Emotion and anecdotes are not data. No matter how hard you wish.
Wakefield is worse than a quack. He is a money grubbing fraud. Remember, all of this came about because he was in the employ of lawyers looking for someone to sue and he was attempting to market his own vaccine.
There is no link. Period. Coincidental timing is the best anyone has seen.
Please, STOP putting childrens lives at risk with your emotional opinions.
There is no Great Conspiracy to make a few dollars off of you. It is simply not true.
My own son, severs cardiac issues, was not vaccinated completely on time due to not knowing if he had a Thymus. It was very small at his first open heart surgery at age 5 days, and transfusions made looking for native T Cells problematic. The anxiety and sheltering was gut wrenching.
With his heart and lung issues, exposure to whooping cough would have killed him.
And yes, he risked that exposure when a family brought their other unvaccinated children to the PICU waiting room for a visit through the glass with their Pertussis diagnosed brother. And at least one of them was showing symptoms.
Rude doesn't describe it. How does one think the right thing to do is bring a potentially whooping cough infected child to a Pediatric ICE for a visit? I, of course, did the right thing and informed the Docs. The family was removed to isolation immediately.
They risked lives because they didn't vaccinate or THINK.
I posit that those that don't vaccinate are also not THINKING.
they think they are, but really they rely on emotion and a scapegoat.
That scapegoat, vaccination, hes been proven innocent time and again.
It is time to stop blaming and heal the rift wakefield and mccarthy, and their ilk feed on.
Autism needs research. Not emotion. Not Hollywood woo woo.
A search for real causes and real therapies is required.
Let's work together and improve kids lives.
Science is our friend in this, not our enemy.
As much as we cherish believes, sometimes the pain of letting go of them is worthwhile.
Much like the realization that there is no god. It hurts and is confusing. But soon enough, clarity shows the truth and we can progress.
Peace
Nurse for Science - 13 years ago
Thank you Bonnie for busting the myths! Shame on all you anti-vaccination people and your conspiracies, especially you other nurses! Your supposed to protect the patients, not encourage preventable disease and suffering.
Do your homework parents! If the anti-vaccine groups were really trying to get you the information, they wouldn't charge an arm and a leg for their books! The science and studies on vaccines are available to the public for FREE:
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10997
Stop the ignorance! Get your kids protected against infectious diseases.
Anna - 13 years ago
Do you want a unbiased study? Study autism in the Amish. This is an unvaccinated population. Compare autism to vaccinated verses unvaccinated populations. Doctors receive 80 percent of their income from vaccine sales. Look at the profits from BIG PHARMA. I guess parents with vaccine damaged children can afford unbiased studies. The studies are done by PHARMA co. and gov't agencies. They head people of the CDC come from the executive ranks of BIG PHARMA and vice versa. Since when has it ever been about something other then the buck. Follow the money trail. Don't let corporate america inject anything into your child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mom-Nurse - 13 years ago
Mom, Grandmother, Nurse for 30+years.
Wake up Mommies and Daddies, you are playing Russian Roulette with your babies with all these shots.
Many Pediatricians do NOT vaccinate their own children according to the Vaccine Schedule. That alone should
be telling you something.
Jackie - 13 years ago
AUTISM should be the least of your concerns when it comes to the dangers of vaccines.
Rachel B - 13 years ago
49 doses of 14 vaccines before the age of 6.........THAT'S PARANOIA!
Ann - 13 years ago
You are all CRAZY!!!!! Instead of reading the radical reviews on vaccines stop being paranoid and read some actually medical studies that completely refute any link between vaccines and autism. I proudly have vaccinated my children and I look forward to thier preventable disease free lives!!!!
Rachel B - 13 years ago
To Starla H.
Actually, it's the vaccinated children who spread disease. Many of the disease outbreaks that we are warned about today, are caused by, and occur in, recently vaccinated children SO, please do us a favor and learn something! And go ahead, bring your baby and children to the same playground that we play on......you do not scare us with your sickly disease laced baby/kids.......we use natural health care and whole foods to BOOST our children's immunities.....thats why you'll see us coming and going from our overpriced, organic, gluten-free, dairy-free only grocery store we spend half our paycheck at! While you spend your money on per. drugs and vaccines, over the counter meds, pull ups for BIG KIDS.....lol
Are you going to go and get your babies in line for the AIDS vaccine too? And BTW, Kids in 3rd world countries are vaccinated.......DUH!
And, for the record, My oldest is 14 "unvaccinated" and that was LONG before Mcarthy came into the picture.....
Monika - 13 years ago
The Whooping cough out break in California is showing that vaccines are not working. Most of those who came down with the disease were fully vaccinated. Even more were partially vaccinated. Whooping cough is mutating because of the vaccine.
Chicken pox is even more dangerous as an adult than as a child. The vaccine is making it even more likely to happen adult hood. Because the vaccine only lasts about 5 years. ( hence why they are adding more and more to the schedule). Versus if you get the disease your immunity is life long.... as long as you continue to get minimal exposure. Which is now no longer happening.
Vaccinated children put others at RISK.... They still carry the disease and can pass to others and many vaccines shed the disease ( The flumist and chicken pox, and rotovirus just to name a few) Many for weeks after the vaccine is given.
I make an informed choice when it comes to vaccinations. I read the package inserts... many of which say it has never been tested and determined safe for they very people who are encouraged to take said "vaccine" (pregnant women for example)
These studies are funded buy the very people who I NEEDING it to be "safe" to make their profits. I will not listen to them just like I will never let a celebrity make my parenting decisions EVER!!!
LIZ - 13 years ago
@ Starla as a matter of fact I feel the same way about vaccinated kids. With their rashes all over their faces and their runny noses, their blank un alert stares, they way they are sick all the time. If you think parents that choose to not vaccinate their kids are basing their decision on Jenny McCarthy or Andrew Wakefield you are out of your mind.
I have logged 100's of hours of research and interviewing parents, dr's, lawyers, grandparents, retired dr's, PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN FIRED FROM PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES!!!!, lab techs, OTHER PARENTS.
I feel that my job as a parent is to PROTECT ALL CHILDREN NOT JUST MY OWN. I am not about to put my daughter at risk or any other child. I think parents that have vaccinated their children and think they have caused no harm THAT THEY CAN SEE YET! have a duty to help protect other children.
