“pay $100,000 to the first journalist, or other individual, who can find a peer-reviewed scientific study demonstrating that thimerosal is safe in the amounts contained in vaccines”
How about you first prove that you’ve never committed murder? No, sorry, evidence that you’ve never been accused of it, or that any accusations have been proved wrong, isn’t going to be accepted.
Yet I am sometimes reluctant to mention it around anti’s because I don’t want them jumping on the “potential allergic reaction” part and screaming “Unsafe! Unsafe!” and ignoring that it’s an entirely different reason, the medical community and manufacturers are quite upfront about the risk and the precautions are simple (either an egg-free version or done in a medically monitored environment where they can quickly treat any reaction that occurs). Because I do not trust somebody that evidence averse not to only hear the part that confirms their bias and I do not want to lend to their propaganda.
But hey, at least all the misrepresenting about the scientific method and consensus vis thimerosal, makes vaccination more expensive in poorer countries.
(as a preservative, it enables larger containers of vaccine to be used, instead of more expensive sealed single-shots.)
So that’s all right then. 
Related (and factored-out of previous post as it’s not especially aimed at @Nonentity):
…is my go-to for discussions on the issue.
But as always, it needs people to want to listen.
Agreed. Anyone have a go-to figure comparing current autism rates and historical childhood and infant mortality from diseases we vaccinate against? I’d like to be able to confidently and precisely state “Even if I were to accept everything you’re saying, even if all autism were caused by vaccination, why would I prefer a world where x% of children die to one where {y%|y<x} children get autism?”
It’s like (my layman’s impression of) the legal standards for summary judgment or anti-SLAPP laws: even if everything alleged were true, you’d still lose.
I’m not going to comment the rest of the comic, but there is one thing though, and I’ll quote: “Edward Jenner noticed that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox, a less deadly form of the disease, didn’t get smallpox. This was the first vaccine.”
It then explains vaccine as a ‘training exercise’ for the body, making the claim (which is the basic definition of what a vaccine is) that using dead pathogens to provoke an immune response will lead to immunity. What strikes me, though, is that the example given with the ‘first vaccine’ story is a quite different case: it is an immunity gained from contracting a disease close enough to also work with smallpox.
Thinking as I write, I guess I will indirectly comment about some other parts of the comic. I’ll note that most people vaccinated against measles, mumps, whooping cough, rubela and all of those need shots every so often. I wasn’t vaccinated and caught every single one of those when I was a kid. I am now immune to them. As a matter of fact, I remember that back then, catching them as a kid was considered normal and no cause for alarm in any way whereas they were seen as dangerous for adults (I know some parents who made sure their kids would meet some who had them to help the process along).
The idea that they could be dangerous was associated with poor, undevelopped countries. How times have changed…
Well, in any case, if that last part wasn’t enough, I guess I’ll get ready for nuclear level flak with the following link. So I guess that to keep sane, and to avoid the comments degenerating into a shouting match, I won’t answer more than once a day, if it seems worth it.
“I teach science,” Sullivan told the Star. “You don’t just teach one side of the story.”
Lucky you. You weren’t one of the kids who didn’t make it through infantile whooping cough, or (I assume) end up sterile from the mumps.
Why would subjecting your kid to literally life-threatening disease with a high mortality rate ever be preferable to a needlestick once every few years? A needlestick that we have proven doesn’t cause autism.
But notice the difference when it’s a civilized country:
Timothy Sullivan is accused of professional misconduct by the Ontario College of Teachers.
As opposed to being lauded, promoted, and/or given a cabinet position.
Glad you are fine. My mother, aunt and uncle got the measles when they were kids. My mother and uncle were fine, just like you. My aunt ended up with encephalitis (brain swelling) which happens about 0.1% of the time. As a result she ended up developmentally disabled and with a seizure disorder, and has been institutionalized for most of her adult life because she can’t take care of herself, drive or hold a job. She got the measles when she was 8 and is now 72. I grew up in the 70’s and I’ve never even heard of someone my age or younger who had the measles or mumps.
The one thing I caught when I was a child was chickenpox. Thanks to that, I’m going to need the shingles vaccine somewhere around age 50. I’d much rather get the shot than get shingles. I hear it’s awful.
A few years back I used to get a cold or two a year, which had a good 50-50 chance of turning into bronchitis. Since my mother’s emphysema/COPD made her vulnerable, I started getting the flu vaccine. The first time I got it, I was already sick and it seemed to make the recovery worse. But since then I’ve been careful and get it when I’m well. Oddly enough, the semi-annual colds seem (knock on wood) to have stopped. Again, I am grateful and will continue to get the flu shot as often as I need it since it looks like it’s boosting my immune system overall. (And my pharmacist is awesome-- I barely feel it when he gives me a shot. I’ve had mosquito bites that hurt worse! 
)
That seems like a completely trustworthy and scientific analysis from an impartial source. Thanks for enlightening all of us.
ETA we have actual researchers, scientists, academics, and medical professionals here. You’ll need to do better than a faux research paper that’s only source of data is an internet survey from an anti-vaxx website. You don’t do science by starting with a conclusion and working your way backwards.
To be fair, it’s a scientific fact that if you get vaccinated you will indeed die (at some point).
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
