So you don't like vaccines, eh?

There was some great news on the legal front today. A federal court ruled against three families that were seeking compensation from the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP). They claim that the MMR vaccine gave their children Autism. So, I (along with every legitimate Autism researcher) think this is bunk, but these people are fucking vehement that vaccination fucked up their kids.

I understand the desire to blame something for a mental disorder. But vaccination? This all started years ago when a study was published in The Lancet that purportedly showed a link between the MMR vaccination and Autism. Shoddy experimental design and data led The Lancet to retract the article. No (legitimate) study since has ever shown a relationship. However, that didn't stop the crazies from yelling and screaming about it ever since.

You always hear them complaining about mercury. Mercury this, mercury that. But guess what? There hasn't even been any Thimerosal(contains a small amount of mercury) in any childhood vaccine for a decade. Don't you think that if that were the cause of Autism, we'd have seen a reduction? In fact, the rates of Autism are the same as always. They appear to be going up because more effective screening has given more mildly Autistic kids the help and diagnosis they need.

Vaccination is one the the most incredible advances in modern medicine. These people that campaign against it are, quite frankly, idiots. They might bandy about their right to raise their children however they wish, but it's a public health issue. We rely on herd immunity. If enough people are vaccinated, it won't matter that a few aren't, or that a few vaccinations didn't take. The reduction of herd immunity is the reason for recent outbreaks of Measles and Mumps. Are we really at this point? Where we'll allow people to believe this sort of crap, and just shrug our shoulders and say, "Oh well, their call." We don't allow parents to withhold medical care in the event of an accident, why is this okay? Measles can be fatal and Mumps can cause sterility. These are serious diseases, people.

Above: This kid is screwed.

I really feel like this whole thing grew out of the alternative medicine scene that's become so trendy in the last number of years. I just can't stand hearing people complaining about things being "unnatural" or "toxic" without knowing anything about it. This is all closely connected with the baseless belief that anything "organic" is better for you by sheer virtue of being organic. Think about it. Can you come up with a rational for that? Why is "natural" or "organic" better for you? It makes no sense. Anti-vaccination and alternative medicine fall into the same category of pseudo-science bunk and nonsense.