What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
I recently encountered this early 19th century cartoon lampooning the smallpox vaccine. Apparently, not much has changed.
In 2008, according to a Health.com article, an unvaccinated child brought measles back to California from Europe and exposed hundreds of people to the disease. Eleven percent of the children at the child’s charter school had not been vaccinated. Last year, according to the CDC, well over 9,000 people came down with whooping cough in California. While some were quick to blame illegal immigration from Mexico, the data indicate that the wealthy and the insured are more likely to choose not to vaccinate. The Health.com article cited a study showing that “[p]arents who intentionally under-vaccinate tended to be white, college-educated and have an upper or middle-income level” and that “[m]any believe that living a ‘natural lifestyle’ will protect their children against vaccine-preventable illness . . . .”
All of this is puzzling, because immunization is not controversial in the medical community.
Which brings me to the title question, to which I will hazard an answer. In Emile, Rousseau asked about medicine “what true good this art has done for men.” To be fair, one must admit that 18th century medicine was probably not very effective; his critique, however, was directed at the fear of death and more generally at the imagination. Rousseau’s First Discourse, which won the Academy of Dijon’s prize in 1750, was in response to the question, “Whether the restoration of the Sciences and Arts has contributed to the purification of morals?” He answered in the negative.
I will hazard that underlying the reluctance to vaccinate is often a suspicion of human development with roots in Rousseau’s philosophy. No doubt the claims of anti-vaccine advocates persuade many, but many also (both on the right and on the left) are alienated from modern life and therefore perhaps disposed to be persuaded.
One might respond to Rousseau’s critique in any number of ways, but one could start with the premise it is bad when human beings die from preventable diseases.
True, modern medicine is not perfect. Some studies are flawed. Medicine also is not ethically self-regulating (witness the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and the current enthusiasm for fetal stem cell research). Modern medicine has made tremendous advances, though, the vast, vast majority of them ethically obtained. One’s doctor has had four years of medical school, plus specialty training and experience. He or she might know a little something.
- Comment (101)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments:
Sep '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Coercion by government was our founders main fear and has become our government's most common attribute. Government coercion fosters an attitude of resistance and that is what you see.
May '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
So I know next to nothing on the vaccine debate though I tend to have sympathies with the argument in opposition. I also have a suspicion of human development, but for very different reasons than Rousseau. And it's true; I shouldn't completely distrust my doctor. Yet isn't there also a naivete demonstrated in the person who trusts without testing--who never entertains any doubt?
Edited on August 2, 2011 at 7:26pmMay '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
I agree that it's mainly an instinctive resistance to coercion... combined with sensationalist reporting which thrives on scaring mothers.
Also, to say "modern medicine is not perfect" is an understatement. Yes, anyone who has made it through medical school knows a great deal about the body, various conditions and treatments. But it's common knowledge that you could go to five different doctors and get five different diagnoses.
There's no shame in that. The human body is the most complex machine in existence, and it varies remarkably from one individual to the next. It is also exposed to far more and less predictable conditions than any other machine, further complicating diagnosis.
Aside from basic competence, a physician's most valuable trait is the humility to admit his or her limits.
May '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
I would suspect that the majority of them would also tell you that global warming is a settled scientific fact.
Jenny McCarthy made a name for herself showing the world she had no clothes, now she does it by showing us she has no brains.
Edited on August 2, 2011 at 7:26pmJun '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
L.T. Rahe
True, modern medicine is not perfect. Some studies are flawed. Medicine also is not ethically self-regulating (witness the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and the current enthusiasm for fetal stem cell research). Modern medicine has made tremendous advances, though, the vast, vast majority of them ethically obtained.
One legitimate ethical concern is that some vaccines are developed and grown using aborted fetal tissue.
May '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Brandon Zaffini: Yet isn't there also a naivete demonstrated in the person who trusts without testing--who never entertains any doubt? · Aug 2 at 10:14am
Edited on Aug 02 at 10:26 am
Agreed, but the scientific method is the really the best we can do. Studies are flawed when they aren't scientific enough (some error in the methodology), and over time, hopefully we will have a better understanding of which treatments work and which don't.
