There's a huge difference between being a retard and being irresponsible. Being a retard is something private, limited, contained, even... healthy; but, when you have access to mass communication networks you've to start asking yourself the impact the things you say has in others. Because leveling sciences with pseudosciences is simply, irresponsible.
A couple of days ago I read an article that compared vaccination with non-vaccination. In one side, a doctor mentioned the benefits of vaccination. On the other an "expert homeopathic medic".
Expert. Medic. Homeopath.
Expert.
Medic.
Homeopath.
I've never thought I'd say this, but there's something more dangerous that making a decision based on a religious belief, and this is, making a decision based on a pseudoscience. Homeopathy is this, a pseudoscience. Because when you hierachize a discipline based on infinite dilutions of certain compounds to make them effective as a treatment considering that "water has memory" with no proof of any kind, no paperwork, no tests; and use it as an argument to go against vaccination something that already saved MILLIONS of lives, and saves everyday, documented, with real tests, you're being irresponsible. If you take 2 minutes before publishing such piece of shit article into a national magazine, where people still believe that "saints" take care of their jobs and lives... You're misleading beliefs into more "magic" shit. Basically, it takes 2 minutes to find relevant papers that evaluate the effects and measurements of homeopathy, and all of them consider them a placebo, it will not cure your aids. Googled it, open papers.
Nobody, absolutely NOBODY would face an argument against a scientific fact with a "a witch told me so, and it works for me"... At least, nobody with a functional brain.
Checking info before publishing is not trendy.
A vaccine is, roughly speaking, any compound prepared and dosed into a body so that it will develop a sharp and accurate "response team" in the case a selected pathogen attacks the body in a future. It's the "wanted" western picture that tells you whom should you be taking care from, you're aware. This first interaction of an inactive pathogen, a non-pathogenic cousin or some of the molecules that compose it, does not "tire" the body, it trains it. It trains it to recognize soon, easily and overwhelmingly an infection. It shakes the body, makes it feel uncomfortable, it challenges it to react... Just as any worthy training, it makes it stronger.
Then we've anti-vaccine movement that under religious or personal arguments claim that vaccines cause autism in children... Even if it did, it's a small tradeoff- but, so far, the documented cases are available... NONE
The anti-vaccine movement is based pretty much in "what a witch told me", I'm not saying that believing in the horoscope is a bad thing. I'm saying that trusting the health of your children based on the poke-evolution of a pseudoscientific magic water is not only plain dumb, it is irresponsible.
Since the invention of vaccines, smallpox -that affected one out of 7 children in Europe- today is eradicated. Vaccines nearly eradicated polio and lowered a 99% of bacterial meningitis in infants. Vaccines do something better than "healing", they prevent us from getting sick. Vaccines save lifes we ignore they saved. Lives of people that never got sick, never got a fever. Your child's life that did not get sick, even after eating handfuls of dirt... Because he has a strong, protected body.
Since the anti-vaccine movement started, there's been registered emblematic cases of illnesses that were considered nearly eradicated: Dublin, 2000, measles kills 3 children and puts other 100 people into hospital care after a debacle about vaccination's effectiveness lowered the rate people vaccinated down to less than 60%.
Nigeria, 2001, a president decides that there's an "occidental plot" and that they need to stop vaccinating against polio. By 2006, Nigeria has 50% of the polio diagnosis in the world.
USA, 2013, measles, 64% of the 159 registered diagnosis belong to only 3 groups of people, closed, religious and anti-vaccination fundamentalists.
We write playing, pushing, laughing. Marveled in science, in breaking apart, learning, understanding... But there's days that are NOT FUN.
Today somebody establishes that vaccinating your child is a matter of opinion, that listening to the "expert" voice of an homeopath could help you chose.
Today, I don't laugh. Not vaccinating your child based on "what a witch said" is simply... Not funny.
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