and isn't licensed to practise either here or in the States, where he currently resides.
Mr in future perhaps ?
Also, a small point perhaps but can we stop referring to this chap as Doctor anything, as he was struck off the Medical Register, and isn't licensed to practise either here or in the States, where he currently resides.
Mr in future perhaps ?
While Thalidomide was undoubtedly a mess, it highlighted serious flaws in the way medical drugs are trialled, it has also led to some important changes that go towards fixing those flaws. This is was I mean whenever I say that Science is self-correcting. In the same way, vaccination as a technique has been tried and tested for the better part of two centuries. Over that time some vaccines have surely failed, and been withdrawn from use because of that. Others work, with no major side-effects at any significant level. Remember that well over 80% of the entire Western world for about 20 years has received MMR - in that time any definite causal link to Autism, or to mercury poisoning, or similar, would have have visible consequences. That it has not is enough of an experiment for anyone to see that MMR is not dangerous.
Any further debate on the merits or otherwise of MMR is, to be blunt, pointless. It's been examined intensively both before and after Wakefield's false claims, and they have been found to have no bearing in truth whatsoever.
When it comes to a decision to vaccinate children with a demonstrably safe vaccine such as MMR, I don't see that Thalidomide should come into it at all. That was a tragic mistake but was also 50 years ago. Things have moved on; Scientific studies and methods have improved.
Any further debate on the merits or otherwise of MMR is, to be blunt, pointless. It's been examined intensively both before and after Wakefield's false claims, and they have been found to have no bearing in truth whatsoever.
When it comes to a decision to vaccinate children with a demonstrably safe vaccine such as MMR, I don't see that Thalidomide should come into it at all. That was a tragic mistake but was also 50 years ago. Things have moved on; Scientific studies and methods have improved.
Thanks mikey, it seems the rumour was about the single measles vaccine (apologies for my mistake). I have no idea whether it is/was true though.
///An investigation by journalist Brian Deer uncovered the fact that two years before the 1998 Wakefield group report was published, Wakefield had begun receiving money from lawyers, led by Richard Barr, wanting to file lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. Of £3.4m distributed to doctors and scientists recruited to help build their case, Wakefield received £435,643 in fees, plus £3,910 expenses.* Deer also discovered that in 1997 Wakefield had applied for a patent for a measles vaccine on behalf of the Royal Free hospital medical school and the Neuroimmuno Therapeutics Research Foundation, a private company of unconventional immunologist Professor H. Hugh Fudenberg of Spartanburg, South Carolina. (Fudenberg claimed in a 2004 interview with Deer that he cured autistic children with his own bone marrow.) Wakefield's vaccine would be a potential competitor to the MMR and single-shot measles vaccines. The final blow to whatever credibility Wakefield had left was delivered in 2009 when it was discovered that he had fixed his data.///
From here:
http://
Can also be found on other sites.
///An investigation by journalist Brian Deer uncovered the fact that two years before the 1998 Wakefield group report was published, Wakefield had begun receiving money from lawyers, led by Richard Barr, wanting to file lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. Of £3.4m distributed to doctors and scientists recruited to help build their case, Wakefield received £435,643 in fees, plus £3,910 expenses.* Deer also discovered that in 1997 Wakefield had applied for a patent for a measles vaccine on behalf of the Royal Free hospital medical school and the Neuroimmuno Therapeutics Research Foundation, a private company of unconventional immunologist Professor H. Hugh Fudenberg of Spartanburg, South Carolina. (Fudenberg claimed in a 2004 interview with Deer that he cured autistic children with his own bone marrow.) Wakefield's vaccine would be a potential competitor to the MMR and single-shot measles vaccines. The final blow to whatever credibility Wakefield had left was delivered in 2009 when it was discovered that he had fixed his data.///
From here:
http://
Can also be found on other sites.
"Why on earth would the drugs companies pay Wakefield to report their vaccines were causing neurological problems?"
Others have mentioned Wakefield's advocacy of single-jab vaccines over the combined one in his study. He was also hired beforehand by a law firm that was found to be planning litigation against companies that sold the combined MMR jab, and (as LG mentioned), Wakefield had patented his own single-jab vaccine *prior* to his report being written.
(I think it's also worth mentioning that Wakefield was found to have severely breached medical guidelines on the treatment of children in his research).
On top of all this, I think it's also worth mentioning that vaccines are by no means the pharmaceutical industry's biggest money-spinner - a person gets maybe a few shots in their life. That's peanuts compared to a pill that you take every day for 5-10 years (or longer), which is the kind of thing they prioritise.
Others have mentioned Wakefield's advocacy of single-jab vaccines over the combined one in his study. He was also hired beforehand by a law firm that was found to be planning litigation against companies that sold the combined MMR jab, and (as LG mentioned), Wakefield had patented his own single-jab vaccine *prior* to his report being written.
(I think it's also worth mentioning that Wakefield was found to have severely breached medical guidelines on the treatment of children in his research).
On top of all this, I think it's also worth mentioning that vaccines are by no means the pharmaceutical industry's biggest money-spinner - a person gets maybe a few shots in their life. That's peanuts compared to a pill that you take every day for 5-10 years (or longer), which is the kind of thing they prioritise.
I'm still waiting for Lazygun to reply to me about Thalidomide too -seems to have gone quiet on that subject.
For that matter, magsmay, we're all still waiting to hear exactly why you aren't interested in changing your mind despite all the facts demonstrating your position to be based on flawed and falsified data and not a shred of credible evidence.
Thankfully, for all of us, the "herd immunity" target is 95%, which means that if a small number of people refuse to take up any particular jab then it doesn't have a significant effect on the rest of us. The problem is that during the height of the MMR scandal, number dipped well below that target, to 80% nationally and as low as 60% in London.
Misinformation can kill. It is saddening, then, that you aren't interested in changing your mind. It is also saddening that you've yet to explain your reasoning, beyond the already refuted claims of "mercury" poisoning in vaccines.
For that matter, magsmay, we're all still waiting to hear exactly why you aren't interested in changing your mind despite all the facts demonstrating your position to be based on flawed and falsified data and not a shred of credible evidence.
Thankfully, for all of us, the "herd immunity" target is 95%, which means that if a small number of people refuse to take up any particular jab then it doesn't have a significant effect on the rest of us. The problem is that during the height of the MMR scandal, number dipped well below that target, to 80% nationally and as low as 60% in London.
Misinformation can kill. It is saddening, then, that you aren't interested in changing your mind. It is also saddening that you've yet to explain your reasoning, beyond the already refuted claims of "mercury" poisoning in vaccines.
It was once thought if you had measles as a child it gave you lifetime immunity , it doesn't , although it helps, thats why a booster injection is required.
Measles can be fatal and can cause blindness especially in adults.
I caught measles as an adult despite having had it as a child , I was also kept in a darkened room to protect my eyes.
Latest Posts
Quizzes & Puzzles9 mins ago
Crosswords30 mins ago
Climber Needs To *** Into Runny Paste
Crosswords37 mins ago