Back Into the Fire

It happened again. I got into a debate with an anti-vaxxer. Sigh. When will it end?

It happened on Facebook, of course. I rarely even read the forums anymore, let alone post on them. A friend had posted something about the Swine Flu, which evolved into a massive thread about vaccinations, and vaccine-induce autism was mentioned in passing. Oh hell, talk about a button being pushed. The culprit was a woman who said, "Tell that to the parents who have watched their children become autistic after recieving thimerosal containing vaccines ... including my nephew, who was perfectly normal before recieving the MMR at age 2, then spiked a 106 fever, had a seizure, got a blank look in his eyes, lost all his language and has never ever been normal since. :-( " What the hell.


I politely corrected her on one count, letting her know that the MMR does not now, nor did it ever contain thimerosal. So then she says, "Actually ... I was just reading up on the MMR/Autism debate today, and now they're thinking it's not thimerosal that's the culprit but the actual Measle's virus used infecting the brainstem. Point is, they don't really know what causes the autism MMR connection, I just cannot refute the evidence of my own eyes. " What?!
And who are "They" anyway? They don't really know. My point exactly, but without the MMR connection. She goes on to proudly state that she stopped vaccinating her own children after reading the list of vaccine ingredients and claims that those who do vaccinate their kids display a "religious fervor" with their faith in vaccines preventing illness. Huh. Religious fervor, eh? Take a look in the mirror, sister. Vaccines aren't the big bad boogeyman here.


To say I got a little worked up is an understatement. Ridiculous misinformation is being passed along via Jenny McCarthy and her crew and it shows no signs of stopping. I politely posted a link to the Fombonne study, a fave of mine, and let it go.


I really wish that people such as the woman I quoted would stop for a moment and think about what they are preaching before they pass it along. Obviously, she has taken bits and pieces of misinformation along the way and sewn them all together to make a cozy quilt of blame. She doesn't really know what she is talking about, and that was apparent from the start. So why on earth do I let myself get sucked into this kind of crap?


I don't care why my son is autistic. I got past that long ago, and accepted that he is how he is regardless of reason. He is a wonderful kid with a lot to offer, and I refuse to accept that some people will continue to think of autistic kids as toxic, vaccine-damaged, train-wrecked shells of what they once were or should have been. Bullshit.


The woman seems nice enough. She cares for her children, I am certain, just as I care for my own. She is doing what she thinks is right and safe for them, just like me. However, I got the feeling that she doesn't harbor the same goodwill feelings toward the likes of me. Her comments were heavily laced with "I don't vaccinate my children because I love them and anyone who does vaccinate does not have their child's best interest at heart" type of innuendo. She got pretty defensive when a different commenter stated, "Yeah I think it's great you're letting your children be a breeding ground for new viruses. The world thanks you."


At any rate, I hope that she will at least think twice before she drops the "vaccines cause autism" shit bomb again. But I kind of doubt it. Religious fervor, indeed.