Little White Coffins
I find myself quite incensed in the wake of last summer's pertussis outbreak in California, followed by the debunking (and loss of medical license to practice) of Andrew Wakefield, to continue to see celebrity parents encouraging parents to refuse vaccination for their children.
That inspired this post - which will doubtless upset some people. Do not read or Cope.
Now that the vaccination-autism link has been debunked by science (celebrity opinions nothwithstanding) it might be good to take a moment to remember a time before vaccinations.
A time when your local funeral parlor kept little white coffins in stock, because each neighborhood was going to need several each year. A time when each parent's deepest fear was that polio would strike their home. Keep in mind, there were antibiotics - just not the childhood vaccines we have today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a pamphlet online called "What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?"
Polio:
"Stopping vaccination against polio will leave people susceptible to infection with the polio virus. Polio virus causes acute paralysis that can lead to permanent physical disability and even death. Before polio vaccine was available, 13,000 to 20,000 cases of paralytic polio were reported each year in the United States. These annual epidemics of polio often left thousands of victims--mostly children--in braces, crutches, wheelchairs, and iron lungs. The effects were life-long."
There is no cure for polio once it is contracted. And now we recognize that even those who recovered from their bout of polio completely are developing "post-polio" syndrome in their later years - apparently 100% will develop this who were infected assuming they live long enough.
Measles/Rubella (German Measles):
"Before measles immunization was available, nearly everyone in the U.S. got measles. An average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year between 1953 and 1963...As many as three of every 1,000 persons with measles will die in the U.S. In the developing world, the rate is much higher, with death occurring in about one of every 100 persons with measles."
If the risk of your child contracting measles and dying isn't scary enough, what about your unvaccinated daughter contracting measles while she is carrying your grandchild? Or your unvaccinated child infecting an expectant mother?
"While rubella is usually mild in children and adults, up to 90 percent of infants born to mothers infected with rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy will develop congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), resulting in heart defects, cataracts, mental retardation, and deafness."
Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) Meningitis:
"Before the vaccine was developed, there were approximately 20,000 invasive Hib cases annually... About one of every 200 U.S. children under 5 years of age got an invasive Hib disease. Hib meningitis once killed 600 children each year and left many survivors with deafness, seizures, or mental retardation."
Pertussis (Whooping Cough):
"Before pertussis immunizations were available, nearly all children developed whooping cough. In the U.S., prior to pertussis immunization, between 150,000 and 260,000 cases of pertussis were reported each year, with up to 9,000 pertussis-related deaths."
California just recently had a tragic demonstration of the effects of parental vaccination refusals - this is horrifically contagious and killed NINE THOUSAND a YEAR before vaccines. Mostly children. That is a lot of little white coffins.
Pneumococcal:
" Before pneumococcal conjugate vaccine became available for children, pneumococcus caused 63,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease and 6,100 deaths in the U.S. each year. Many children who developed pneumococcal meningitis also developed long-term complications such as deafness or seizures."
Varicella (Chickenpox):
"Prior to the licensing of the chickenpox vaccine in 1995, almost all persons in the United States had suffered from chickenpox by adulthood. Each year, the virus caused an estimated 4 million cases of chickenpox, 11,000 hospitalizations, and 100-150 deaths."
Hepatitis B:
" National studies have shown that about 12.5 million Americans have been infected with hepatitis B virus at some point in their lifetime. One and one quarter million Americans are estimated to have chronic (long-lasting) infection, of whom 20 percent to 30 percent acquired their infection in childhood. Chronic hepatitis B virus infection increases a person's risk for chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. About 5,000 persons will die each year from hepatitis B-related liver disease..."
There is no cure for Hepatitis B, only treatments and liver transplants.
Diphtheria:
" In the 1920's, diphtheria was a major cause of illness and death for children in the U.S. In 1921, a total of 206,000 cases and 15,520 deaths were reported. With vaccine development in 1923, new cases of diphtheria began to fall in the U.S., until in 2001 only two cases were reported... If we stopped immunization, the U.S. might experience a situation similar to the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union. With the breakdown of the public health services in this area, diphtheria epidemics began in 1990, fueled primarily by persons who were not properly vaccinated. From 1990-1999, more than 150,000 cases and 5,000 deaths were reported."