Edited on August 2, 2011 at 9:03pmMay '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
L.T. Rahe
the scientific method is the really the best we can do. Studies when they aren't scientific enough (some error in the methodology), and over time, hopefully we will have a better understanding of what treatments work and what don't. · Aug 2 at 11:29am
Yes. In the meantime, I won't criticize those who refrain from vaccinating their children; who are skeptical of accepting the say-so of the medical bureaucracies and government boards; who are wary of injecting their progeny with every and each substance. Oh, and in other news, apparently salt doesn't actually cause heart disease.
Nov '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
As I--and most of the adults I interact with regularly--have children in the vaccination range, this issue has been of interest to me for some time. Here are my anecdotal findings:
* In my (middle class) neighborhood, I haven't come across a parent who doesn't vaccinate. Nearly all of the parents in my neighborhood send their kids to the local public schools.
* I homeschool, and among those peers, I know several who do not vaccinate. They are all very well-educated and either politically conservative or "religious" or both.
May '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Joseph Stanko
One legitimate ethical concern is that some vaccines are developed and grown using aborted fetal tissue. · Aug 2 at 11:03am
Unfortunately, some people in the pharmaceutical industry have a huge blind spot. A while ago the USCCB put out a fact sheet on this issue that is helpful for patients and for government agencies and companies.
May '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Brandon Zaffini
Oh, and in other news, apparently salt doesn't actually cause heart disease.
After a stroke, my dad recently gave up salt... which he used to sprinkle on pretty much everything before even tasting it. I thought about emailing a Scientific American article on about those new studies to him, but haven't because I'm pretty sure my medically trained sister would shoot me.
May '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Brandon Zaffini
Yes. In the meantime, I won't criticize those who refrain from vaccinating their children; who are skeptical of accepting the say-so of the medical bureaucracies and government boards; who are wary of injecting their progeny with every and each substance. Oh, and in other news, apparently salt doesn't actually cause heart disease. · Aug 2 at 11:39am
The trouble with people not vaccinating their children is that unvaccinated people pass diseases along to other people and that's how we get outbreaks. Young babies are especially vulnerable because they have not yet been vaccinated or the vaccines haven't taken yet. So it's not just a personal choice, it affects other people.
May '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Layla: As I--and most of the adults I interact with regularly--have children in the vaccination range, this issue has been of interest to me for some time. Here are my anecdotal findings:
* In my (middle class) neighborhood, I haven't come across a parent who doesn't vaccinate. Nearly all of the parents in my neighborhood send their kids to the local public schools.
* I homeschool, and among those peers, I know several who do not vaccinate. They are all very well-educated and either politically conservative or "religious" or both. · Aug 2 at 11:48am
My limited, anecdotal evidence confirms yours. I wonder if it is more of a conservative trend. I could come up with several good reasons for this, but none of them have to do with Rousseau.
Jul '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
I think the aversion to vaccinations has less to do with a reaction to government coercion, although there are probably some people for whom that is a motivating factor. But by and large the people who don't want their kids vaccinated are the same people who have no problem banning trans fats.
No, I think we are seeing the results of a lack of understanding about probabilities combined with a fear of actively harming one's own child. First, the hazards associated with most vaccines is not zero. They are very, very small, but not zero. This immediately gets parents worried about what will happen if their child draws the short straw. And if they do draw the short straw, it is the parent who OK'd the shot who will feel responsible. The fear of actively harming one's child seems to bias the perception of the relative risks involved: the exceedingly low risk of a side effect seems to outweigh the much greater risk of contracting a disease. And studies hyping flimsy statistical links between vaccines and the risk of autism only exacerbates this bias.
Jul '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
I will criticize the non vaccinators because they benfit from the immunity of those that do vaccinate.
Illegals are part of the issue and those reading the latest garbage holistic theory will always be part of our lives. The latter are currently responsible for nearly 800 preventable child deaths since this autism farce came of age.
Of course the art of medicine fails at times and when it has hit home in my life, the pain lingers forever. By prescribing Vioxx I probably caused 2 heart attacks(thankfully non-fatal).
Usually having a conversation with a non-vaccinator is about as productive as having one with a progressive liberal or a vitriolic atheist for me.
