Sunday, May 11, 2008

Whooping smugness

Today's Karma
Liberal SmugnessI bring this local ( to the San Francisco Bay Area) news item to your attention because the elements of the issue have been raised here before.
I do not want to discuss it or debate it, but only bring it to the attention to warn parents.

A local expensive alternative school, where a high portion of parents are advanced in the Northern California "natural" ways of healthy living, is now experiencing a outbreak of whooping cough. The situation is being brought under control but the school is closed down.
It is being reported that other schools in the area have a 99% rate of vaccination. This school and its well meaning parents have introduced a vaccination rate of 50% into the equation. Their children were no longer protected by the "herd affect".

"The founder of the Waldorf School, Rudolf Steiner believed vaccinations interfered with a child's destiny or karma, and some Waldforf schools follow that philosophy."

The real world has now entered into the picture    Discussion forum

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Only in America do we vaccinate infants. Thanks AMA for SIDS, increased instances of Autism and God knows what else. None of my last three children were vaccinated, thank you.

Rodger the Real King of France said...

I missed ya prof. And, you are el-correcto to a very large extent ... I think the real prollem may be associated with combivacs though. I was vaccinated for whooping cough in 1972.

Anonymous said...

Idiots. I just hope their child neglect doesn't affect my kids.

Gun, shovel, woods. Even though it is a waste of a shell.

I got a thought: you don't want to vaccinate your kids, keep them out of the schools, malls, and pools.

pdwalker said...

Vaccinations do save lives. Child mortality is so much lower now, even with the risk of complications or side effects from the vaccinations.

Our parents, our grandparents can tell us what times were like when they were growing up when they didn't have the vaccinations. It's scary and we, fortunately, do not have to face it.

If I could change one thing, I'd switch to single vaccinations so children don't get the massive attacks on their system, even if it were more expensive.

Even so, if the choice is that, or no vaccinations? I'll take vaccinations anyday.

Chuck said...

WMProf:

Will you still feel so smug when your children are looking up at you from an iron lung?

The fact is, we don't know what causes autism, sids, or the vast majority of other things, but we do know that vaccines protect our children from disease better than good intentions.

You are betting your children's health, against the odds. The payoff you get if you're right is that you can say "I was lucky" not even an "I told you so" or "I was right." If you're wrong, then you only get to tell your children (and perhaps the families of other children "I'm sorry."

Them stakes are too high for me.

Anonymous said...

If the kid is old enough to go outside and play with other kids, you need to vaccinate.

Yes vaccines are dangerous. Disease is even more dangerous.

I agree that full bore series of vaccinations for infants may be a bad idea ... but if the kid is old enough to be trusted with a baby-sitter, I think it might be time for those vaccines.

Anonymous said...

Even as an old geezer, I still clearly remember the wave of relief that swept through America when the Salk polio vaccine (later replaced by the Sabin vaccine) was announced...

My kids were vaccinated, and I support a RESPONSIBLE vaccination program. Single immunizations may be superior, I do not have the medical background to offer an opinion.

DeDog

Anonymous said...

None of my last three children WAS vaccinated, thank you.

No, "prof", thank you for raising the odds against me and mine. Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

I'll be the first to agree that there are dangers associated with some vaccinations. A very small percentage of children will have a severe adverse reaction to DPT vaccine [the "P" stands for pertussis, better know as whooping cough and that's the component in question]. Unfortunately there is no way to predict in advance which children will have the reaction.

Having said that, whooping cough is potentially much more serious.

Conclusion - if you feel that vaccinating your child is analagous to playing Russian roulette, not vaccinating them is comparable to playing the same thing with more bullets in the gun.

Anonymous said...

I wanted to have my 3 vaccinated for small pox and was informed by nurse Nancy that it was no longer available...till some wacko gets into the CDC and cultures it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to unvaccinated kids catching what the illegals are bringing us, my daughter caught Whooping Cough while she was PREGNANT, thank you very much. She had no choice but to take the meds. Thank GOD the baby is perfectly fine.

Since most of us were vaccinated for a bunch of stuff when we were kids and only a few of us came out blithering idiots *snort* we all need to do one thing: Check with your Docs and see what we need to be re-vaccinated for, or if we do. Whooping cough vaccine only lasts about 10 years. A Doc can check with a simple blood test.

This subject just pisses me off.

Anonymous said...

Multi vacs vs. single shots is well worth consideration. My company received the entire battery of shots for Vietnam in minutes, and within the hour most of us felt like crap and several guys had to be hospitalized immediately.
That said, take a look at a mortality schedule from about 1900 - 1910 and you will be stunned at the number of deaths, all ages, from causes we hardly think of today in the USA:
scarlet fever, diphtheria, cholera, typhoid fever, whooping cough, pneumonia, tuberculosis, dysentery, malaria, measles, smallpox, typhus, yellow fever and polio.
Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick

Anonymous said...

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man-
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:-
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire;
~Kipling

Casca

Anonymous said...

Two words: titer testing.

Anonymous said...

I strongly encourage everyone who doesn't want to get vaccinated to not get vaccinated. The herd needs thinning. Malthus says, "Heyyy."

Rodger the Real King of France said...

Exciting notion tho it may be, I don't see what titer testing would accomplish. What if it's a male, or girl who doesn't have them?

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