Anti-Vaxxers and Little Minds

By now you’re probably aware that I’m a meerkat of science. Facts and theories backed up with evidence are sexy. Ahem.

Now, there is a good deal of evidence out there to support the effectiveness of vaccination. Prior to the development of vaccines, we were as a species ravaged by diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and measles. The tuberculosis vaccine is effective in 70-80% of cases, particular in younger people. Rates of this disease, and other diseases where vaccination is available, have been slashed over the years. Smallpox, once considered a very deadly disease, is now virtually gone – a concerted and determined campaign of vaccination has eradicated it.

There’s a wealth of evidence out there for the effectiveness of this measure. I’ve written at length about this before and pointed out this evidence to others. Unfortunately, there are always those who choose to believe conspiracy theories and those who nitpick from sources in order to spin their narrative. A great case in point of this, in respect of vaccination, would be a poster by the name of Little Graham from the Big Footy forums. There is a thread about anti-vaxxers on the forum, and LG is one of the proponents of the anti-vaxxer idea in the thread.

I’d like to share what he said the other day:

Thats the very issue of many who question current vaccination policy. Most people only find out after the fact, that they’re allergic to them. Most of the numpties in here abusing those who question, have no idea about this. Are not listening. Are using violence to enforce thier beliefs. Really pathetic. There should be no reason to behave this way, the science should speak for itself.

The thing is, the science does speak for itself. Diseases that were one widespread and lethal have been dramatically reduced in their frequency. On-going vaccination ensures the on-going control of these diseases. Not vaccinating carries consequences not only for the person who isn’t vaccinated, but also for anyone who for whatever reason cannot be vaccinated, and there can even be a knock-on effect on the rest of the population. Not vaccinating is irresponsible and dangerous.

http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/healthy-people-who-were-vaccinated-for-the-flu-continue-to-die/

His link, far from helping his cause, actually hurt LG’s argument quite spectacularly, as another poster, Long Live HFC, pointed out:

you can always spot someone who has no schooling in statistics :straining:

and while we’re on the topic of lack of education, you never did come back and provide evidence for your claim that $200/student could educate every primary and secondary student in the US?

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/stuxnet-hawkings-ai-and-the-next-hundred-years.1143439/

what went on there, simple simon? still doing your sums? :D

but, let’s get back to your quote. your source:

so, 2 deaths (for the flu) in that three-month period.

now, being the lazy scholar i am i’m just gonna multiply that figure by 4, to get an easy 12-month figure. 8. i accept it might be slightly higher or lower in reality. if you want me to explain my math in more detail, feel free to ask. i accept that primary school education is a luxury which unfortunately not everyone can partake in.

how many people got shots in the US’ 14-15 flu season? approximately 150-160 million.
www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/vaccination/vaccinesupply-2014.htm

now, obviously i’m not saying every single dose got used that season. but let’s go ******* crazy and say only 10% of doses were used. i’ll even round it down to 15 million.

so, THE MOST DANGEROUS VACCINE is killing 0.000533333% of people who got shots each flu season.

****, imagine what the percentage would be @ 150-160 million doses! oh the humanity. how does big pharma live with itself? o_O

and, deaths re influenza? admittedly it’s hard to find data ranges that fit the exact US flu season months, so again i’ll just go lazy and use calendar years (2014):

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus15.pdf#019

So as you can see from the numbers, if we assume a particular low take-up rate of the flu vaccine of just 10%, that’s still 0.000533333% of patients killed by the vaccine (assuming nothing else was a factor). This hardly serves as proof that the vaccine is dangerous. In fact, it serves as an ample demonstration that it is not.

LG then posted this, quoting from the link:
https://www.sott.net/article/293105…mps-rational-discussion-in-the-vaccine-debate

The irony… The post above yours completely exploded your ‘dangerous’ notion, and you’ve completely ignored it to launch an ad hominiem.
LG hit back:
you’ve just admitted that people without the flu are being killed by the flu shot and you think its perfectly ok.

you should not have the right to bear children.

Wow. He decided to repeat his use of an ad hominiem argument with another one.
Another ad hominiem. There is circumstantial evidence to suggest the flu vaccine killed…. What was it? 0.000533333% of the people who had it (and that’s a generous assumption to YOU, for if, as is likely, more people were in fact vaccinated, the percentage drops)? Do you care to address this? Or will you spout another ill-conceived ad hominiem?

BTW, I am a father, and I’ve had my little girl vaccinated. I wouldn’t be irresponsible like you and risk her contracting diseases like measles.

That’s where the discussion ends for now. I might expand upon it, but I don’t imagine it will move forward in any kind of meaningful way. LG won’t let facts get in the way of his imagination.
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