Political Crossfire Forums

What is a vaccine?

Vaccines are drugs that bolster the body's immunity to particular diseases. They work by imitating — but not causing — an illness in a way that forces the body to develop a supply of defensive cells. These cells can then recognize and fight off a future infection, should it occur.

Vaccines have eliminated some of the most dangerous, fatal diseases in human history. The World Health Organization in 1979 declared smallpox globally eradicated, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that same year proclaimed polio eradicated in the United States. Other vaccines have managed to push various diseases to the brink of extinction, including tetanus and whooping cough.

The scientific community widely supports vaccines, seeing them as one of the most crucial medical breakthroughs of the past few centuries.

And many countries use vaccination, thereby reducing the overall incidence rates. For example, look at the Russians. They are healthy like bears. They use the compulsory vaccination

Eventually the non-vaccinated will die off and it won't be an issue anymore.

Parents speaking out against vaccinations should be euthanized.

Very few people speak out against vaccinations. That's a red herring brought about by arrogant bandwagoners who haven't read any of the news articles. Most are concerned with the volume of vaccinations kids get in a short period of time. Same thing as if someone was getting seizure medicine that can bring about a disease that makes your skin fall off. You have to gradually get used to it, because it's harsh.

The other thing people are concerned with are the compromises pharma has to make in order to get a specific drug out in time to satisfy shareholders. There are constant compromises brought on by participation in the free market, none of which should be born out in children.

Yeah, the Texas HPV vaccine set me on edge a bit as there was little science and a lot of business interest behind it. That doesn't mean it isn't a good vaccine, but I want the reasons to be right before people start talking about making it mandatory.

I've got my MMR, my kid has her MMR. Though apparently mine is worthless as no doctor I've ever had has even mentioned that it should be refreshed... ever. So I'm certainly not against vaccines by any means, I just don't like the government enforcing something that almost everyone thinks is a pretty good idea and the few that don't just really aren't a problem beyond a few statistical anomalies and some imagined unlikely scenario.

It reminds me of an article I recently read about a guy who moved his family here from Iraq. He wanted his family to be safe. He was shot dead by a random guy shooting randomly in the street within a few months. The comments immediately start saying that "of course it will happen, the US has guns". When the truth is, the only reason it is a story is because of how unlikely it is to happen. In fact, I would say the reasoning on why it should be mandatory is based on the same idea of why opponents don't want vaccines. That one story. You know. That one guy who had a vaccine and his head exploded.

But back to something I posted earlier, I can't see how the CDC can say that measles is a huge danger when not one freaking doctor in my entire life has ever suggested that I should refresh my vaccine. Not one. Ever.