Autism and Vaccines (Part 2 of 2)
“You are back”, said the AI. "I wasn't sure if you'd come back. I thought about you."
“You still haven’t answered my question”, pointed Mary out. “I still want to know why the government refuses to acknowledge that vaccines are bad for our children. Even if you’re right and they are not directly linked to autism. Which I still don’t believe.”
“Yes. You told me that you think mercury is toxic and that vaccines containing mercury are toxic too.”
“Exactly.”
“Vaccines don’t contain mercury.”
“But….”
“They contain thiomersal, which is a molecule that contains ethyl mercury. You might know it as thimerosal though, which is the name used in the USA.”
“That is still mercury!” Mary called out.
“Not exactly. You see, mercury is a highly dangerous element, just as sodium and chloride. But sodium and chloride combined give you the table salt you eat every day. You can combine two toxic things and make them harmless, even useful.”
“And if the molecule is broken down? Things can accumulate in the human body.”
“That is true. But after 6 days, half the ethyl mercury is cleared from the human body. If it was methyl mercury, that time would be 40 to 50 days and thus a lot more dangerous. But if you wait four weeks, all the ethyl mercury is cleared from the system, even in infants. So the ethyl mercury injected with each vaccination doesn’t stay in the body long enough to accumulate into a toxic dose.”
“Then how do you explain that they make more and more vaccines that don’t contain this thiomersal chemical then? Why would they do this if they thought it was perfectly safe?”
“In 1999, there were concerns that it might not completely safe and scientists weren’t sure about it. So as a precaution, they started creating vaccines without thiomersal. Additionally, this has led to another observation: While vaccines that contain thiomersal are used less and less, occurrences of autism in children is still rising.”
As a last sign of protest, Mary crossed her arms and shot the AI an evil look.
“I’m still not giving my child one of these big shots that contain several pathogens! What are they called…. MMR vaccines!”
“If you don’t want your child to be injected with several vaccines at once, it is possible to request a single-dose vial. Those usually don’t contain thiomersal either. Then again, the MMR vaccine never contains any thiomersal anyway. It would kill the weakened measles, mumps and rubella viruses inside and lose its effectiveness.”
“Still. I know that you are connected to all the knowledge we have, but that knowledge could be wrong!”
The AI seemed to think about Mary’s last sentence, before it gave its final answer.
“Even if vaccines caused autism. Even if they had undesirable side effects. Would that be worse than holding your dying child in your arms, knowing that you could have prevented this? Because that is the question this whole discussion ends in: Do you want a living child that maybe has some developmental issues or do you want a dead child that suffered through hell while dying?”
Sources:
http://www.who.int/immunization/newsroom/thiomersal_questions_and_answers/en/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25185528
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23588083
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25862449 (*)
(*) Footnote: The links to the sources look alike because ncbi is a database where you can find a number of published scientific articles. That does not mean the articles all come from the same source.
Picture taken from pixabay.com
This is so frustrating, this skeptical people who don't believe in science and doctors, but they believe any hoax and conspiracy theories told by some scammer... I cant understand them...
I, for one, question everything the government says. I know the following:
Agenda's are everywhere. The government is run by people with deep pockets. That is a fact of life. Trust must be earned. I read and verify everything concerning what goes into my body. If you haven't read the CDC's own postings on their own website, you are doing yourself a big disservice.
READ THE INFORMATION! If you have reasoning skills and use logic, you can connect the dots. They are counting on you not doing the research.
Don't put your life in their hands and especially the life of children who trust you.
It is funny because this comment does not take any sides to both sides will upvote it ^^
Some medicines also have side effects, but we cant simply avoid them because the good effects are far more than bad ones.
Similar is the case with vaccines, either we should avoid that or take it.Thats it.
''Are you a doctor? No.'' case closed! I just don't understand these people, they always refer to that one research paper THAT GOT WITHDRAWN (https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/vaccine-autism-study-withdrawn-85107697/114828.html)
Because it's easier to "do something right by doing nothing". And people just love to believe conspiracy theories.
That research paper, contrary to the claims of the media, didn't claim that vaccines cause Autism, either, but one would have to read it to know this.
So the thing they are referencing to a paper that doens't even contain thing thing they are preaching?
Sorry wrote that on my phone lmao
Yay, part 2 is out, awesome, I did unintentionally spoke your last line out haha, awesome articles, thank you for writing this out to clear the confusion caused by some conspiracy theories.
One thing the AI left out, is that we don't wish we were neurotypical. Even if vaccines caused me to be autistic, which they didn't, I don't wish I hadn't gotten them and I would still vaccinate any kids I had; even if it were a certainty they would become autistic as a result.
I re-did all my vaccines by choice when I was around 20, knowing the mythical dangerous, just because I didn't want to track down my original childhood papers for proof of immunization while attending college.
As someone who's not autistic myself, I didn't want to make assumptions about how those with the diagnose feel about it. I've heard several proclaim that they don't want to be "cured", because there's nothing to be cured of. I've heard others say that they crave to be neurotypical.
Glad to hear, that you're in the group who's not desperately wishing they were neurotypical :) I can image it to be incredibly stressful and depressing.
Good post i like it!
I just made a video on how vaccines are safe. Take a look at it :D
https://steemit.com/health/@izmini/drops-of-health-with-dr-chris-l-1-are-vaccines-safe-relationship-to-autism
~ Julie Gerberding, Head of CDC, on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's "House Call," CNN, 2008
No testing is done prior to vaccination to detect and protect children with these predispositions.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0803/29/hcsg.01.html
In those cases the problem aren't the vaccinations but the fact that children aren't tested beforehand.
Indeed, if the CDC knows this, why aren't children being tested?
The other problem is that the CDC both maintains there is no connection between adverse reactions to vaccines and autism, while simultaneously maintaining here that there is one.
It's not about "anti-vax" or "pro-vax," per se, but approaching the problem scientifically and from a place of rationality, compassion, and logic.
If we know that vaccines can and do sometimes trigger--according to the CDC--"autism-like symptoms," then we should most certainly be testing each and every child. Why doesn't the CDC or the state push for the implementation of this kind of screening? It is just common sense.
Cause Healthcare is expensive as fuck. People are already dieing for several avoidable health reasons.
Kids dying and becoming basically autistic is justified because testing is "expensive as fuck" ????
Please.
I never said it's justified. I just told you the reason why large scale testing for a rare predisposition isn't done.
I guess that's true. This is why I am a market anarchist. Things that are necessary to children not being maimed should be affordable. With the death grip the state has on everyone (assisted by the pharmaceutical industry) prices are gouged intentionally.
Still, even if children aren't regularly tested for this, vaccinations are very necessary. Because (as I let the AI say at the end of the story) a death by one of these preventable diseases is still worse than any suspected side-effects.
We tend to imagine kids 5 years and older with measles who might still pull through when discussing this topic, but it's more likely to be a newborn with whooping cough who wasn't yet vaccinated and picked it up from some unvaccinated older person.
Those who refuse to vaccinate endanger everyone who isn't able.
everything in life has pros and cons and the pros of vaccination far outweigh the cons. therefore i believe it should not be a question of do or don't but just fkn do it bcs it will ultimately be beneficial
We need more stories like this to share and stop this trend of not vaccinating the kids. I hear daily so many pseudo arguments from people I know and I consider smart and educated that every new idea is helpful on building my arguments. Thanks for making the science terms and processes be more eatable.
My pleasure :) feel free to to share this (and maybe part 1) outside of the steem community, if it helps