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This mom’s viral rant shows real consequences of the anti-vax movement

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. Vaccines work, vaccines are safe, and vaccines do not cause autism. Study after study has shown this to be the case.

But ever since Andrew Wakefield published his fraudulent study, anti-vaxxers have perpetuated his narrative that the MMR vaccine causes autism. The sole reason he created the study in the first place was to make the current MMR vaccine look bad so that Wakefield could sell his own version of the MMR vaccine.

The study has been debunked countless times, but that doesn’t stop anti-vaxxers from doing the things anti-vaxxers do.

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Earlier this month, we shared the story of Meggy Doodle, the nurse and mother who had a viral Facebook post with a revolutionary idea for anti-vaxxers.

I think that people who don’t want to vaccinate should have the freedom to do so.
If they think that “Big pharma” is just trying to turn a profit or poison us all… they should be allowed to believe that.
But the caveat to that is this:
Then they should NOT go to the doctor or the hospital when they get sick, looking for treatment.

What a great idea!

The thing about vaccinations is that it relies heavily on herd immunity. To contain an outbreak of a disease such as measles, 90 to 95 percent of the population needs to be vaccinated. This is particularly important for people who physically cannot get vaccinated themselves, such as Shoshana Balofsky’s child, Tehilla.

As Shoshana explains in a viral Facbeook post that has 3200 shares as of this writing, Tehilla is immunocompromised and has a heart defect. As a result, it isn’t safe for her to receive a vaccination, meaning she relies on herd immunity from those who are vaccinated. 

However, herd immunity only works when the herd is immunized, as Shoshana explains in her post:

We found out today that Tehilla was likely exposed to measles by an anti-vax family in her school. I’ve just spent hours on the phone with doctors and nurses and the school staff to clarify the exact circumstance of the exposure. Due to the specifics, Tehilla will be getting an MMRV booster tomorrow.

To those anti-vaccination, fuck you and your anti- science rhetoric. You can’t imagine the panic you caused for a family with an immuno-compromised kid with a heart defect. The damage you are causing with your ignorant conspiracy theories is criminal.

If I have alienated anyone with my evidence based medical facts, so be it. Good riddance and stay away from my family!

Well said.

And if you want to see the true face of anti-vaxxers, all you have to do is check out the comments.

Why is it that anytime an anti-vaxxer makes a meme, it’s always the absolute worst collage and is incredibly hard to read?

Becca followed up her well-sourced and scientific meme with the following comment:

I think I just pulled a muscle rolling my eyes.

The “checkmate” part is a nice touch… But good grief, that’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works.

What is Stephen talking about? I don’t think even he knows.

What is amusing here is the fact that vaccines are pretty cheap. “Big Pharma” isn’t making much money off of preventing diseases. The average cost of an emergency room visit is well over $1000, as much as $2000 based on some estimates. And if you have to be hospitalized with measles because you’re immunocompromised, the bill can run as high as $40,000 for your stay. So yeah, a “benign childhood illness” to you is not the same for someone whose immune system isn’t functioning properly, asshole.

Source: CDC

At this point, I can’t help but agree with Shoshana. Willfully spreading misinformation and lies like the anti-vaccination movement does should be criminal. It’s inflicting real, actual harm to untold amounts of people, and has even increased measles cases worldwide by 30%.

This isn’t a “difference of opinion” or trying to police ideas. It’s intentional deception.

This is about blatant lies created by known scam artist Andrew Wakefield that is resulting in people – many of whom are children who are unable to be vaccinated themselves – getting sick and potentially dying.

Written by Dan Broadbent

Science Enthusiast. Atheist. Lover of cats.

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