Nobody finds it weird that in almost every baby product on the shelf in your supermarkets there are at least 3 toxic chemicals???? You don't think it's bad that you feed your kids fruits and veggies that are sprayed with toxic chemicals.??? Even the plastic toys you give your kids to play with ARE FILLED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS INCLUDING THE BOTTLED WATER YOU DRINK!!!!!
If our food and water is not safe where do you people get the balls and information that you think injecting some foreign matter that WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY PUT IN THERE is going to be healthy for a newborn or any baby developing.
Well good luck injecting your kids and we will see whose kid is sick this winter with the flu first.
BTW MOMS AND DADS...... you are not real parents if you just care about your kids while they are kids, what about when they are 50 or 60? What about what these shots do to the genes that they will pass on to their own kids.
ALSO IF VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM THEN WHY DID THE GOV't award 20 million to Hannah Poling and then seal the case so nobody could see?
I must be they ignorant one and not this tabloid writing fool that probably doesn't even have kids
Liz - 13 years ago
Hello Bonnie,
I am writing to you regarding your article about vaccines. I am not sure where you get your info from, or why when you post an article like this are you not citing the information in which you are claiming to be true?
You stated:Today parents have the luxury of considering the ridiculous notion of NOT vaccinating their children. They have this luxury because we don’t live in a world where there are feared, regular contagious disease epidemics.
I feel that writing such a thing such as the word luxury you are implying that it is a luxury my 7 month old daughter has a heart murmur which over 95% of newborns are born with. 90% of these newborns have a valve that closes on it's own. The other 5% it is divided pretty evenly that half will need surgery and the other half will outgrow their murmur. That being said my daughter was almost injected with a HEP B vaccine literally 12 minutes after her birth. They did not test her heart until the following day.
After seeing a pediatric cardiologist, he said it was wise to hold off on vaccinating her until her heart murmur has been fully evaluated.
the point of me sharing my own personal story with you is that many children are born in this day and age with health issues, we are seeing more and more born with diseases, auto immune diseases, asthma etc.
You also state:In the meantime, mercury, which was used as a preservative in children’s vaccines and which was eyed as the instigator of autism, has been virtually eliminated from modern vaccines. Even so, many, many reputable medical studies found no correlation between mercury and autism.
This is a false statement on SO many levels. First off did you know that a pharmaceutical company would have to sterilize it's whole building, lab, employees, equipment, etc. from the mercury in the 1st place. To just remove it as an ingredient would not help the rest of us trying to keep our children safe. We all know that The Pharma comp,.did not spend millions of dollars on sterilization of their facilities to make sure their employees and our children are safe. If they had there would have been some media some where. Second mercury is a highly toxic component, to claim that this is removed from ALL vaccines is BS and you know it. It is clearly in the new flu shot this year BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN THE INSERT!
You state:
I realize how frustrating it must be for parents who are desperately searching for a cause of their child’s autism. It can be especially difficult for parents who, believed that their child was developing normally, until toddlerhood.
First off my child is totally healthy and she is unvaccinated, I am breastfeeding and supplying her with all the immunity she needs. Second who do you think you are writing something such as this? So you think thousands and thousands of parents ALL OVER THE WORLD are wrong? You think they are all making this up? Not sure what kind of parent you are Bonnie but a real mother would notice a change from an hour later after a shot. Just like after an MMR shot an autistic boy who had perfect speech started slurring and stuttering hours after the MMR.
You can claim all you want about Dr Wakefield and Jenny McCarthy. you will not change the minds of the thousands of parents all over. WARRIOR MOMS AND DADS WILL PREVAIL.
I also suggest next time you write and article such as this you provide your readers with links of where you pulled this info from. Or you are just another ignorant sheeple scrambling for a pay check, by harming your own American reader's children.
I am so confident vaccines are harmful i am will to bet my life and my family's life on it.
take care Bonnie and let me know when you stop writing for a trashy tabloid and get a real journalism job then maybe I would read your stuff more
BTW great poll let's see who is ahead?
Glenice de Silva - 13 years ago
You might like this Starla...
If you are interested the rest of the article the link is given below. Now, I don't really know if the rate of autism in third world countries are low or high, I have not done my home work on this but I do know so many parents whose children are affected with autism and other disorders and most of them come from a middle class or upper middle class background. The irony being they can afford the vaccinations. You obviously don't get it, if you think the majority of the anti vaccine lobby is letting Jenny McCarthy influence them and their decisions regarding their children. We are doing our home work in regard to that and working towards recovering our children. I think you would be better off keeping your children at home....seriously.
US infant mortality rate now worse than 28 other countries
By Patrick O’Connor
18 October 2008
A report issued Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) documents how the infant mortality rate in the United States is growing in relation to other countries. The study, "Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States," found that at least 28 other countries now have lower death rates for infants in the first year of life.
The US's relative position has declined steadily. In 1960, it had the 12th lowest infant mortality rate, but by 1990 had dropped to 23rd place, and by 2004—the latest year of the CDC's comparative world figures on living standards—the US ranked 29th. The most recent study, published in July and titled "The Measure of America," estimated that the US is now in 34th place.
The CDC report found that there was no improvement in the incidence of US infant deaths between 2000 and 2005, a "plateau in the US infant mortality rate represent[ing] the first period of sustained lack of decline in the US infant mortality rate since the 1950s." This "has generated concern among researchers and policy makers," the report noted.
For the year 2000, the infant mortality rate was 6.89 per 1,000, a rate that remained stagnant for five years before declining slightly to 6.71 between 2005 and 2006.
The CDC noted: "The impact of child mortality is considerable: there are more than 28,000 deaths to children under 1 year of age each year in the United States."
Several countries in Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland) and East Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore) have an infant mortality rate below 3.5, almost half the US rate. The CDC's 2004 rankings placed the US in a tie with Poland and Slovakia, and only marginally ahead of Puerto Rico and Chile. The US was behind every developed country in North America, Western Europe, and Australasia, as well as Cuba, Hungary, Israel, and the Czech Republic.
