More parents deem vaccines "unnecessary"

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/08/29/more-parents-deem-vaccines-u.html

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I had whooping cough – caught it from a kid I’m pretty sure isn’t vaccinated. I coughed, more or less non-stop from January to April of last year. Then I had coughing fits at least four times a week, slowly becoming less frequent so by November it was maybe once a week or so. I had the last coughing fit in about March. 15 months of awful, hideous bullshit, thanks to some suburban moms who think they know better.

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This parent now deems boosters twice as necessary for my kids.

“But they just got one!”
“Give 'em another. Use the other arm.”

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I just got into with some idiot on Facebook. Their idea now is that because we are in a first world country, and the diseases are so rare, you just need to keep things sanitary to avoid getting sick.

Another was like, “It is all a money making scheme from big pharma.”

And another was like, “There are poisonous chemicals in them the CDC is covering up.”

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I’m not defending the parent who’s unvaccinated child infected you. But I have to ask, why haven’t you had the adult pertussis vaccine? By going unvaccinated, you became a vector who could infect others, including other children for whom the symptoms are typically much more severe and dangerous.

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I bet it was just something not thought about.

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mmmmm. and couple this with antibiotic resistant bugs (plus climate change, Trumpism, et. al.) and we’re in for a hell of a ride. Maybe some good art will come out of this period?

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Did they mention what they used to keep things sanitary? Because some of that sort of thing isn’t really helping in other ways.

I mean, I assume they always boiled their countertops and toilet, what else are they doing?

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Because you got it as a kid and it actually isn’t well known to get that one redone as an adult and until recently (thanks antivax loons) it probably wasn’t needed due to the herd immunity from all the kids which is the common vector.

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Okay, but the not needed argument is exactly the one trotted out by the antivaxxers. Vaccination only works if nearly everyone takes part, and adults outnumber kids considerably. I wasn’t trying to shame @atl, but it would be good for people to think about themselves as part of the solution. Granted, I probably think about it more than most because I do an above average amount of international travel. But it’s a mindset that needs to be spread.

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Does the stupid ever end?!?

Can’t we just put all of the people like this somewhere else? Away from us? Please?

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Oh once I learned that the vaccine needs a booster I had it on the radar and a few days later got one at the pharmacy of all places as there was an outbreak here in Seattle. Quick and cheap too.
And mostly what was in my mind was coworker who got it a few years earlier and he talked about having to drive into the ER coughing with a cracked rib cause the coughing fit was that bad. I so did not want to have that.

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“Survey confirms parents well meaning, stupid.”

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One thing to understand is that anti-vaxxers aren’t all stupid people. Intelligent people are quite capable of talking themselves into delusions.

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This one is true… just not about vaccines… Which are cheap and plentiful, and more often than not subsidized by the state and supported by our insurance companies. Around this time EVERYONE is basically giving away flu vaccines… I’m surprised that starbucks hasn’t started including them with their fall pumpkin spice lattes!

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There’s a very, very simple solution to the problem you’re having:
Set Facebook on fire. Seriously.
When was the last time anything good came from it? I swear it’s just a big amplifier for stupid.

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“LOL You sucker. They are sucking on Uncle Sugars tax payer teat. Government mandated vaccines that you have to have and they pay for it.”

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Well, to be fair it is from a group I belong to, not “friends”.

I am “blessed” that the level of derp on the friend level is very low.

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Exactly!
I view doctor visits with the kids kind of like shopping in the candy store:
“What additional can you offer? Got anything new? Are seconds ok?”

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Friends?
You must be one of those social types. Ick.

I’ll be over here in my introvert cave, happily by myself.

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