May '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
L.T. Rahe
The trouble with people not vaccinating their children is that unvaccinated people pass diseases along to other people and that's how we get outbreaks. Young babies are especially vulnerable because they have not yet been vaccinated or the vaccines haven't taken yet. So it's not just a personal choice, it affects other people. · Aug 2 at 12:02pm
So besides young babies, the only people affected would be those who decide not to get vaccinated, correct? And how are these diseases passed so easily to these young babies? Studies on this?
Jul '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Here is an amusing story from a former nurse of mine who went to work in an ER in Salt Lake. She is this wild and crazy Irish gal and sharp as a tack. So on a shift, some 3 plain ladies come in with a very ill child with a bad throat and a fever. The kid has diphtheria and needs IV antibiotics fast. Nonetheless this gaggle of ladies are insisting on getting the kid some "blessing oil" STAT. So while trying like crazy to ram the antibiotics in, she goes to the desk and says,"These *&^%%^ polygamists want some (**&^% blessing oil for the kid they didn't vaccinate who may die soon". The clerk says its very sacred and on top of some cabinet, and then pointed to the LDS church elder who overheard the whole conversation. After retrieving the sacred oil the kid is duly blessed and then by God's great miracle, not Roche pharmaceuticals mind you, the kid can now begin his healing. Anyway, the blessing oil is returned and the clerk looks at the bottle in horror as the young diphtheria riddled had just received the sacred rights with fish tank cleaner.
Sep '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
DocJay: I will criticize the non vaccinators because they benfit from the immunity of those that do vaccinate. [snip]
Usually having a conversation with a non-vaccinator is about as productive as having one with a progressive liberal or a vitriolic atheist for me. · Aug 2 at 12:07pm
Dang right, Doc! There are two innovations that have together made the most progress in eliminating disease in modern society: vaccination and indoor plumbing. If my neighbor doesn't want to use the city sewage system, I'm sure as heck not going to stand by while he builds an outhouse and stinks up the block. Not vaccinating his kids is in the same category.
Has nothing to do with government coercion and everything to do with civilized behavior.
Sep '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
Brandon Zaffini
L.T. Rahe
The trouble with people not vaccinating their children is that unvaccinated people pass diseases along to other people and that's how we get outbreaks. Young babies are especially vulnerable because they have not yet been vaccinated or the vaccines haven't taken yet. So it's not just a personal choice, it affects other people. · Aug 2 at 12:02pm
So besides young babies, the only people affected would be those who decide not to get vaccinated, correct? And how are these diseases passed so easily to these young babies? Studies on this? · Aug 2 at 12:17pm
Brandon - lots of information and links to scholarly studies on the CDC website. The trouble is that vaccination is not 100% effective. So if I'm doing the responsible thing and I get my daughter vaccinated against pertussis, while all the neighborhood kids are coughing their little lungs out, she may still contract the disease after repeated exposure. Herd immunity prevents this.
Feb '11
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
It amazes me to read these stories because it was not too long ago where parents lost one or more children to various diseases. Before vaccination parents lived with the fear that their children were vulnerable to smallpox, scarlett fever, diptheria, typhoid, measles, etc. and might not survive. Now that we live within a "herd immunity" these highly educated individuals think that they can free ride on others so as to avoid these so-called "unnecessary vaccines". I don't buy "we are a developed country so its okay" argument, have these people ever thought of traveling during their lifetimes? Yes, the pharma industry is not without errors but the good service that vaccines have done to public health is immeasurable. Try visiting a third world country where health services are limited and where children are still dying from preventable diseases. Watch a mother mourn the death of her child and find out that its yet another child that died from a disease that could have been prevented had the child been vaccinated. My belief is if those vaccine naysayers witnessed these very real consequences they would quickly change their tune.
May '10
Re: What's With the Vaccine Phobia?
There is another consideration. Why did you end that list with "etc"? Because there are many common and dangerous diseases.
Exactly how many, and which, vaccinations should be no-brainers and mandatory? There are hundreds of common viruses and bacteria in America. What conditions move one from the optional vaccination category to mandatory?