Starla H - 13 years ago
Here's a thought: You choose not to vaccinate your kids, you choose to not let them use ANY public facilities where they can infect MY baby that isn't old enough to get the vaccines. This includes schools, playgrounds, stores, airplanes... pretty much everywhere. You choose to not vaccinate, you choose to put MY baby at risk. If you want that option, go find a third world country where you can catch all the diseases you want. I'm not calling b.s. on autism, but has anyone stopped to think that maybe autism isn't detectable until after a certain age that happens to coincide with vaccination schedule? I do agree that giving a kid six shots at once is a bad idea. I have three kids and have never given them more than three shots in one visit. But skipping vaccination altogether is what's causing these diseases to happen more frequently. Parents will hear "vaccinations = autism", and nothing else. I bet autism rates in third world countries are low since they don't get these vaccines, not that it matters when those babies DIE before they even turn one. Are there risks? Sure. But tell me ONE THING in any aspect of life that 100% safe. Your odds of dying in a plane crash are higher than having an adverse reaction to a vaccine, and you're more likely to get hit by a car while driving to that overpriced, organic, gluten-free, dairy-free only grocery store you spend half your paycheck. Don't get me wrong, anyone that let's Jenny McCarthy have that much influence in their lives might deserve to catch some easily preventable disease and die, but when they put my kids at risk, yeah, I've got a problem with that.
Laureen Forman - 13 years ago
To even think that there are parents out there just listen to what a celebrity is saying about a medical issue is the reason for lower vaccinations rates shows that the AAP thinks that parents are just plain dumb. This is a huge issue and parents who do their homework like reading the package inserts as well as the CDCs own website on Adverse Reactions to vaccines - make informed choices. The AAP spreading such garbage gives them so much less credibility - how can you take them seriously on such an important issue. My guess is that they know the real truth, want to spin it to make the parents seem crazy and make sure that sheeple do what they are told. Here's what they are not telling the parents that the whooping cough vaccine is not even treating the current strain that is causing the disease - how many parents are told that before getting the shot themselves or giving it to their children? Zero! That statistics are showing that those who are getting infected have been vaccinated - so, if that is the case and there are serious complications to all vaccines - why take the risk as it will not provide any immunity anyway. So, a baby dying from whooping cough is not okay but one that dies from the vaccine is just a casualty to protect the masses or one that has a reaction and will now need lifelong care - that's okay because we are preventing a disease right? We need to put people before profits - that's really what it comes down to. Remember, the vaccine business was really risky back in the 70's so many pharmas got out of the business because the liability was too great. Now that they have protection with the vaccine court and even more protection to not have any liability, they are all in the market - because it is profitable because of the government mandates. We need to start looking for true health instead of fearing diseases that a healthy body can overcome. We don't have health care in this country - we have sick care because it's more profitable to the pharmas to be sick then it is if we use preventative medicine.
My child got measles encephalitis after the MMR which developed into autoimmune encephalopathy-a life threatening illness (with autistic symptoms), which requires lifelong medical care. I am sure getting the 'measles' would have been far more devastating to us than our life now (sarcasm).
Silvermaven - 13 years ago
You are not supposed to vaccinate someone who is sick. Yet it is ok to vaccinate someone who has a syndrome of unknown origin, such as MS/ALS/Alzheimers/etc. etc....Get real people...Know that we have many organisms infecting people and they refuse to give us tests that work-and treatments to cure. Many cannot be found in the blood and must be found in the DNA only after killing some. Instead they choose to leave you with a syndrome of unknown origin...This country is still in the dark ages while others are finding out how to find them and now working on treatments to cure not only killing the organisms but boosting the immune system that has been shut down from the infections....The ignorance of the lies and deceit will soon make the US look like the laughing stock that it is because of the failures to work on them only for profit...If you have a child with Autism, find yourself a real doctor to kill the organisms, and stop the ignorance.
The only vaccine that has EVER been tested on the link to autism is the MMR vaccine. And they have NEVER tested non-vaccinated children. Every.single.study. has a conflict of interest.... I would suggest that you take a look at each and every study....http://14studies.org/studies.html
Cherri - 13 years ago
Like Jenny McCarthy we want SAFER Vaccines before we agree to follow the govt. MANDATED SCHEDULE which includes vaccines for BABIES for diseased transmitted mostly thru sexual contact and dirty needles and wears off before they are even at risk (HepB). The majority of the Whooping Cough cases have been in vaccinated people because the VACCINES are NOT EFFECTIVE OVER TIME so previously vaccinated ADULTS INFECT BABIES. LET THE HEALTHY ADULTS GET THE VACCINES and protect the babies with immature immune systems. WE are not anit-vaccine we are PRO SAFE VACCINES WHEN NECESSARY. The studies you reference are funded, bought and paid for by the AAP and Big Pharma who makes a fortune at the expense of children's health. They are flawed and there are an equal number of independent studies showing significant problems with vaccines and their ingredients.
Robert - 13 years ago
I have numerous friends with brain damaged children and autistic, not any difference. THEY ALL SAY IT OCCURRED FOLLOWING VACCINATION! Perhaps the writer should do her homework. I shall promote to every friend to never purchase this rag! 19 studies are very small compared to the thousands out there that show the correlation. Apparently the writer isn't able to research.
CV - 13 years ago
Studies sponsered by the pharmaceutical industry. The same people that put prescription meds on the market without checking them out thoroughly.
Triin - 13 years ago
All I am saying is" GOOO JENNNY"!!!!!!!!!! I still am a strong believer of no-vaccinations and media is NOT going to change my mind. I'd rather live with knowing my child is healthy and gets a natural sickness and has her/his own STRONG immune system to fight it than have her suffer side effects from "made in china" poisonous vaccinesn for rest of her life!!!! I so NO THANK YOU to behavioral problems, ADD, Autism, Weak immune system and so on and on :)
Tina - 13 years ago
Vaccines KILL & WILL be used for population control
Mercury has NOT been virtually eliminated from vaccines. It has been increased. The key to causing autism is to introduce mercury before a baby has a blood brain barrier. The mercury in the mothers' flu shots does an excellent job at causing brain damage and death to fetuses. This also makes the drug companies seem innocent since most people don't even know that mercury is in the flu shot in the full amount. The baby does not need to be vaccinated itself to wind up with autism and the child is born autistic so parents don't see it develop normally and then regress as most of us saw when mercury was in the vaccines in the full dose. This cons young parents into believing the lie that autism is genetic.
Vaccines don't cause autism without mercury and aluminum. They were used for 133 years before thimerosal was added and they never caused one case of autism until that time.
Sylvia - 13 years ago
Jenny is absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it RIGHT. She just has the guts to go up against the two post powerful forces in the world: the pharmaceutical giants and the U.S. Public Health monster.
