Vaccinate!

I need to state my two cents here……

A longtime ago, a forward thinker discovered the world was indeed round, even though many people didn't believe him and thought it was still flat.

When I was in the 6th grade, I did a report on a man named Jonas Salk.  He was the man who invented vaccination, by the use of inactivated viruses.  This enabled the body to create antibodies to the disease without becoming infected.  The disease he was fighting was Polio, a crippling illness that took many lives, left many paralyzed, and countless others confined to an iron lung.  Because of Dr. Salk, the disease was virtually eradicated.  Many other vaccines were developed, removing the threat of illnesses such as small pox, measles, and typhoid.

Today, people living in a relatively disease free country, do not understand the threat of these deadly viruses.  Some people even opt to not vaccinate their children, concerned about things like autism, for which there is no discernible evidence that vaccines cause such problems.  Are vaccines made with multiple ingredients?  Yes.  Are cinnamon rolls?  Yes.  Will a person allergic to something in cinnamon rolls have a reaction if they eat one?  Yeah, probably.  So is it possible a reaction could happen to the recipient of a vaccine?  Of course.  Is this the norm?  Of course not.

Vaccines have saved COUNTLESS more lives than they have ever taken.  And there is not even substantial evidence vaccines take lives, or cause retardation in any form.  Send any one of these privileged hippy people to a place where malaria is prevalent and not allow them a vaccine?  I'm sure they'd change their mind pretty quickly.  There is a reason Church leaders require missionaries to be vaccinated before traveling abroad: it is to protect them.  Having assisted with many mission physicals, I know mission papers cannot be submitted without proof of vaccination.

I am sad that a young man died shortly after being vaccinated.  However, remember that the news article was done by journalists interviewing a grieving mother…..there was no indication the flu vaccine was the cause of his death, and the mother also refused to have an autopsy done.  So there will not ever be any evidence.  To blame something without any cause is ridiculous.

I don't want my children to get measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio….etc….and so that is why I vaccinate.  Having given MANY MANY vaccinations myself, I am a willing advocate for vaccinations.