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We have a newspaper of record of sorts here in Alberta.  I’ll be quoting from the Edmonton Journal to cover the amazing amount of stupid it takes to somehow think that vaccines are linked to autism.

1.  They are not. [Pubmed, Google Scholar.]

2.  See #1.

“One in five Albertans believes some vaccines can cause autism, according to a new poll that suggests a big segment of the population is wary about a perceived medical side-effect that has been widely debunked by scientists.

The telephone poll of 2,838 respondents found that 21 per cent completely or somewhat agreed that some vaccines can cause autism, compared with 61 per cent who rejected this view.”

Do these people read?  Admittedly, not many people I know browse pubmed looking for the latest and greatest in papers dealing with vaccination, but when it is important as keeping the population safe from easily communicable diseases some use of the critical faculties is in order.

“The results mirror what Mainstreet found in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In each province, more than 20 per cent of respondents said they believe there is a correlation between vaccines and autism, a neurological disorder, said Quito Maggi, president of the polling firm.

A study published in the late 1990s suggested the measles vaccine was linked to autism, but the author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, was found to have falsified data to advance his claims.

Wakefield lost his medical licence and the British journal that published the study, the Lancet, retracted it.”

So, there is no basis for this link.  Yet shitty people are taking advantage of the credulous and the credulous being well…credulous continue not to vaccinate their children.

“The skepticism borne out of the study has been kept alive by countless websites making claims and by celebrities like Jenny McCarthy, who claims vaccines can cause autism in children.

“The issue is, that fear has been instilled in parents,” said Shannon MacDonald, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary’s faculty of medicine who studies vaccine uptake and parental acceptance. “If you understand the background of it, that a study of 12 children with fraudulent data has been counteracted by multiple studies with 14 million children, that sounds obvious.

“But that’s not the message that people hear.”

When did people dispense with critical thought.  For sure you can be “open-minded” but without a filter critical analysis your skull fills up with teh stoopid faster than you can say “Jenny McCarthy”.

” Fifty-three per cent of respondents said schools should refuse unvaccinated children, compared to 36 per cent who held an opposing view.

When the question turned to child-care facilities, the results were similar. Fiftyeight per cent said unvaccinated children shouldn’t be allowed, with 31 per cent disagreeing.

A majority of those polled – 56 per cent – said parents should be able to decide against vaccinating their children, but 34 per cent said this shouldn’t be the case.

Despite some skepticism identified in the Mainstreet poll, most respondents – 61 per cent – agreed that a drop in vaccinations of children would have serious health impacts. Sixteen per cent disagreed, while the rest were undecided.”

Well the majority of people polled are not skull-shatteringly stupid.  But there is enough stupid out there to hurt people.  Child vaccination should be mandatory if you child is to attend public institutions.   End of story.

OR… you form a fake religion so you can opt out with the religious exemption!!!!  *facepalm forever*

Sadly, this is a real thing.  Thanks again religion for going to bat for people who believe in made up shit.  :(