These two forces have massive billions of dollars riding on Jenny being wrong. But STILL it is impossible to deny the trutht:
VACCINES CAN CAUSE HARM!
Don't take Jenny's word for it, and most certainly don't wait for for it to be YOUR child hurt by vaccines. Read the studies yourself. Go to SafeMinds.org and read all of the studies on both sides, then decide for yourself. The two forces do not want you informed, they want you intimidated. And they want you in line, with your mouth frimly shut.
Cindy W. - 13 years ago
Our daughter was "normal" until the age of 18 months when she received FIVE vaccinations at one time. She had fever for three days and then we started noticing changes in her behavior. She would line toys up, she wouldn't look at people in the eyes (even dolls), she would have meltdowns for no apparent reason and she quit speaking. At 18 months she had 33 words. Within a year she went from 33 to 28 to 25 to 19, 12, 7, 3, to saying "Mama" and "ice". Then she quit speaking at all. Do you know how heartbreaking it is to see your child struggle to speak and look into her eyes and see her wonder "I had that word yesterday. Why can't I say it today?"
I hope and pray that your child(ren) NEVER experience the HELL that we've been through because of vaccines.
Bianca - 13 years ago
Wow....because this isnt a biased poll......
Tara Marshall - 13 years ago
Vaccines do not appear to have negative effects upon everyone, however, it is impossible to deny that some people have very negative reactions to vaccines.
My mother nearly died of Guillain Barre Syndrome after she received her dose of the 1973 swine flu vaccine. I was born in 1974, less than a year later - in fact, she was pregnant with me during her GBS episode. I've had the regular flu vaccine twice, and both times, was so sick with a high fever and joint pain that I WANTED to die. I absolutely refuse to get the swine flu vaccine due to my family history. Despite this, the manufacturers and doctors say that I'm not at risk for an adverse reaction. Hah!
Additionally, I, like about half my family members, am on the Autism Spectrum. Not all of us are officially diagnosed. My father died in 1987, before Asperger's realy was a diagnosis - but he didn't talk until he was six, was called mentally retarded as a child, and grew up to be a computer engineer (which rather rules out the MR). My mother's sister was diagnosed as MR and schizophrenic in 1952, at the age of 5. My Aunt Alison is very clearly Autistic to anyone who knows people with the disorder and knows her at all. I can list unmarried professors, priests, nuns, and others ad nauseum. So I don't think vaccines "cause" autism in my family - but I do think, after seeing what happened to a cousin of mine, they can make us MUCH worse. He got 7 vaccines in one day, had a fever of 105 that night, and went into repeated convulsions. I had to give his mom the number for VAERS, since the doctors didn't want to make the connection. Hmm. Healthy up until 3 hours after he got the vaccine, big hard red lump on his upper arm where the needles were injected, high fever and seizures "coincidentally" within a few hours? And multiple parents reporting this as a common history?
It doesn't take much of a nose to notice that something is stinking here.
A form of chemical and biological warfare against civilians
An organised criminal enterprise dressed up as disease prevention
Systematic child poisoning
Routine child abuse
Institutionalised idiocy
A medical superstition
Here are some receommended websites:
vran.org
vactruth
vaclib
thinktwice
vaccinesuncensored
Vaccination Informaton Network (VINE) on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vaccination-Information-Network-VINE/69667273997
"Vaccines contain substances which are so noxious they should not ever be injected into a human organism."
Viera Scheibner PhD
jack.bushell - 14 years ago
Not only is over vaccination a cause of autism but many other learning disabilities as well. Its just common sense do not vaccinate a child if you ARE NOT breastfeeding until at least the age of one. Secondly NEVER allow a pediatrician to vaccinate your child with multiple vaccines at one time.The MMR vaccine, the biggest culprit in the autism outbreak, should not be given until a child"s immune system is substantially developed- usually 4-6 years old.Always keep in mmind that all vaccine administrators(pediatricians) and the pharmaceuticals who produce them have legal protection under federal law if your child has a problem -or in our case dies.Parents need to to due their homework,ask questions and NEVER deal with any doctor who is "vaccine happy" and tells you they are 100% safe and effective-they are not. One only has to go back to the late 1990"s when the drug companies finally starting implementing the far safer "accelluar Whooping cough vaccine(aka pertussis vaccine). Since then SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome has fallen dramtically. But you will never get information like that from any governmental agency or drug company-because vaccines are the "sacred cows" of the phanreceuticals and a tremendous amount of money is a stake. So rather than the drug companies spending monies to make safer vaccines they instead spend billions lobbying lawmakers for tort reform to protect themselves and their doctors and mandate even more childhood vaccines (eg. the flu vaccine), and more than likely 'Bonnies" blog with some sort of an advertising payoff.
Angela Floyd - 14 years ago
Sure, vaccines are fine for all those other kids. But like the first commenter states, if you can afford to pay for the shots individually, why would you even consider getting them all in one big whallop?? Seems almost as stupid as cutting off part of his penis.
Angela Watson - 14 years ago
Not only have I researched this issue thoroughly myself & found loads of evidence that at least some vaccines pose a problem to their recipients, but I know people who have suffered life-changing adverse effects within days of recieving them. I have followed Jenny McCarthy's work in this area for that last 4 years and have actually READ her books all the way through, & I have never heard or read a statement from her telling parents NOT to vaccinate their children! I have on the other hand heard her urge parents to look into alternative vaccine schedules where 6-7 live viruses are not introduced into a newborn's body all at once! She is also not the only person out there who believes we should rethink the vaccine schedule, & the possible danger of some of the ingredients contained in them. Reputable doctors like Jay Gordon, & William Sears as well as others have expressed similar concerns. Medicine in America has a very long history of both great strides & monumental mistakes in judgement. It is entirely possible they are wrong about this as well. Jenny McCarthy is simply questioning the wisdom of their claims, as all good parents do. I think if anyone is irresponsible today, it is you Ms. Fuller. You are dead wrong about Jenny McCarthy being to blame for parents' decision not to vaccinate. Are you a parent? If not, then you can't imagine the level of responsibility most of us feel where our children's well being is concerned. If you are a mom, do you make your decisions regarding your kids based on what celebs say, or do you research something first? I'm sure most moms would agree the latter is the smarter route. Had Jenny, or thousands of other parents listened to doctors & not done some research, their kids may very well have been vegetables by now. With all due respect, I think I'm done following you now. Maybe you should stick to reporting on movie premieres & what celebs are wearing, & leave the real journalism to the pros.
