Are mandatory vaccinations good or bad for us?

[DeadNotSleeping]

Superman4 said:

curl-6 said:

DeadNotSleeping said:
Depending where you live, there's no such thing as "mandatory vaccination". All medical procedures in Canada require consent; if the parents refuse to have their children vaccinated then there's nothing anybody in Health Care can do about it.

Without a doubt the vaccine has been the most important and effective product of medical science and one of the most beneficial advancements in any scientific field. Bad science, illogic and loud celebrities have raised a lot of unfounded fears regarding vaccines, but the truth is that they are the safest way to protect one's self against infection and the best way to protect entire populations. Adverse reactions are exceptionally rare and usually manifest as a rash or flu-like symptoms. Anyone who believes that vaccines and disorders such as autism have a positive correlation should be taken to task and shown the facts; this might help them protect themselves and their children from a whole slew of nasty illnesses.

But there are those who have decided against them for ethical reasons, and while I may disagree with their conclusion, I find that rationale acceptable. Choosing not to be vaccinated for whatever moral reason is one thing. Choosing not to because of bad science is another.

If you want my advice, get all your shots as scheduled and be sure to continue receiving them throughout your adult life as recommended. There may not be mandatory vaccination everywhere, but there should be.

Could not have said it better.

The thing is, by resisting vaccines you're not only putting yourself or your children in danger, but the people around you as well; your community, your country, the world. A certain percentage of immunity is needed in a population to achieve "herd immunity," where epidemics cannot or are extremely unlikely to occur because there are too few vulnerable hosts.

After the MMR vaccine scare in 1998, where is was (falsely) claimed that then vaccine caused autism in children, many parents refused to vaccinate their kids. The result? Immunity levels dropped sharply, and outbreaks of measles and mumps skyrocketed. By 2008, measles had became in the UK again, for the first time since 1994.

Similrly, when religious extremists in Nigeria branded vaccine as a Western ploy to infect their children with HIV or sterilise them, and discouraged parents from vaccinating their children, diseases like polio made a dramatic comeback, ravaging not only Nigeria, but neighbouring countries.

That part I disagree with. There has been no proof that it does not cause it. In fact a vast majority of syptoms occur directly after injection. I am ok with vaccination because I understand the resoning. I do not ever get a flu shot because I would rather take my chances than their best guess as to what version will hit. I rarly get sick. What I do not like about the kids vaccine and the reason I waited as long as possible to get them for my kids is that they stack a number of them into 1 or two shots. This is where I feel the issues with Autism come in to play. 1 vacccine at a time over a longer duration would be much easier on the system. I would much rather get 1 shot per month for each issue. Instead of having 6 rolled up into one and given the same day. It kinda puts the body on fuul attack mode.

In spite of how difficult it is in science to prove a negative, every ingredient in vaccines have been so thoroughly investigated that the only conclusion to be formed is that they have no causal role in autism.  Autism is a behavioral disorder that, due to psychological development, only becomes apparent within a couple years after their vaccinations.  The autism rate for those vaccinated and non-vaccinated are the same.  Autism rates in those vaccinated have been closely monitored, and guess what?  Removing the 'scary' ingredients (scientifically harmless, actually) had no impact whatsoever.

Andrew Wakefield, the one who unleashed this hysteria only did so because he wanted to replace the existing MMR vaccine with one that he made.  His science was fraudulent, used blood samples collected without consent from children at his son's birthday party, lied to the parents where his data came from and was subsequently revoked of his license to practise medicine.  The man is a fraud.  He stood to reap billions if his vaccine was accepted.  Conflict of interest much?  

Meanwhile, the anti-vaccine crowd has been unable to provide any sort of evidence of a causal link, losing every court case and lawsuit they've initiated for that very reason.  Where is their proof?  Post hoc, ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this).  That's it.  A logical fallacy that autism was diagnosed after receiving vaccines because of the vaccines.  Scientists have recently identified gene sequences that accurately predict the development of autism of children which puts the entire movement to rest because this development will happen regardless of their immunizations yet will only display symptoms around the same time.  

Andrew Wakefield is a false prophet, his lies ultimately responsible for hundreds of deaths and hundreds of thousands of infections.  I am thankful that your kids ultimately got their vaccinations but many aren't receiving them at all and it's putting people at risk.