I read an article this week that the vaccination rates in Oregon are going down. This is not going to end well and it is foolish (and selfish) beyond words. If I were a medical professional, I would be tearing my hair out. I once had a round with a self-identified Christian about the CO-VID vaccine. Finally I blocked her.
I have a friend who is a retired GP and he is devastated that some health officials are currently at least partially responsible for the decline in vaccination rates.He speaks of the extensive training he received in vaccinology and its benefits and how he is almost relieved to be retired so he would not have to fight the battles again that he thought had been won.I was a toddler when Polio vaccine first became available and I can assure you that my parents wasted no time in signing us up for the shot.Everyone in my age group(I’m 75) knew kids who were directly affected by polio or had lost infant siblings to pertussis or scarlet fever.So disheartening for medical professionals!
My daughter-in-law is an anti-vaxer; she refuses to allow her husband to make any medical decisions for his children. Recently, my completely unvaccinated four-year-old grandson developed a fever that lasted for a couple of weeks. She refused to take him to the doctor and refused to give him Tylenol to control the fever (she believes Tylenol causes brain damage). Finally, when he became pale and unresponsive, my son forced her to take the child to urgent care. They immediately helicoptered him to a major hospital emergency room. He spent 3 days in intensive care for double pneumonia and RSV. Such idiocy.
Social media moguls customize their algorithms to amplify and spread certain posts. Benefiting from this system are lies and disinformation bringing illness and death to families and endangering public health.
It’s past time to hold social media platforms legally accountable for the damage and death they knowingly facilitate.
Social media companies maintain n that they are simply platforms and are not responsible for what appears on their sites.
In my opinion this needs to change worldwide. They must be legally regarded as publishers so totally responsible for what appears on their site with massive fines for publishing things that are untrue, invite violence, are pornographic etc.
They would howl that it would be too expensive to check every post. Tough. Looking at the profits these companies make they can well afford it.
Facebook etc don’t care about children or anyone. Facebook got sued for children’s lack of safety. They payed out millions, and are still not protecting Our Children! 🖕
Sixty years ago, when I was 13, our Health class studied a unit on vaccines. I learned the history of people like Edward Jenner, Semmelweis, Banting and Best, and Jonas Salk. I learned to appreciate their achievements and feel grateful I had access to modern medicine.
Ine of my classmates had had polio as a toddler. Her arm was permanently atrophied, never growing correctly.
Ours was the last generation before the Salk vaccine. I don't know anyone my age who did not receive the vaccine.
One of my grandmothers lost her mother and little brother in a typhoid epidemic. My grandmother was born in 1895, not in the Middle Ages. In a more recent time, the epidemic itself wouldn't have happened.
My other grandmother lost a baby brother to Spanish flu. That was 1918, and quite possibly a flu vaccine might have kept him from getting sick.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but damnitall, this "Vaccines are dangerous!" crap isn't nearly as dangerous as the diseases they prevent.
Thanks for this article - it's definitely one of those issues important to me.
THANK YOU for this incredibly important highlighting of an illogical, infuriatingly stupid throwing away of medical advances in the name of "personal freedom." Those who blithely spout this crap should be forced to sit in a hospital room with a child in distress due to a preventable disease.
Thank you for addressing this. As a retired public health nurse practitioner I am sad to see what this administration has done to many of the public health policies that kept us safer as a population. Dr Jessica Knurick who is on Substack is also a big public health advocate and may be worth following .
I don't think it's callous to say, but the price is not only the lives of children or the injuries that could be life altering. The price is literally the money it costs to treat these children AFTER their parents refused vaccines. Millions, perhaps billions will be spent treating children who simple could have had a cheap quick vaccine.
I read an article this week that the vaccination rates in Oregon are going down. This is not going to end well and it is foolish (and selfish) beyond words. If I were a medical professional, I would be tearing my hair out. I once had a round with a self-identified Christian about the CO-VID vaccine. Finally I blocked her.
I have a friend who is a retired GP and he is devastated that some health officials are currently at least partially responsible for the decline in vaccination rates.He speaks of the extensive training he received in vaccinology and its benefits and how he is almost relieved to be retired so he would not have to fight the battles again that he thought had been won.I was a toddler when Polio vaccine first became available and I can assure you that my parents wasted no time in signing us up for the shot.Everyone in my age group(I’m 75) knew kids who were directly affected by polio or had lost infant siblings to pertussis or scarlet fever.So disheartening for medical professionals!
My daughter-in-law is an anti-vaxer; she refuses to allow her husband to make any medical decisions for his children. Recently, my completely unvaccinated four-year-old grandson developed a fever that lasted for a couple of weeks. She refused to take him to the doctor and refused to give him Tylenol to control the fever (she believes Tylenol causes brain damage). Finally, when he became pale and unresponsive, my son forced her to take the child to urgent care. They immediately helicoptered him to a major hospital emergency room. He spent 3 days in intensive care for double pneumonia and RSV. Such idiocy.
She put her child in grave danger ‼️ Your son should take over the health care of his family.
Sadly, they're in the middle of an ugly divorce; she has the kids.
Did she learn anything from that?
No.
😞😞😞💔💔💔
I am so sorry, Lynne. (I didn't tick "Like" because I just couldn't use a heart emoji.)
Social media moguls customize their algorithms to amplify and spread certain posts. Benefiting from this system are lies and disinformation bringing illness and death to families and endangering public health.
It’s past time to hold social media platforms legally accountable for the damage and death they knowingly facilitate.
Social media companies maintain n that they are simply platforms and are not responsible for what appears on their sites.
In my opinion this needs to change worldwide. They must be legally regarded as publishers so totally responsible for what appears on their site with massive fines for publishing things that are untrue, invite violence, are pornographic etc.
They would howl that it would be too expensive to check every post. Tough. Looking at the profits these companies make they can well afford it.
Facebook etc don’t care about children or anyone. Facebook got sued for children’s lack of safety. They payed out millions, and are still not protecting Our Children! 🖕
Sixty years ago, when I was 13, our Health class studied a unit on vaccines. I learned the history of people like Edward Jenner, Semmelweis, Banting and Best, and Jonas Salk. I learned to appreciate their achievements and feel grateful I had access to modern medicine.
Ine of my classmates had had polio as a toddler. Her arm was permanently atrophied, never growing correctly.
Ours was the last generation before the Salk vaccine. I don't know anyone my age who did not receive the vaccine.
One of my grandmothers lost her mother and little brother in a typhoid epidemic. My grandmother was born in 1895, not in the Middle Ages. In a more recent time, the epidemic itself wouldn't have happened.
My other grandmother lost a baby brother to Spanish flu. That was 1918, and quite possibly a flu vaccine might have kept him from getting sick.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but damnitall, this "Vaccines are dangerous!" crap isn't nearly as dangerous as the diseases they prevent.
Thanks for this article - it's definitely one of those issues important to me.
THANK YOU for this incredibly important highlighting of an illogical, infuriatingly stupid throwing away of medical advances in the name of "personal freedom." Those who blithely spout this crap should be forced to sit in a hospital room with a child in distress due to a preventable disease.
Thank you for addressing this. As a retired public health nurse practitioner I am sad to see what this administration has done to many of the public health policies that kept us safer as a population. Dr Jessica Knurick who is on Substack is also a big public health advocate and may be worth following .
I don't think it's callous to say, but the price is not only the lives of children or the injuries that could be life altering. The price is literally the money it costs to treat these children AFTER their parents refused vaccines. Millions, perhaps billions will be spent treating children who simple could have had a cheap quick vaccine.