Emotion and anecdotes are not data. No matter how hard you wish.
Wakefield is worse than a quack. He is a money grubbing fraud. Remember, all of this came about because he was in the employ of lawyers looking for someone to sue and he was attempting to market his own vaccine.
There is no link. Period. Coincidental timing is the best anyone has seen.
Please, STOP putting childrens lives at risk with your emotional opinions.
There is no Great Conspiracy to make a few dollars off of you. It is simply not true.
My own son, severs cardiac issues, was not vaccinated completely on time due to not knowing if he had a Thymus. It was very small at his first open heart surgery at age 5 days, and transfusions made looking for native T Cells problematic. The anxiety and sheltering was gut wrenching.
With his heart and lung issues, exposure to whooping cough would have killed him.
And yes, he risked that exposure when a family brought their other unvaccinated children to the PICU waiting room for a visit through the glass with their Pertussis diagnosed brother. And at least one of them was showing symptoms.
Rude doesn't describe it. How does one think the right thing to do is bring a potentially whooping cough infected child to a Pediatric ICE for a visit? I, of course, did the right thing and informed the Docs. The family was removed to isolation immediately.
They risked lives because they didn't vaccinate or THINK.
I posit that those that don't vaccinate are also not THINKING.
they think they are, but really they rely on emotion and a scapegoat.
That scapegoat, vaccination, hes been proven innocent time and again.
It is time to stop blaming and heal the rift wakefield and mccarthy, and their ilk feed on.
Autism needs research. Not emotion. Not Hollywood woo woo.
A search for real causes and real therapies is required.
Let's work together and improve kids lives.
Science is our friend in this, not our enemy.
As much as we cherish believes, sometimes the pain of letting go of them is worthwhile.
Much like the realization that there is no god. It hurts and is confusing. But soon enough, clarity shows the truth and we can progress.
Peace
Thank you Bonnie for busting the myths! Shame on all you anti-vaccination people and your conspiracies, especially you other nurses! Your supposed to protect the patients, not encourage preventable disease and suffering.
Do your homework parents! If the anti-vaccine groups were really trying to get you the information, they wouldn't charge an arm and a leg for their books! The science and studies on vaccines are available to the public for FREE:
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10997
Anti-Vaccine myths busted:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=4431
The Real Infection risk vs Vaccine risk:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=186
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=289
Flu vaccine efficacy:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2040
Stop the ignorance! Get your kids protected against infectious diseases.
Do you want a unbiased study? Study autism in the Amish. This is an unvaccinated population. Compare autism to vaccinated verses unvaccinated populations. Doctors receive 80 percent of their income from vaccine sales. Look at the profits from BIG PHARMA. I guess parents with vaccine damaged children can afford unbiased studies. The studies are done by PHARMA co. and gov't agencies. They head people of the CDC come from the executive ranks of BIG PHARMA and vice versa. Since when has it ever been about something other then the buck. Follow the money trail. Don't let corporate america inject anything into your child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mom, Grandmother, Nurse for 30+years.
Wake up Mommies and Daddies, you are playing Russian Roulette with your babies with all these shots.
Many Pediatricians do NOT vaccinate their own children according to the Vaccine Schedule. That alone should
be telling you something.
AUTISM should be the least of your concerns when it comes to the dangers of vaccines.
49 doses of 14 vaccines before the age of 6.........THAT'S PARANOIA!
You are all CRAZY!!!!! Instead of reading the radical reviews on vaccines stop being paranoid and read some actually medical studies that completely refute any link between vaccines and autism. I proudly have vaccinated my children and I look forward to thier preventable disease free lives!!!!
To Starla H.
Actually, it's the vaccinated children who spread disease. Many of the disease outbreaks that we are warned about today, are caused by, and occur in, recently vaccinated children SO, please do us a favor and learn something! And go ahead, bring your baby and children to the same playground that we play on......you do not scare us with your sickly disease laced baby/kids.......we use natural health care and whole foods to BOOST our children's immunities.....thats why you'll see us coming and going from our overpriced, organic, gluten-free, dairy-free only grocery store we spend half our paycheck at! While you spend your money on per. drugs and vaccines, over the counter meds, pull ups for BIG KIDS.....lol
Are you going to go and get your babies in line for the AIDS vaccine too? And BTW, Kids in 3rd world countries are vaccinated.......DUH!
And, for the record, My oldest is 14 "unvaccinated" and that was LONG before Mcarthy came into the picture.....
The Whooping cough out break in California is showing that vaccines are not working. Most of those who came down with the disease were fully vaccinated. Even more were partially vaccinated. Whooping cough is mutating because of the vaccine.
Chicken pox is even more dangerous as an adult than as a child. The vaccine is making it even more likely to happen adult hood. Because the vaccine only lasts about 5 years. ( hence why they are adding more and more to the schedule). Versus if you get the disease your immunity is life long.... as long as you continue to get minimal exposure. Which is now no longer happening.
Vaccinated children put others at RISK.... They still carry the disease and can pass to others and many vaccines shed the disease ( The flumist and chicken pox, and rotovirus just to name a few) Many for weeks after the vaccine is given.
I make an informed choice when it comes to vaccinations. I read the package inserts... many of which say it has never been tested and determined safe for they very people who are encouraged to take said "vaccine" (pregnant women for example)
These studies are funded buy the very people who I NEEDING it to be "safe" to make their profits. I will not listen to them just like I will never let a celebrity make my parenting decisions EVER!!!
@ Starla as a matter of fact I feel the same way about vaccinated kids. With their rashes all over their faces and their runny noses, their blank un alert stares, they way they are sick all the time. If you think parents that choose to not vaccinate their kids are basing their decision on Jenny McCarthy or Andrew Wakefield you are out of your mind.
I have logged 100's of hours of research and interviewing parents, dr's, lawyers, grandparents, retired dr's, PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN FIRED FROM PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES!!!!, lab techs, OTHER PARENTS.
I feel that my job as a parent is to PROTECT ALL CHILDREN NOT JUST MY OWN. I am not about to put my daughter at risk or any other child. I think parents that have vaccinated their children and think they have caused no harm THAT THEY CAN SEE YET! have a duty to help protect other children.
