In a previous blog, I discussed Andrew Wakefield and the emergence of his ideology on the damage caused by vaccines. His study claimed that vaccines can cause developmental disorders and many other issues that sparked a lot of uproar in the medical community. His paper was published, but later retracted because it turned out that his study methods were very far from sound. Despite the inaccuracy of his findings, he sparked what is now called the Anti-Vaxxing Movement.
The outrage comes specifically from parents who fear that vaccinating their children can cause mental retardation and learning and attention disabilities such as ADD or ADHD. According to the US National Library of Medicine, in one article written by Azhar Hussain, Syed Ali, Madiha Ahmed, and Sheharyar Hussain discusses the implications of the Andrew Wakefield and how that has ultimately affected the increases prevalence of diseases that were virtually eradicated. The authors claim that there has been an uproar against the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and it is wrongly targeted without understanding the vaccine or the science behind vaccination.
The World Health Organization even released its top ten global threats of 2019, listing not being vaccinated as one of the major threats in the world. They claim that “over 1.5 million deaths could be avoided each year if the vaccine coverage is not improved”.
One article on BusinnessInsider.com states that the although the measles vaccine led to a dramatic reduction in the measles and was declared eliminating in 200, outbreaks of the disease have started because of the new surge of anti-vaxxing. In 2017, for example, 75 people came down with the measles in Minnesota according to the CDC’s website. In 2020 alone, there have already been 5 confirmed cases of the measles.
Honestly, because these are diseases that we know we can die from (especially babies and the elderly) I think anti-vaxxing is the dumbest thing ever. I would rather my child be autistic or ADHD or whatever they think the vaccine can “give” you than them be dead. It’s awful that grown people who have already had their vaccines put their babies at risk because they are ignorant about how the microbiome works, and about the effects of vaccines. Its even sadder than a physician started this huge uproar against vaccination.
Madison's Microbiology Masterpiece 