Vaccines..

Some people are losing their minds over vaccines. These "anti-vaxers," as they are known, have bought into bizarre ideas that certain childhood vaccines cause cancer, autism, or other horrific medical maladies, and are crusading on Facebook and other social media, urging parents to forgo these immunizations. Medical science--REAL medical science, not the "Dr. Bornstein" types--is unanimous in defense of these childhood vaccines that protect children from everything from whooping cough to polio. Why is it that we are so quick to accept these strange "causes" of things we don't understand--or don't want to accept? NO parent wants her or his child to have autism, in an ideal world. But children are born with autism, and this is a fact. It is no fault of the parent(s) they have this condition, which is now understood to be a "spectrum" disorder, meaning the degree of debilitation caused by it can be "rated," with an eye toward prescribing the best therapy, rehabilitation, or coping and life skills for the individual. Vaccines do not cause it, and no, none of the "preservatives" in them do, either. Randomly consulting "Google" for information about such a serious issue often returns as many unhelpful, inciteful, and disturbing "facts" as it does genuine insight.

Why am I writing about this? Possibly because I just had the second half of the new Shingrix vaccine for shingles. When I had part one, something happened to me that has never happened before--I got all of the side-effects they said could happen, and I missed a day and a half of work. For all intents and purposes, I got what acted like the flu. This week, I got part two, and was warned that if I had reactions the first time, there was a better than the Pirates' team batting average they would happen again. I am here to report that, like the Pirates' falling average, I did NOT have the same set of reactions. Other than feeling like I got punched in the left arm by Muhammad Ali, I am able to work, eat, sleep, and write stuff like this blog. I think I'm coherent? Seriously, this Shingrix vaccine is highly recommended for those of us beyond 55 as it is highly effective against shingles, an illness that is horribly painful in the least, and may be highly debilitated by it, at worst. Unfortunately, the vaccine is in short supply right now, which I didn't know. Dara and I were told by our physicians to get it, so we stopped in to our Giant Eagle pharmacy with prescription in hand, and within a week, had part one, and now, eight weeks later, part two. When I got my injection the other day, the pharmacist congratulated me, saying that Dara and I were only the fourth and fifth people receiving the vaccine at our store, and that 75 others were on a waiting list!

It seems strange that something designed to keep you well could make you sick, but side-effects do happen in isolated cases. However, medical studies have not shown any serious side-effects to the necessary childhood immunizations, unless you count the fact that before these anti-vaxers stopped vaccinating their children, we had almost wiped out whooping cough, polio, and small pox. At least the first two are making a comeback because populations of unvaccinated children are cropping up because of this craziness, and this brings great danger to the population of children around them. If you, as a parent, have been even the slightest bit swayed by the anti-laxer arguments, please come home to scientific reason, and for God's sake, have your children vaccinated, if not for their welfare, for that of the others around you.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if science could find a vaccine against conspiracy theories, ignorance brought on by things going "viral" on the Internet (isn't it interesting we use that term?), and hate fueled by vitriolic rhetoric flowing from radio shows, memes, and blogs written by reactionaries and rabble-rousers? If we could be vaccinated such that the only thing our ears could hear would be truth, we might think we'd gone deaf in the current environment of public discourse.

One way to "vaccinate" yourself against falling prey to these "diseases" is to be well-read, but while reading responsible news, educated and informed authors and reporters, and by carrying on conversations with reasonable, informed, and non-contentious persons. If someone wants to engage you with one-sided barrages of political or social propaganda with little evidence of its integrity or truth, just walk away. Unfortunately, finding souls who wish to enter into up-building, intelligent dialog about the state of affairs are getting harder to find. A popular conservative talk show host recently asked his audience if they would still support their favorite politician if they chronically lied, and the majority of the audience said they would, "because that's our guy." O, if only we had a vaccine against falsehood...

I did read the other day that there is a disease being carried by some ticks that renders the bite-ee unable to eat red meat without getting sick. THAT is weird. Really weird. But maybe there is hope that some other tick might be out there that renders a person unable to spout lie after lie without going at least temporarily mute. I'm rooting for that tick, wherever you are.

Get your vaccinations, people. Be healthy. Stay Healthy. And get informed. We'll all be the better for it. Shalom!