Nobody finds it weird that in almost every baby product on the shelf in your supermarkets there are at least 3 toxic chemicals???? You don't think it's bad that you feed your kids fruits and veggies that are sprayed with toxic chemicals.??? Even the plastic toys you give your kids to play with ARE FILLED WITH TOXIC CHEMICALS INCLUDING THE BOTTLED WATER YOU DRINK!!!!!
If our food and water is not safe where do you people get the balls and information that you think injecting some foreign matter that WHO KNOWS WHAT THEY PUT IN THERE is going to be healthy for a newborn or any baby developing.
Well good luck injecting your kids and we will see whose kid is sick this winter with the flu first.
BTW MOMS AND DADS...... you are not real parents if you just care about your kids while they are kids, what about when they are 50 or 60? What about what these shots do to the genes that they will pass on to their own kids.
ALSO IF VACCINES DO NOT CAUSE AUTISM THEN WHY DID THE GOV't award 20 million to Hannah Poling and then seal the case so nobody could see?
I must be they ignorant one and not this tabloid writing fool that probably doesn't even have kids
Hello Bonnie,
I am writing to you regarding your article about vaccines. I am not sure where you get your info from, or why when you post an article like this are you not citing the information in which you are claiming to be true?
You stated:Today parents have the luxury of considering the ridiculous notion of NOT vaccinating their children. They have this luxury because we don’t live in a world where there are feared, regular contagious disease epidemics.
I feel that writing such a thing such as the word luxury you are implying that it is a luxury my 7 month old daughter has a heart murmur which over 95% of newborns are born with. 90% of these newborns have a valve that closes on it's own. The other 5% it is divided pretty evenly that half will need surgery and the other half will outgrow their murmur. That being said my daughter was almost injected with a HEP B vaccine literally 12 minutes after her birth. They did not test her heart until the following day.
After seeing a pediatric cardiologist, he said it was wise to hold off on vaccinating her until her heart murmur has been fully evaluated.
the point of me sharing my own personal story with you is that many children are born in this day and age with health issues, we are seeing more and more born with diseases, auto immune diseases, asthma etc.
You also state:In the meantime, mercury, which was used as a preservative in children’s vaccines and which was eyed as the instigator of autism, has been virtually eliminated from modern vaccines. Even so, many, many reputable medical studies found no correlation between mercury and autism.
This is a false statement on SO many levels. First off did you know that a pharmaceutical company would have to sterilize it's whole building, lab, employees, equipment, etc. from the mercury in the 1st place. To just remove it as an ingredient would not help the rest of us trying to keep our children safe. We all know that The Pharma comp,.did not spend millions of dollars on sterilization of their facilities to make sure their employees and our children are safe. If they had there would have been some media some where. Second mercury is a highly toxic component, to claim that this is removed from ALL vaccines is BS and you know it. It is clearly in the new flu shot this year BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN THE INSERT!
You state:
I realize how frustrating it must be for parents who are desperately searching for a cause of their child’s autism. It can be especially difficult for parents who, believed that their child was developing normally, until toddlerhood.
First off my child is totally healthy and she is unvaccinated, I am breastfeeding and supplying her with all the immunity she needs. Second who do you think you are writing something such as this? So you think thousands and thousands of parents ALL OVER THE WORLD are wrong? You think they are all making this up? Not sure what kind of parent you are Bonnie but a real mother would notice a change from an hour later after a shot. Just like after an MMR shot an autistic boy who had perfect speech started slurring and stuttering hours after the MMR.
You can claim all you want about Dr Wakefield and Jenny McCarthy. you will not change the minds of the thousands of parents all over. WARRIOR MOMS AND DADS WILL PREVAIL.
I also suggest next time you write and article such as this you provide your readers with links of where you pulled this info from. Or you are just another ignorant sheeple scrambling for a pay check, by harming your own American reader's children.
I am so confident vaccines are harmful i am will to bet my life and my family's life on it.
take care Bonnie and let me know when you stop writing for a trashy tabloid and get a real journalism job then maybe I would read your stuff more
BTW great poll let's see who is ahead?
You might like this Starla...
If you are interested the rest of the article the link is given below. Now, I don't really know if the rate of autism in third world countries are low or high, I have not done my home work on this but I do know so many parents whose children are affected with autism and other disorders and most of them come from a middle class or upper middle class background. The irony being they can afford the vaccinations. You obviously don't get it, if you think the majority of the anti vaccine lobby is letting Jenny McCarthy influence them and their decisions regarding their children. We are doing our home work in regard to that and working towards recovering our children. I think you would be better off keeping your children at home....seriously.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/oct2008/mort-o18.shtml
US infant mortality rate now worse than 28 other countries
By Patrick O’Connor
18 October 2008
A report issued Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) documents how the infant mortality rate in the United States is growing in relation to other countries. The study, "Recent Trends in Infant Mortality in the United States," found that at least 28 other countries now have lower death rates for infants in the first year of life.
The US's relative position has declined steadily. In 1960, it had the 12th lowest infant mortality rate, but by 1990 had dropped to 23rd place, and by 2004—the latest year of the CDC's comparative world figures on living standards—the US ranked 29th. The most recent study, published in July and titled "The Measure of America," estimated that the US is now in 34th place.
The CDC report found that there was no improvement in the incidence of US infant deaths between 2000 and 2005, a "plateau in the US infant mortality rate represent[ing] the first period of sustained lack of decline in the US infant mortality rate since the 1950s." This "has generated concern among researchers and policy makers," the report noted.
For the year 2000, the infant mortality rate was 6.89 per 1,000, a rate that remained stagnant for five years before declining slightly to 6.71 between 2005 and 2006.
The CDC noted: "The impact of child mortality is considerable: there are more than 28,000 deaths to children under 1 year of age each year in the United States."
Several countries in Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway, Finland) and East Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore) have an infant mortality rate below 3.5, almost half the US rate. The CDC's 2004 rankings placed the US in a tie with Poland and Slovakia, and only marginally ahead of Puerto Rico and Chile. The US was behind every developed country in North America, Western Europe, and Australasia, as well as Cuba, Hungary, Israel, and the Czech Republic.
