Everybody has a soap box. Its fun to pick an issue or two and really educate yourself and to take firm stand. An issue that is extremely important to me is vaccines. I’ve done a lot of research on vaccines and their potential negative side effects. I’ve read books and articles on either side of the issue. I’ve been surprised by what I’ve found.
One of the most surprising parts of this debate is reaction of the anti-vaccine groups to scientific evidence. The anti-vaccine groups ignore virtually all evidence presented too them. They base their logic on articles that have either been retracted or where published in journals that are not peer reviewed. Several of the researchers who published the initial link between vaccines and disease have lost their credentials due to conflicts of interest or for conducting studies that were found to be unethical.
This group also tends to be very active. Some members border on violence few have even been charged with domestic terrorism. Several researchers have had to shut down their labs and relocate simply because they supported or validated an article that someone else published. Think about that! They were being persecuted not for research that they had done, but rather for supporting or refusing to refute the research of a colleague. These are people who have devoted their lives to studying science and finding cures for disease. They have been attacked and had to give up all they care about simply because they publicly agreed with an article that failed to find a link between vaccines and disease.
Actually their is a link between vaccines and disease, fortunately the link is anti-causal. This link has been proven by the millions of disease free children. The connection is simple and anyone can understand it. Simply put the more people who are vaccinated the lower the incidence of disease. Before Jonas Salk developed the vaccine for Polio over 50,000 children every year were contracting that horrid disease. Now the disease has been eradicated in most of the world. Last year there will less than 600 cases of polio world wide, and most of them in countries that don’t vaccinate for polio.
I’m digressing from the original point of this post. The other day a friend sent me a link to an article published in The Public Library of Science(PLOS). Its an excellent article and is targeted for the layperson. I invite you all to read it and to take a stand for science. Here is the link
Finally I know that many of you might not agree with what I’ve written or the article I’ve invited you to read. Healthy discussion is the basis of intellectual exchange and I’d love to hear from you. Make a comment with your thoughts and feelings and I’ll be sure to respond.
Mark
/ July 5, 2009Good stuff, thanks for the article. It’s a fascinating read.