Tetanus:
"Tetanus is a severe, often fatal disease. The bacteria that cause tetanus are widely distributed in soil and street dust, are found in the waste of many animals, and are very resistant to heat and germ-killing cleaners. From 1922-1926, there were an estimated 1,314 cases of tetanus per year in the U.S... People who get tetanus suffer from stiffness and spasms of the muscles. The larynx (throat) can close causing breathing and eating difficulties, muscles spasms can cause fractures (breaks) of the spine and long bones, and some people go into a coma, and die... Worldwide, tetanus in newborn infants continues to be a huge problem. Every year tetanus kills 300,000 newborns and 30,000 birth mothers who were not properly vaccinated. Even though the number of reported cases is low, an increased number of tetanus cases in younger persons has been observed recently in the U.S. among intravenous drug users, particularly heroin users. Tetanus is infectious, but not contagious, so unlike other vaccine-preventable diseases, immunization by members of the community will not protect others from the disease. Because tetanus bacteria are widespread in the environment, tetanus can only be prevented by immunization."
Mumps:
"Before the mumps vaccine was introduced, mumps was a major cause of deafness in children, occurring in approximately 1 in 20,000 reported cases. Mumps is usually a mild viral disease. However, serious complications, such as inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) can occur rarely. Prior to mumps vaccine, mumps encephalitis was the leading cause of viral encephalitis in the United States, but is now rarely seen. Serious side effects of mumps are more common among adults than children. Swelling of the testes is the most common side effect in males past the age of puberty, occurring in up to 37 percent of post-pubertal males who contract mumps. An increase in miscarriages has been found among women who develop mumps during the first trimester of pregnancy."
CONCLUSION:
This is actually pretty simple math. And with your child's, or grandchild's or neighbor's life at stake it would be pretty damned irresponsible not to do the math.
Otherwise we are going to need a whole lot more of those little white coffins.
That inspired this post - which will doubtless upset some people. Do not read or Cope.
Now that the vaccination-autism link has been debunked by science (celebrity opinions nothwithstanding) it might be good to take a moment to remember a time before vaccinations.
A time when your local funeral parlor kept little white coffins in stock, because each neighborhood was going to need several each year. A time when each parent's deepest fear was that polio would strike their home. Keep in mind, there were antibiotics - just not the childhood vaccines we have today.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a pamphlet online called "What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations?"
Polio:
"Stopping vaccination against polio will leave people susceptible to infection with the polio virus. Polio virus causes acute paralysis that can lead to permanent physical disability and even death. Before polio vaccine was available, 13,000 to 20,000 cases of paralytic polio were reported each year in the United States. These annual epidemics of polio often left thousands of victims--mostly children--in braces, crutches, wheelchairs, and iron lungs. The effects were life-long."
There is no cure for polio once it is contracted. And now we recognize that even those who recovered from their bout of polio completely are developing "post-polio" syndrome in their later years - apparently 100% will develop this who were infected assuming they live long enough.
Measles/Rubella (German Measles):
"Before measles immunization was available, nearly everyone in the U.S. got measles. An average of 450 measles-associated deaths were reported each year between 1953 and 1963...As many as three of every 1,000 persons with measles will die in the U.S. In the developing world, the rate is much higher, with death occurring in about one of every 100 persons with measles."
If the risk of your child contracting measles and dying isn't scary enough, what about your unvaccinated daughter contracting measles while she is carrying your grandchild? Or your unvaccinated child infecting an expectant mother?
"While rubella is usually mild in children and adults, up to 90 percent of infants born to mothers infected with rubella during the first trimester of pregnancy will develop congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), resulting in heart defects, cataracts, mental retardation, and deafness."
Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) Meningitis:
"Before the vaccine was developed, there were approximately 20,000 invasive Hib cases annually... About one of every 200 U.S. children under 5 years of age got an invasive Hib disease. Hib meningitis once killed 600 children each year and left many survivors with deafness, seizures, or mental retardation."
Pertussis (Whooping Cough):
"Before pertussis immunizations were available, nearly all children developed whooping cough. In the U.S., prior to pertussis immunization, between 150,000 and 260,000 cases of pertussis were reported each year, with up to 9,000 pertussis-related deaths."
California just recently had a tragic demonstration of the effects of parental vaccination refusals - this is horrifically contagious and killed NINE THOUSAND a YEAR before vaccines. Mostly children. That is a lot of little white coffins.
Pneumococcal:
" Before pneumococcal conjugate vaccine became available for children, pneumococcus caused 63,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease and 6,100 deaths in the U.S. each year. Many children who developed pneumococcal meningitis also developed long-term complications such as deafness or seizures."
Varicella (Chickenpox):
"Prior to the licensing of the chickenpox vaccine in 1995, almost all persons in the United States had suffered from chickenpox by adulthood. Each year, the virus caused an estimated 4 million cases of chickenpox, 11,000 hospitalizations, and 100-150 deaths."
Hepatitis B:
" National studies have shown that about 12.5 million Americans have been infected with hepatitis B virus at some point in their lifetime. One and one quarter million Americans are estimated to have chronic (long-lasting) infection, of whom 20 percent to 30 percent acquired their infection in childhood. Chronic hepatitis B virus infection increases a person's risk for chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. About 5,000 persons will die each year from hepatitis B-related liver disease..."
There is no cure for Hepatitis B, only treatments and liver transplants.
Diphtheria:
" In the 1920's, diphtheria was a major cause of illness and death for children in the U.S. In 1921, a total of 206,000 cases and 15,520 deaths were reported. With vaccine development in 1923, new cases of diphtheria began to fall in the U.S., until in 2001 only two cases were reported... If we stopped immunization, the U.S. might experience a situation similar to the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union. With the breakdown of the public health services in this area, diphtheria epidemics began in 1990, fueled primarily by persons who were not properly vaccinated. From 1990-1999, more than 150,000 cases and 5,000 deaths were reported."
Tetanus:
"Tetanus is a severe, often fatal disease. The bacteria that cause tetanus are widely distributed in soil and street dust, are found in the waste of many animals, and are very resistant to heat and germ-killing cleaners. From 1922-1926, there were an estimated 1,314 cases of tetanus per year in the U.S... People who get tetanus suffer from stiffness and spasms of the muscles. The larynx (throat) can close causing breathing and eating difficulties, muscles spasms can cause fractures (breaks) of the spine and long bones, and some people go into a coma, and die... Worldwide, tetanus in newborn infants continues to be a huge problem. Every year tetanus kills 300,000 newborns and 30,000 birth mothers who were not properly vaccinated. Even though the number of reported cases is low, an increased number of tetanus cases in younger persons has been observed recently in the U.S. among intravenous drug users, particularly heroin users. Tetanus is infectious, but not contagious, so unlike other vaccine-preventable diseases, immunization by members of the community will not protect others from the disease. Because tetanus bacteria are widespread in the environment, tetanus can only be prevented by immunization."
Mumps:
"Before the mumps vaccine was introduced, mumps was a major cause of deafness in children, occurring in approximately 1 in 20,000 reported cases. Mumps is usually a mild viral disease. However, serious complications, such as inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) can occur rarely. Prior to mumps vaccine, mumps encephalitis was the leading cause of viral encephalitis in the United States, but is now rarely seen. Serious side effects of mumps are more common among adults than children. Swelling of the testes is the most common side effect in males past the age of puberty, occurring in up to 37 percent of post-pubertal males who contract mumps. An increase in miscarriages has been found among women who develop mumps during the first trimester of pregnancy."
CONCLUSION:
This is actually pretty simple math. And with your child's, or grandchild's or neighbor's life at stake it would be pretty damned irresponsible not to do the math.
Otherwise we are going to need a whole lot more of those little white coffins.