Here's a thought: You choose not to vaccinate your kids, you choose to not let them use ANY public facilities where they can infect MY baby that isn't old enough to get the vaccines. This includes schools, playgrounds, stores, airplanes... pretty much everywhere. You choose to not vaccinate, you choose to put MY baby at risk. If you want that option, go find a third world country where you can catch all the diseases you want. I'm not calling b.s. on autism, but has anyone stopped to think that maybe autism isn't detectable until after a certain age that happens to coincide with vaccination schedule? I do agree that giving a kid six shots at once is a bad idea. I have three kids and have never given them more than three shots in one visit. But skipping vaccination altogether is what's causing these diseases to happen more frequently. Parents will hear "vaccinations = autism", and nothing else. I bet autism rates in third world countries are low since they don't get these vaccines, not that it matters when those babies DIE before they even turn one. Are there risks? Sure. But tell me ONE THING in any aspect of life that 100% safe. Your odds of dying in a plane crash are higher than having an adverse reaction to a vaccine, and you're more likely to get hit by a car while driving to that overpriced, organic, gluten-free, dairy-free only grocery store you spend half your paycheck. Don't get me wrong, anyone that let's Jenny McCarthy have that much influence in their lives might deserve to catch some easily preventable disease and die, but when they put my kids at risk, yeah, I've got a problem with that.
To even think that there are parents out there just listen to what a celebrity is saying about a medical issue is the reason for lower vaccinations rates shows that the AAP thinks that parents are just plain dumb. This is a huge issue and parents who do their homework like reading the package inserts as well as the CDCs own website on Adverse Reactions to vaccines - make informed choices. The AAP spreading such garbage gives them so much less credibility - how can you take them seriously on such an important issue. My guess is that they know the real truth, want to spin it to make the parents seem crazy and make sure that sheeple do what they are told. Here's what they are not telling the parents that the whooping cough vaccine is not even treating the current strain that is causing the disease - how many parents are told that before getting the shot themselves or giving it to their children? Zero! That statistics are showing that those who are getting infected have been vaccinated - so, if that is the case and there are serious complications to all vaccines - why take the risk as it will not provide any immunity anyway. So, a baby dying from whooping cough is not okay but one that dies from the vaccine is just a casualty to protect the masses or one that has a reaction and will now need lifelong care - that's okay because we are preventing a disease right? We need to put people before profits - that's really what it comes down to. Remember, the vaccine business was really risky back in the 70's so many pharmas got out of the business because the liability was too great. Now that they have protection with the vaccine court and even more protection to not have any liability, they are all in the market - because it is profitable because of the government mandates. We need to start looking for true health instead of fearing diseases that a healthy body can overcome. We don't have health care in this country - we have sick care because it's more profitable to the pharmas to be sick then it is if we use preventative medicine.
My child got measles encephalitis after the MMR which developed into autoimmune encephalopathy-a life threatening illness (with autistic symptoms), which requires lifelong medical care. I am sure getting the 'measles' would have been far more devastating to us than our life now (sarcasm).
You are not supposed to vaccinate someone who is sick. Yet it is ok to vaccinate someone who has a syndrome of unknown origin, such as MS/ALS/Alzheimers/etc. etc....Get real people...Know that we have many organisms infecting people and they refuse to give us tests that work-and treatments to cure. Many cannot be found in the blood and must be found in the DNA only after killing some. Instead they choose to leave you with a syndrome of unknown origin...This country is still in the dark ages while others are finding out how to find them and now working on treatments to cure not only killing the organisms but boosting the immune system that has been shut down from the infections....The ignorance of the lies and deceit will soon make the US look like the laughing stock that it is because of the failures to work on them only for profit...If you have a child with Autism, find yourself a real doctor to kill the organisms, and stop the ignorance.
The only vaccine that has EVER been tested on the link to autism is the MMR vaccine. And they have NEVER tested non-vaccinated children. Every.single.study. has a conflict of interest.... I would suggest that you take a look at each and every study....http://14studies.org/studies.html
Like Jenny McCarthy we want SAFER Vaccines before we agree to follow the govt. MANDATED SCHEDULE which includes vaccines for BABIES for diseased transmitted mostly thru sexual contact and dirty needles and wears off before they are even at risk (HepB). The majority of the Whooping Cough cases have been in vaccinated people because the VACCINES are NOT EFFECTIVE OVER TIME so previously vaccinated ADULTS INFECT BABIES. LET THE HEALTHY ADULTS GET THE VACCINES and protect the babies with immature immune systems. WE are not anit-vaccine we are PRO SAFE VACCINES WHEN NECESSARY. The studies you reference are funded, bought and paid for by the AAP and Big Pharma who makes a fortune at the expense of children's health. They are flawed and there are an equal number of independent studies showing significant problems with vaccines and their ingredients.
I have numerous friends with brain damaged children and autistic, not any difference. THEY ALL SAY IT OCCURRED FOLLOWING VACCINATION! Perhaps the writer should do her homework. I shall promote to every friend to never purchase this rag! 19 studies are very small compared to the thousands out there that show the correlation. Apparently the writer isn't able to research.
Studies sponsered by the pharmaceutical industry. The same people that put prescription meds on the market without checking them out thoroughly.
All I am saying is" GOOO JENNNY"!!!!!!!!!! I still am a strong believer of no-vaccinations and media is NOT going to change my mind. I'd rather live with knowing my child is healthy and gets a natural sickness and has her/his own STRONG immune system to fight it than have her suffer side effects from "made in china" poisonous vaccinesn for rest of her life!!!! I so NO THANK YOU to behavioral problems, ADD, Autism, Weak immune system and so on and on :)
Vaccines KILL & WILL be used for population control
Mercury has NOT been virtually eliminated from vaccines. It has been increased. The key to causing autism is to introduce mercury before a baby has a blood brain barrier. The mercury in the mothers' flu shots does an excellent job at causing brain damage and death to fetuses. This also makes the drug companies seem innocent since most people don't even know that mercury is in the flu shot in the full amount. The baby does not need to be vaccinated itself to wind up with autism and the child is born autistic so parents don't see it develop normally and then regress as most of us saw when mercury was in the vaccines in the full dose. This cons young parents into believing the lie that autism is genetic.
Vaccines don't cause autism without mercury and aluminum. They were used for 133 years before thimerosal was added and they never caused one case of autism until that time.
Jenny is absolutely, positively, no-doubt-about-it RIGHT. She just has the guts to go up against the two post powerful forces in the world: the pharmaceutical giants and the U.S. Public Health monster.
