Bill Gate on Vaccines

Bill Gates talks about Vaccinations
"Dr. Wakefield has been shown to have used absolutely fraudulent data. He had a financial interest in some lawsuits, he created a fake paper, the journal allowed it to run. All the other studies were done, showed no connection whatsoever again and again and again. So it’s an absolute lie that has killed thousands of kids. Because the mothers who heard that lie, many of them didn’t have their kids take either pertussis or measles vaccine, and their children are dead today. And so the people who go and engage in those anti-vaccine efforts — you know, they, they kill children. It’s a very sad thing, because these vaccines are important."

HPV vaccine and adolescents' sexual activity :

"The vaccine must be given before HPV infection is acquired. It is most likely to be recommended for 11-12 year olds, because by the ninth grade (age 14-15) 28% of girls in the US are sexually active. This has prompted some advocates of premarital abstinence to charge that HPV vaccination will condone or promote sexual promiscuity. However, its impact will probably be small because multiple factors are associated with initiation of sexual activity; fear of sexually transmitted infections is not a major reason for abstinence, and condom availability programmes have not been associated with behavioural disinhibition."

This is coming soon on the NHS!

Mumps is back and GPs are in the frontline.
As predicted...
"Some 1,352 cases of mumps were reported between April and June 2004 ­ the highest in the seven years since records began

·MMR uptake fell to 80 per cent across the UK in 2003/4

·Uptake of first MMR vaccine by age five also fell by 0.5 per cent and coverage of the preschool booster plunged by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter

The country-wide outbreak started several years ago and so far there have been 3,756 confirmed cases in the first nine months of 2004 compared with just over 372 in 1999 ­ the cause is in part due to how the MMR programme was implemented in the 1990s and in part to the ongoing concern about adverse vaccine events and its knock-on effect on MMR uptake.

Been really busy moving house and city. I thought this was interesting...
UK health officials launch five in one vaccine for babies
No more nasty tasting polio drops for babies.

False syllogisms, teddy bears, causality and MMR

Most parents are not trained in analysing clinical evidence, yet they can spend hours on the internet, and reach dangerous conclusions about whether to immunise their children.

"Many parents, wanting to do the best for their children, have been convinced by apparently logical arguments for a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

Aristotle, the father of logic, introduced the concept of syllogisms: "An argument in which, when certain prepositions have been laid down, something distinct from these is seen to follow necessarily from their existence". Not all syllogisms are valid: an invalid, or false, syllogism is an apparently logical but in fact illogical argument, for example "All cats have four legs. This animal (a horse) has four legs. Therefore the animal is a cat".

How not to do science

I cannot help but touch on this as I am always getting asked if I would give my child the MMR.

It has been said,

"An unimmunised child is the infectious equivalent of a drunk driver"

MMR, autism, and Adam

"Adam was born in January 1990. His early development was uneventful though slow by comparison with that of his older sister. At 15 months, when Adam received his measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, he was beginning to articulate two word utterances. After 18 months, however, Adam began to show signs which gave my wife and me cause for concern..."


MMR...the evidence?

"More media circuses about vaccinating children with MMR, and the "association" of MMR vaccination with autism and inflammatory bowel disease. Frightening stuff, but much heat and little light."


MP raises new allegations against Andrew Wakefield

Authors reject interpretation linking autism and MMR vaccine

MMR Myths and Truths

Common Misconceptions

"At least ten misconceptions can lead parents to question the wisdom of immunising their children.

Misconception #1: Because of better hygiene and sanitation, diseases had already begun to disappear before vaccines were introduced.
Misconception #2: The majority of people who get the disease have been immunised.
Misconception #3: There are hot lots of vaccine that have been associated with more adverse events and deaths than others. Parents should find the numbers of these lots and not allow their children to receive vaccines from them.
Misconception #4: Vaccines cause many harmful side effects, and even death -- and may cause long-term effects we don't even know about.
Misconception #5: DTP vaccine causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Misconception #6: Vaccine-preventable diseases have been virtually eliminated from the United States, so there is no need for my child to be vaccinated.
Misconception #7: Giving a child more than one vaccine at a time increases the risk of harmful side effects and can overload the immune system.
Misconception #8: There is no good reason to immunise against chickenpox (varicella) because it is a harmless disease.
Misconception #9: Vaccines cause autism.
Misconception #10: Hepatitis B vaccine causes chronic health problems, including multiple sclerosis.
Misconception #11: Thimerosal causes autism: Chelation treatment is bogus."

The following site (although it could be slightly more up to date) gives the answers to these common misconceptions:

http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/immu/immu00.html