I came home from class today, and found an interesting post on Facebook. I read it, and started to feel my cheeks burn immediately. I sat for about 15 minutes and tried to decide if I needed to respond at all. I ultimately came to the conclusion that as an almost-veterinarian, I have a responsibility to educate people on public health matters, and seeing as some of the comments in response to the article were attacking the concept of Herd Immunity, I felt personally attacked. No one but veterinarians, especially large animal/food animal veterinarians, are more qualified to evaluate issues of herd immunity.
So I started writing a response, and at the end, realized I probably keep it off facebook, officially. The article came from my chiropractor, and some of my views were about to challenge his. As I sat for 30 minutes writing the response, my trigger-point muscle spasm in my left shoulder began to make my left hand finger tingle like crazy, and I thought to myself, "I probably need this guy to adjust me in the near future, maybe I should triple think my response."
But I still felt strongly, that I needed to voice my opinion, so what better avenue than an online blog! (Ha haaaa...). Here is the article.
Gainesville Sun Chicken Pox Article
The response online was that vaccines do not work, pharmaceutical companies lie, and the government should not get involved with families that do not vaccinate their children.
Here is my impassioned 30 minute response. More info can be added later.
As a (almost) veterinarian, I would like to think that I
have a solid grasp of the concept of herd immunity. Vaccines work by
stimulating the individual's immune system to create antibodies. The antibodies
are bits of protein that are ready and waiting to attack an infection
(bacterial or viral) when that person gets exposed. Having a vaccination may
not always prevent the disease, but what it DOES do is make the immune system
react FASTER. Vaccines work. They eradicated polio, small pox, and mostly MMR from
today's list of killers. No one who has had a tetanus vaccine in the last 10
years is at risk from dying from a small cut on their finger - where children
in countries without access to vaccines are dying daily, by the 100s.
I feel
that an 80% vaccination rate is awesome. And asking unvaccinated children to
stay home during an outbreak should not be viewed (or portrayed for that
matter, Gainesville Sun) as a risk to the vaccinated children, but as a safety
measure for those unvaccinated children. They are the ones most at risk.
I was
born before the chickenpox vaccine, and thus didnt receive it as part of any
protocol. Exposed several times, intentionally, as a child, I never contracted
the disease. Doctors believe I am innately immune, but without expensive
testing, we will never know. When I became pregnant 3 years ago, I was grateful
for "herd immunity." Not knowing my own true protection status, I
felt hopeful that the people I came in contact with everyday had either been
vaccinated or had the disease as a child.
Vaccines work, and are improving
every day. Currently, in Florida, West Nile is prevalent and endemic. We see
complete protection in our horses that are properly vaccinated, and deadly
disease in those that are not. The west nile disease is spread through
mosquitoes. They become infected through feeding off of infected birds, and
now, we have found, feeding off of infected horses. We have lots of all three
of these animals in FL, and no human vaccine. As long as this is the case, and
I still enjoy the sunshine, I will be sure to keep my horse vaccinated for West
Nile, to help reduce the disease challenge in the area. I would hate to think
that a mosquito that bites my horse, could bite my son, 20 minutes later.
As for chiropractics replacing the use of vaccinations in society, I'm
sure Dr. Dean knows more about the immune system's connection to proper
alignment, and as a balanced person, I am seeking advanced training in
Acupuncture and Chiropractic to include in my therapies for my animal patients.
I know it works. I know it is needed in today’s medicine. But no amount of
adjusting is going to keep that mosquito from biting my horse. So, maybe just
for my own peace of mind, but I will continue to do everything possible to keep
my patients (and my own family) healthy. That includes vaccinations, a healthy
diet, proper spinal adjustments, and Chi modifications. If you made it this
far, thanks for reading!
That being said, I agree we need to arm ourselves as parents
with all the information available to us on vaccination safety. We need to make
sensible health decisions, not ones made for convenience. – I.E. Hep B in
day-old infants is uncalled-for, unless the mother tested positive in
pregnancy. However, with sex in society as it is portrayed today, I do believe
the vaccine has its place later in a health plan. In our animal patients, we do
not recommend every vaccine for every patient. We take their individual risk
into consideration, and then make recommendations based on that information. If
a child has specific allergies, doctors should (I say, should…) be able to tell
parents what components are in each vaccine, and determine the child’s risk for
disease versus adverse reaction. This is the change we need to see in human
medicine. Doctors should be providing accurate information, and patient’s should
feel comfortable (and should take responsibility for) to take control of their
health care. Big Pharm, pushing products and protocols on families and doctors
is wrong. I agree with that. But we can also be open and accepting as individuals,
providing information without judgment or condemnation, to help humanity move
toward a global health status. One by one, we can do it, together.
I am open for further discussion.