These two forces have massive billions of dollars riding on Jenny being wrong. But STILL it is impossible to deny the trutht:
VACCINES CAN CAUSE HARM!
Don't take Jenny's word for it, and most certainly don't wait for for it to be YOUR child hurt by vaccines. Read the studies yourself. Go to SafeMinds.org and read all of the studies on both sides, then decide for yourself. The two forces do not want you informed, they want you intimidated. And they want you in line, with your mouth frimly shut.
Our daughter was "normal" until the age of 18 months when she received FIVE vaccinations at one time. She had fever for three days and then we started noticing changes in her behavior. She would line toys up, she wouldn't look at people in the eyes (even dolls), she would have meltdowns for no apparent reason and she quit speaking. At 18 months she had 33 words. Within a year she went from 33 to 28 to 25 to 19, 12, 7, 3, to saying "Mama" and "ice". Then she quit speaking at all. Do you know how heartbreaking it is to see your child struggle to speak and look into her eyes and see her wonder "I had that word yesterday. Why can't I say it today?"
I hope and pray that your child(ren) NEVER experience the HELL that we've been through because of vaccines.
Wow....because this isnt a biased poll......
Vaccines do not appear to have negative effects upon everyone, however, it is impossible to deny that some people have very negative reactions to vaccines.
My mother nearly died of Guillain Barre Syndrome after she received her dose of the 1973 swine flu vaccine. I was born in 1974, less than a year later - in fact, she was pregnant with me during her GBS episode. I've had the regular flu vaccine twice, and both times, was so sick with a high fever and joint pain that I WANTED to die. I absolutely refuse to get the swine flu vaccine due to my family history. Despite this, the manufacturers and doctors say that I'm not at risk for an adverse reaction. Hah!
Additionally, I, like about half my family members, am on the Autism Spectrum. Not all of us are officially diagnosed. My father died in 1987, before Asperger's realy was a diagnosis - but he didn't talk until he was six, was called mentally retarded as a child, and grew up to be a computer engineer (which rather rules out the MR). My mother's sister was diagnosed as MR and schizophrenic in 1952, at the age of 5. My Aunt Alison is very clearly Autistic to anyone who knows people with the disorder and knows her at all. I can list unmarried professors, priests, nuns, and others ad nauseum. So I don't think vaccines "cause" autism in my family - but I do think, after seeing what happened to a cousin of mine, they can make us MUCH worse. He got 7 vaccines in one day, had a fever of 105 that night, and went into repeated convulsions. I had to give his mom the number for VAERS, since the doctors didn't want to make the connection. Hmm. Healthy up until 3 hours after he got the vaccine, big hard red lump on his upper arm where the needles were injected, high fever and seizures "coincidentally" within a few hours? And multiple parents reporting this as a common history?
It doesn't take much of a nose to notice that something is stinking here.
Vaccination isn't:
Immunisation
Protection against diseases
Disease prevention
Vaccination is:
A case of collective delusional insanity.
A form of chemical and biological warfare against civilians
An organised criminal enterprise dressed up as disease prevention
Systematic child poisoning
Routine child abuse
Institutionalised idiocy
A medical superstition
Here are some receommended websites:
vran.org
vactruth
vaclib
thinktwice
vaccinesuncensored
Vaccination Informaton Network (VINE) on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vaccination-Information-Network-VINE/69667273997
"Vaccines contain substances which are so noxious they should not ever be injected into a human organism."
Viera Scheibner PhD
Not only is over vaccination a cause of autism but many other learning disabilities as well. Its just common sense do not vaccinate a child if you ARE NOT breastfeeding until at least the age of one. Secondly NEVER allow a pediatrician to vaccinate your child with multiple vaccines at one time.The MMR vaccine, the biggest culprit in the autism outbreak, should not be given until a child"s immune system is substantially developed- usually 4-6 years old.Always keep in mmind that all vaccine administrators(pediatricians) and the pharmaceuticals who produce them have legal protection under federal law if your child has a problem -or in our case dies.Parents need to to due their homework,ask questions and NEVER deal with any doctor who is "vaccine happy" and tells you they are 100% safe and effective-they are not. One only has to go back to the late 1990"s when the drug companies finally starting implementing the far safer "accelluar Whooping cough vaccine(aka pertussis vaccine). Since then SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome has fallen dramtically. But you will never get information like that from any governmental agency or drug company-because vaccines are the "sacred cows" of the phanreceuticals and a tremendous amount of money is a stake. So rather than the drug companies spending monies to make safer vaccines they instead spend billions lobbying lawmakers for tort reform to protect themselves and their doctors and mandate even more childhood vaccines (eg. the flu vaccine), and more than likely 'Bonnies" blog with some sort of an advertising payoff.
Sure, vaccines are fine for all those other kids. But like the first commenter states, if you can afford to pay for the shots individually, why would you even consider getting them all in one big whallop?? Seems almost as stupid as cutting off part of his penis.
Not only have I researched this issue thoroughly myself & found loads of evidence that at least some vaccines pose a problem to their recipients, but I know people who have suffered life-changing adverse effects within days of recieving them. I have followed Jenny McCarthy's work in this area for that last 4 years and have actually READ her books all the way through, & I have never heard or read a statement from her telling parents NOT to vaccinate their children! I have on the other hand heard her urge parents to look into alternative vaccine schedules where 6-7 live viruses are not introduced into a newborn's body all at once! She is also not the only person out there who believes we should rethink the vaccine schedule, & the possible danger of some of the ingredients contained in them. Reputable doctors like Jay Gordon, & William Sears as well as others have expressed similar concerns. Medicine in America has a very long history of both great strides & monumental mistakes in judgement. It is entirely possible they are wrong about this as well. Jenny McCarthy is simply questioning the wisdom of their claims, as all good parents do. I think if anyone is irresponsible today, it is you Ms. Fuller. You are dead wrong about Jenny McCarthy being to blame for parents' decision not to vaccinate. Are you a parent? If not, then you can't imagine the level of responsibility most of us feel where our children's well being is concerned. If you are a mom, do you make your decisions regarding your kids based on what celebs say, or do you research something first? I'm sure most moms would agree the latter is the smarter route. Had Jenny, or thousands of other parents listened to doctors & not done some research, their kids may very well have been vegetables by now. With all due respect, I think I'm done following you now. Maybe you should stick to reporting on movie premieres & what celebs are wearing, & leave the real journalism to the pros.